The Flash Airlines Boeing 737-300 which crashed into the Red Sea on 3 January killing all 148 passengers and crew "did not have a rudder problem", says Paul-Louis Arslanian, director of the French accident investigation bureau. Information from the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder shows that when the aircraft reached 1,800ft (550m) altitude it slowly reversed its right-hand turn and began to deviate from its planned route, continuing to climb and bank. "The crew worked without panicking but as time passed, so their surprise and worry increased," Arslanian says in an interview with French daily Le Monde. When the aircraft reached 5,600ft the aircraft was banking steeply and began to lose altitude. Arslanian says: "Up to the last three seconds the pilots were simply preoccupied and there was no panic."
Source: Flight International
