Richard Osman: Egyptair crash through cockpit fire

A Welsh geologist was killed together with 65 others when the plane fell into the sea after a fire in the cockpit, an examination is closed.

Richard Osman, who was born and grew up in Cararthen, was on the Egyptair flight MS804 when it disappeared in May 2016.

The 40-year-old traveled from Paris to Cairo, where he was supposed to spend a few days in business when the plane fell into the Mediterranean.

An examination negotiation in Llanelli on Friday, in which a narrative conclusion was recorded, heard how flames caused by an oxygen leak “of the aircraft”, which led to electrical failures in which the pilots had lost control before relegation.

Mr. Osman, who had a master's degree in mining geology, had started the plane for a business trip on the evening of May 18, 2016.

At the time of his death in Jersey, he worked and lived with his wife Aurelie Vandarde and her two young daughters.

Ms. Vande putte Las Vande putte led an explanation of the victim of effects on the hearing and said her husband was a “charismatic but modest young man”, who loved rugby and running and was “proud of his Welsh-Egyptian background”.

She described Mr. Osman as “autonomous and self -driven”, known for his “sense of humor, generosity and openness” and near his family.

She added that in the mining industry he was “by everyone” with a scholarship created by his colleagues in his memory.

The couple had led a “global” life that lived in Paris, Brussels, London, Athens and Egypt before settling in Jersey.

Her daughters – now 11 and nine years old – were two years old or 22 days old at the time of her father's death.

Mrs. Vande putte said that she received no formal face to face about the death of her husband and had left for a long time without news as the sole parent of two small children to maintain “irreparable wounds”.

“It was survival for many years … 1746187389 Hopefully I will be able to start a new chapter, ”she said.

Mr. Osman was one of four children, and in a declaration read in court, his younger sister Anna said that she looked up “him” with all my heart and loved him.

“My thirties were full of grief … It is a weight that I will take with me for the rest of my life,” she said.

The people on board the plane consisted of 59 passengers, two flight crews and five cabin attendants, and there were no survivors.

The night flight stayed after entering the Greek airspace and fell in one of the deepest areas of the Mediterranean – more than 3,000 m (9,800 feet) in some parts.

Wracks and life jackets were found 370 km south of the Greek island of Crete.

Rauch was found in the toilet and in the avionic area, which contained the electronics and computer of the aircraft under the cockpit.

The aviation expert Kenneth Fairbank informed the hearing that the plane had been properly maintained and that the crew had sufficient experience on board.

He said a cockpit recording device took up a hissing sound, followed by a banging sound, and then the crew announced the fire – all within a few seconds.

Shortly afterwards there were “several computer equipment failures” due to “many electrical connections” [being located] In an area of ​​the flight deck that was affected by the fire, ”he said.

Mr. Fairbank said there were “contradictory reports” about the cause of the fire.

The Egyptian Air Accident examination report came to the conclusion that it was separated from a “detonation of an explosive device in the forward calye, the area directly behind the cockpit.

However, the French investigation reported that it was likely that the fire started in an oxygen mask memory box in the cockpit.

Mr. Fairbank said he believes that “the weight of the evidence does not support on-board explosion”.

He added that the source of fire ignition was unknown to “certainly seems to be an oxygen -lined fire”.

He added that the aircraft had flown for more than 13 minutes after the hissing noise, and there was “lack of transparency” for reported traces of explosives.

“It is clear that a fire lit the plane and took the planes … [which] Maneuvered and came off in an uncontrolled way, “he said.

“In this scenario it would not have been possible to fight the fire.”

Mr. Fairbank reported on some media reports that contained a proposal that a pilot smoke in the cockpit caused the fire.

He also denied a separate proposal that the release valve on the oxygen tank had been left by the maintenance staff, which led to the oxygen leak. While the mask had recently been replaced, the aircraft had flown nine times and the crash.

The deputy coroner Mark Layton recorded a narrative conclusion and said that he “completely” accepted that the crash was caused by a fire unknown ignition source, but is probably driven by the oxygen tank unit, if not begun.

He spent Mr. Osman's family out of condolence and said that the work would now begin to prevent future death reports, which reflects the security recommendations, which were highlighted in the French and Egyptian investigations.