What happened
On 19 February, an aircraft operating a scheduled service from Saigon to Paris, with intermediate stops in Karachi and Cairo, departed Karachi at 17:15 GMT. The flight was carrying 55 passengers and 9 crew members. During the final leg of the journey toward Cairo, the flight was proceeding under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and began a descent.
At 02:24 on 20 February, the aircraft notified Cairo Air Traffic Control that it had passed Suez at an altitude of 8,500 feet. Shortly after, at 02:40, the flight reported seeing the Cairo aerodrome from a distance of 15 miles. Controllers provided the necessary pressure settings (QFE 29.42 and QNH 29.73) and authorized a VFR approach. The crew transitioned to landing instructions on frequency 118.5 MHz and acknowledged instructions to call downwind.
Following this final communication, all contact with the aircraft was lost. Despite extensive efforts to re-establish radio contact on various frequencies, no response was received. At 04:50, debris from the crash was located approximately 18 miles southeast of the Cairo airport. The accident resulted in 57 fatalities and only 12 survivors (6 crew and 6 passengers).
Findings
The investigation determined that the primary cause was the failure of the pilot-in-command to monitor the co-pilot while performing a direct approach. It was noted that the co-pilot relied solely on flight instruments to determine his position relative to the runway, while flying at an altitude lower than the minimum safe altitude. Additionally, investigators noted that crew fatigue could not be excluded as a contributing factor.