The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office requested, this Wednesday, a trial for the former head of the Egyptian airline Flash Airlines, 20 years after the crash of a Boeing that killed 148 people in 2004. The plane crashed into the Red Sea three minutes later to have taken off. Among the victims were 135 French engers.
20 years after the accident
Now, twenty years later, a trial looms for the former head of the Egyptian company Flash Airlines. The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office demanded a case against Mohamed Nour, previously head of the company.
The judicial inquiry was archived for the first time in 2017. However, the families of the victims appealed to the Paris Court, which, in 2019, ordered the investigation to be resumed as it considered the explanations of the former chairman of the Board of Directors of Flash Airlines “insufficient”. during the investigation.
For a long time, the head of the Egyptian company ignored subpoenas from French justice. In 2021, he was placed under 's witness statute and three months later, he was indicted for manslaughter.
Mohamed Nour's responsibility
It turns out that, for the French Public Prosecutor's Office, the main criminal offenses are “evidently and, above all, attributable” to Flash Airlines, accused of a lack of pilot training and poor working conditions. However, neither Flash Airlines, which was dissolved, nor the pilots, who died in the crash, can currently be held responsible.
Finally, in the allegations decided on December 22 last year, the French Public Prosecutor's Office highlighted that the “numerous flaws, approximate calculations and summary analyses” of the two pilots who died in the accident were the direct cause of the serious accident.
Therefore, the Public Prosecutor's Office considers that Mohamed Nour, as legal representative of the company, can be judged for not having ensured that the crew was sufficiently prepared.
The final decision on the trial rests with the two judges investigating the case. Mohamed Nour's lawyer did not respond to AFP's requests this Wednesday, according to the Le Parisien.
