The flight made an emergency midair U-turn shortly after taking off when the flight crew saw fire in the cockpit and noticed a “burnt electrical smell."
According to a 134-page report by French aviation experts, it has come into light that the 2016 crash of EgyptAir MS804 with 66 people on board was triggered by a fire in the cockpit which was caused by the pilot's cigarette.
reporter: it s an eerie feeling sitting in a cockpit virtually similar to the mh 370 missing flight. veteran pilot rob johnson activates the boeing 777 autopilot 20 seconds after takeoff. the autopilot follows waypoints along the flight path. it is land the plane if necessary. less than a hour into its flight mh 370 veered off the planned route. our simulator makes the same turn. nobody knows why one or both pilots decided to change course. or why the plane disappeared from civilian radar. the result of a massive electrical problem or someone switching off communication systems. other theories including a cockpit fire overtaking the
captain shah for any wrongdoing. as an average student in school he would not have been able to master mind such a plot. nobody knows why the plane lost contact. some theorize there could have been a massive electrical problem, a cockpit fire or a cabin fire turning it into a ghost plane. why isn t hasn t shown up yet, that is the true mystery of it. if it had crashed in the way we think it did, to hit the water and break up into pieces there would be pieces somewhere. aviation analyst jeff wise carried on his own theory. russian operatives who took the plane. none of these theories can be proven or disproven until some shred of the plane is found. even then we may never know exactly what happened. the families of those on board the plane still wait in agony for any news about their loved ones.
man. reporter: the pilot s sister today urged people to stop blaming her brother, saying as things stand today with no tangible evidence none of you have the right to blame him for any wrongdoing. even adding that as an average student in school he would not have been able to mastermind such a plot. nobody knows why the plane lost contact, but some aviation experts theorize there could have been a massive electrical problem or a cockpit fire or loss of cabin pressure and oxygen, turning it into a ghost plane. why something hasn t shown up yet, that is the true mystery of it because of the fact that if it had crashed, in the way we think it did which is to run out of fuel and hit the water and break up into pieces there would be pieces somewhere. reporter: aviation analyst jeff wise carried on his own investigation into the missing plane, and has another theory. russian hijackers who took the plane to kazahkstan for reasons