Egyptian dream sinks in Red Sea

An Egyptian Boeing-737 carrying 148 people, most of them French tourists, crashed into the Red Sea off the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Satu...

An Egyptian Boeing-737 carrying 148 people, most of them French tourists, crashed into the Red Sea off the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday, killing all aboard. The plane, operated by Flash Airlines, disappeared minutes after take-off from Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

Egypt’s Civil Aviation Minister, Ahmed Mohamed Shafiq Zaki, said the cause of the crash of flight FSH604 was ‘‘technical’’. ‘‘There was a problem at take-off,’’ France’s Deputy Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau said. ‘‘It tried to turn, but crashed.’’ Technical problems may be the reason why the pilot failed to inform the control tower, he said.

The French government said there were 133 French passengers aboard, and a French medical official said many were children on holidays. There were 13 crew members aboard. Egyptian military aircraft and ships launched a rescue operation at first light. Eye witnesses said they were finding only pieces of human bodies but no survivors. ‘‘We have collected small pieces of the plane but its body has sunk,’’ said a rescue worker.

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The plane was to stop at Cairo to refuel, change crew and take more passengers before reaching Paris. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said an investigation would be launched into the crash.

Zaki said evidence from witnesses and equipment on the ground suggested the crew had lost control shortly after take-off because of a technical fault and crashed while trying to bring the plane back on course at low altitude. — (Reuters)