EgyptAir plane ‘made three emergency landings’

Euronews reports Airbus A320 was given permission to take off on three occasions the day before it made its last journey — despite showing signs of abnormalities.

It said that the plane’s on-board warning system, Acars, went off each time after take off.

“We cannot presume to know exactly what happened on board but it’s not entirely normal to turn around several times after a technical incident without finding anything,” Jean-Paul Troadec told TV channel France 3.

This August 21, 2015 file photo shows an EgyptAir Airbus A320 taking off f-rom Vienna International Airport, Austria. Picture: APSource:AP

Mr Troadec added that “Acars signals are emitted automatically only in the case of a malfunction. In normal mode they remain silent”.

Investigators still have no idea why the Flight MS804 f-rom Paris to Cairo made violent swerves before crashing down 37,000ft into the sea on May 19.

There was fresh hope for answers this week when a French ship picked up signals f-rom the black box

Some personal belongings and other wreckage f-rom EgyptAir flight 804 in Egypt. Picture: APSource:AP

But search teams have just five weeks to find it before the battery power runs out and they lose signal.

Egypt’s aviation minister had initially said a terrorist attack possibly brought down the plane, but a technical failure is also likely.

However, sources f-rom inside the Egyptian investigation denied claims that the doomed plane was forced to make emergency landings in the day before the crash.

Egyptians look at posters of the 66 victims of the EgyptAir MS804 flight that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea, as they take part in a march near the Cairo Opera House in the Egyptian capital. Picture: AFPSource:AFP

France’s aviation safety agency has said the aircraft transmitted automated messages indicating smoke in the cabin and a fault in the flight control unit minutes before losing contact.

The investigators are searching for the black boxes at a depth of about 10,000ft, some 290 kilometres north of the Egyptian coast with the area recently narrowed to a five-kilometre area.

Initial reports stated Mohamed Said Shoukair lost all radio contact before the jet plunged into the sea, killing all 66 on board.

EgyptAir pilot Mohamed Said Shoukair. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

But aviation sources in Paris last night said he spoke to controllers as the Airbus A320 began to fall last Thursday, sparking fears of a cover-up.

Officials said a “conversation several minutes long” amounted to “a distress call”.

The pilot then reportedly initiated a rapid descent aimed at putting out a fire on board and clearing smoke.

Egyptians light candles during a candlelight vigil for the victims of EgyptAir flight 804, in Cairo, Egypt. Picture: APSource:AP

The manoeuvre can be extremely dangerous and may account for the jet’s violent swerves as it fell f-rom 37,000ft. A leaked data report also suggests a fire in the flight deck, suggesting a catastrophic electronics malfunction.

It also emerged hard line Muslims had graffitied the jet two years earlier with the words: “We will bring this plane down.”

Workers in Cairo and Paris were being investigated yesterday as investigations into the Flight MS804 crash continued.

This article originally appeared in The Sun