ICAO expresses condolences to families, friends of EgyptAir Flight MS 804

The Council President and Secretary Gener­al of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Dr. Olumuyiwa Be­nard Aliu and Dr. Fang Liu, have expressed the UN agen­cy’s deepest condolences to the families and friends of thevic­tims of EgyptAir MS804, a scheduled commercial flight from Paris to Cairo which crashed due to yet unknown causes last week.

The wreckage of the aircraft, which was carrying a total of 66 persons made up of 56 pas­sengers and 10 crew, was later located near Karpathos island, south east of the Greek main­land with investigations ongo­ing regarding the remote caus­es of the crash.

“Any accident or incident resulting in loss of life is al­ways a matter of utmost con­cern to ICAO and to the en­tire air transport community,” President Aliu remarked in a statement. Speaking further, he said: “ICAO will await the Annex 13 accident investiga­tion Preliminary and Final Re­ports to learn more about the causes and contributing factors of this event, and ultimately we will work with the global civ­il aviation community on any associated risk mitigation rec­ommendations appropriate to our role.”

Also lending his voice, the body’s ICAO Secretary Gen­eral, Dr. Fang Liu said: “ICAO stands ready to lend assistance to the aircraft accident inves­tigation, should the State or States with due authority under Annex 13 request us to do so.”

He also stressed that the or­ganisation does not normal­ly participate in investigations conducted by member States before saying: “In those ex­ceptional circumstances, we would normally be requested to serve as an official observ­er and/or to clarify the techni­cal requirements which must be adhered to.”