What happened
During a nighttime departure from runway 22R at Sharm el Sheikh-Ophira Airport, the Airbus A330 began a procedural left turn to intercept the 306 radial of the Sharm el Sheikh VOR. Upon engaging the autopilot, an unexpected reaction occurred that led the captain to immediately disengage the system and switch to Heading Select mode. Following this, the aircraft began a significant right-hand bank.
As the bank angle increased, the co-pilot issued multiple warnings regarding the intensifying turn. The aircraft reached a 50° bank at an altitude of 5,460 feet. The situation escalated further, with the aircraft reaching a maximum bank angle of 111° to the right and a pitch attitude of 43° nose down, while descending to 3,470 feet. A trainee co-pilot on the flight deck instructed the crew to reduce power, leading both throttles to be moved to idle. While this action briefly stabilized the nose-down attitude, the aircraft's speed increased until an overspeed warning was triggered.
At 04:45, the aircraft impacted the water at a speed of 416 knots with a 24° right bank and a 24° nose-down pitch. The impact force reached 3.9 G, causing the plane to disintegrate upon hitting the surface. All 148 fatalities occurred during this event. The wreckage and debris settled at depths of approximately 900 meters, with flight recorders later recovered from depths exceeding 1,000 meters.
Findings
Investigators could not determine a single definitive cause for the crash, but noted that several technical failures or human factors could have contributed to the upset condition. Potential mechanical issues included an aileron trim runaway, a spoiler wing cable jam, a first officer's wheel jam, or an autopilot actuator hardover fault.
Contributing factors identified during the investigation included:
- Possible spatial disorientation of the captain following the initial autopilot engagement.
- Inaccurate maintenance documentation regarding the aircraft's technical status.
- The extreme severity of the aircraft's attitude, altitude, and speed changes, which rendered the crew's recovery efforts insufficient despite their timely response.
- Discrepancies in simulator training authorization dates for the crew.