At Least 141 Die In Egypt Plane Crash.

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From Swiss info:
They are serious gaps in the systems of safety which had led Switzerland to prohibit its airports with Flash Airlines in 2002.
But the Egyptian company rejects these charges. Moreover, of the controls carried out in France, in Germany and Poland in 2003 had not revealed any defect.
The federal Office of the civil aviation (OFAC) wants to put an end to the polemic on the causes of the prohibition of entry in Switzerland which strikes Flash Airlines.
Monday, the OFAC revealed which were the defects noted in 2002 on the two planes of the Egyptian private company. The Swiss air authorities deliberately chose to reveal partially this information, in theory confidential.
Switzerland carried out two unexpected controls out of both Boeing 737 of Flash Airlines, April 27 and October 11, 2002.
These inspections made it possible to detect, in both cases, of the "manifest gaps of maintenance in the sectors of the orders of flight, the landing gear and the power unit".
The inspectors also noted that calculations of the fuel reserves were not established in accordance with the international standards.
They as noted as it missed documents for navigation on board and that the indication of the fire exits was partially out of use.
The OFAC specifies however that these "serious failures" noted in 2002 do not predict a state of the Boeing which was crushed Saturday morning at sea Rouge. These controls return account only of the state of the planes at the time when they were carried out.
And to recall that for the hour, the cause of the accident remains unknown.
Refused authorization
At the time, the Swiss air authorities had thus issued a prohibition to land against the company. October 16, 2002, Flash Airlines received the notification according to which its authorization of flight in Switzerland was withdrawn to him.
A few days later, the company tried despite everything to obtain an authorization to land in Switzerland. Request that the OFAC refused not having had any assurance which gaps had been corrected. The OFAC informed the Egyptian air authorities on October 22, 2002.
Switzerland also placed at the disposal of the 41 Member States of European program SAFA of safety of the foreign aircraft the report/ratio on the inspections of the planes of Airlines Flash and informed by electronic mail the chief of the program.
What was confirmed by the spokesman of the IATA, the International association for air transport, Monday evening evening at the time of the television news of German-speaking Switzerland chain SF DRS.
Nothing alarming?
The French authorities admitted being informed by Switzerland of the infringements to the noted safety requirements.
But the Minister for transport Gilles de Robien affirmed that controls of the apparatuses of Airlines Flashes which had been undertaken in 2003 had announced anything of alarming.
This report was also drawn by the Directorate-General from the civil aviation (DGAC) French. "In controls which we made later on (with those carried out by the OFAC), we noted the improvement of the technical state of these planes", affirmed his spokesman Michel Wachenheim.
The chairman of the company Mohamed Nour, relativized criticisms to him emitted by the OFAC. He declared with the afp that Switzerland had prohibited in Flash Airlines to fly over its territory due to lack of administrative "documents".
"We also have a financial litigation with the company of the services of the airport which claimed us approximately 30 000 francs. I did not pay because I considered the sum exaggerated ", affirmed Mr. Nour, estimating that they were there the true reasons" for which the Swiss authorities showed "Airlines Flash.
Flash Airlines rejects allegations.
Side of the Egyptian company, one rejects the charges of Bern. According to the director of Airlines Flash in Charm el-Sheik, the broken plane was "sure at 100%" and the requirements safety Swiss are considered to be "excessive."
To also note that the two planes of Airlines Flash were also controlled in France, Germany and Poland during the year 2003 and that none of these controls revealed the least defect.

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The chairperson of Flash Airlines said on Thursday that he was prepared to go to France to discuss compensation with the families of those who died when one of the company's planes crashed on January 3, killing all 148 on board.
Speaking to reporters, Mohammed Nour also said that because of the damaging publicity that followed the crash off the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the company had suspended the flights of its other plane until February.
Nour said that "if the families come to an understanding about holding a meeting with Flash I will go to Paris next week to attend it, and will be happy to do so."
He added that he had already made arrangements with Flash's insurers for a first payment to be made quickly, without waiting for an end to the probe into the causes of the crash.
Black boxes are expected to reveal the exact cause of the disaster
Nour said the Boeing 737-300 had been insured for $550-million, and that if total claims exceeded that amount, "Flash Airlines must pay the difference".
He explained that the amount paid out would depend on the age, family situation and health of each victim.
Flash is covered by Egypt's Sharq Insurance, with the policy re-assured through the Egyptian Reassurance and ultimately by a Lloyd's of London syndicate, XL Brockbank.