What happened
During a night departure from runway 22R at Sharm el .Sheikh-Ophira Airport, the aircraft type was performing a procedural left turn to intercept the 306 radial from the Sharm el Sheikh VOR. Following the engagement of the autopilot, the captain expressed an exclamation and subsequently deactivated the system, requesting Heading Select instead. This action led to a progressive right bank.
As the aircraft tilted, the co-pilot issued multiple warnings regarding the increasing bank angle. Although the ailerons briefly returned to a neutral position after the captain ordered a correction, subsequent movements caused the bank to deepen. The aircraft reached a maximum bank angle of 111° to the right, accompanied by a 43° nose-down pitch, while at an altitude of 3,470 feet. During this period, a trainee co-pilot on the flight deck instructed the crew to reduce power. The throttles were moved to idle, which allowed the plane to recover from the nose-down attitude, but the resulting loss of pitch control led to an overspeed warning as speed increased.
At 04:45, the plane impacted the water at a speed of 416 kts with a 3.9 G load, maintaining a 24° right bank and 24° nose-down attitude. The impact caused the aircraft to disintegrate, with debris settling at a depth of 900 metres. The accident resulted in 148 fatalities, including all passengers and crew members.
Findings
- The flight was operating in good weather conditions with excellent visibility and light winds.
- The improper management of the autopilot and subsequent manual heading selection led to an uncontrolled increase in the bank angle.
- The flight data recorder was recovered from a depth of 1,020 metres, and the cockpit voice recorder was located at 1,050 metres.