According to Le Parisien, a French newspaper, investigators are considering that the cause of the EgyptAir plane crash could have been an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) device. Though the theory has been dismissed by some analysts, the investigators are theorizing that the cause of the crash that killed 66 people could have either been an iPhone 6 or an iPad mini 4.
If proved true, the theory would be in contrast to the conclusion drawn by Egyptian investigators who speculated that the plane was brought down by terrorists. This theory was reinforced by the fact that the bodies of the victims had traces of explosives on them.
Black box data
French investigators, however, dispute this, saying that data show that the crash was caused by a fire and not a bomb. Data from the black box indicates that a fire started at a location near the cockpit sometime before the plane went down. Voice recordings from aboard the aircraft also contain evidence of a fire.
In a video taken at the Charles de Gaulle airport in France, the co-pilot of the plane is seen placing an iPad Mini and an iPhone 6S on the instrument panel shortly before the plane took off. There were also bottles of perfume placed alongside the Apple devices. The instrument panel was the exact location where a problem was identified by automatic warning messages. Moments later after the warning messages, smoke was seen emanating from a nearby toilet and from below the cockpit.
Thermal runway
Batteries have been known to explode after a long exposure to sunlight and the Federal Aviation Authority has in its record about 140 cases in which batteries ignited or exploded on aircraft. Some of these incidents have included cases where cargo planes ferrying batteries crashed. Consequently, phone batteries are not allowed as cargo on passenger airlines. Other banned products include scooters that run on batteries.
Doubts on the theory by French investigators have been cast in light of the fact that the fires that appeared in the cockpit and the toilet happened too fast to have been caused by the devices placed on the instrument panel.
“My guess is the little computer in the avionics bay was damaged by fire; and issued spurious warnings, which were in fact the box screaming for help,” one security expert told The Telegraph.
Apple Inc fell by 0.18% on Monday to close the day at $119.04.