What happened
On a flight departing from Geneva-Cointrin Airport for Rome-Fiumicino Airport, an Egyptian four-engine aircraft was cruising at 21,000 feet along airway A3. During the flight, the crew contacted air traffic control to request a route change to avoid a low-pressure system. Although permission for this deviation was granted and the new path was implemented, communication with the aircraft was subsequently lost.
The plane entered a steep descent and impacted the Ligurian Sea, approximately 27 km north of Elbe Island. Search and rescue efforts were launched immediately, but the wreckage and all 23 occupants remained missing. On October 3, travelers on a sailing vessel discovered a floating wheel; Italian authorities later verified this debris belonged to the missing aircraft. Very little other wreckage was ever retrieved from the sea.
Findings
Because of the lack of physical evidence from the crash site, investigators could not definitively establish the reason for the accident. It is suspected that the aircraft encountered intense turbulence while passing through a thunderstorm, which may have led to structural failure following the malfunction of specific aircraft components.