An iPhone 6S and an iPad mini 4 tablet used by one of the pilots of Egypt Air flight 804, which crashed in May 2016, are suspected to be at the basis of the crash. The accident investigators are analyzing the location where a fire would have broken out in the cockpit, or near it, and the location where the pilot was holding the two devices while piloting the plane with 66 passengers.
The investigators are trying to find out if the batteries of both devices caught fire, either simultaneously or from one another, and caused the fire. Of course, the theory is debatable, some saying that this is improbable and that the fire would have started from an area in the immediate vicinity of the cockpit, but for now the source would not be known.
Images recorded by the cameras of the Charles de Gaulle airport, from which the plane took off, show the fact that that iPhone and that iPad tablet had been placed on the pilot's anti-glare shield, next to a perfume. The fire would have started near that area, and from here the investigators concluded that the respective devices were to blame.
A clear explanation for the tragedy is being sought by French investigators, but as in any case of this kind, it is difficult to determine what could bring down a plane full of passengers. The Apple company stated that it has not been contacted by the investigators and probably will not be contacted either, considering that it is unlikely that its products are to blame.
"The images very clearly indicate that the Egyptian co-pilot put his telephone, tablet and bottles of perfume bought before boarding on the glare-shield. The investigators hence note a troubling parallel between the placing of these items that are fed by lithium batteries and the triggering of alarms during the flight."
Having said that, if the investigators still reach the conclusion that Apple products caused the collapse, then Apple will have a huge media scandal ahead.
