French court charges ex-Flash Airlines boss over 2004 crash

A French magistrate has charged former Flash Airlines (FSH, Cairo Int’l) boss Mohamed Nour with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the crash of flight 7K 604 in 2004, in which 148 people were killed, the majority of whom were French citizens.

Agence France Press and Euronews reported this was the first indictment since the accident 18 years ago and comes after a court case against Flash Airlines, since liquidated, was dismissed in 2017 due to insufficient evidence against the company and crew. The investigation at the time found the aircraft – B737-300 SU-ZCF (msn 26283) – had gone down just three minutes after take-off from Sharm el Sheikh but the cause of the accident was never established.

A Paris Appeal Court in September 2019 ordered the re-opening of investigations on the grounds that insufficient attempts had been made to gain explanations from the former chairman of the low-cost airline.

A source close to the case told AFP that Nour was indicted by mail by an investigating magistrate on December 16, 2021. The former executive is accused of allowing the crew to fly without the necessary qualifications, training, or rest time.