French probe A320 fire

French aviation experts were investigating an Egyptian charter aircraft with a damaged power system that apparently triggered the start of a fire as the plane landed last week, officials said.

Smoke was seen coming from the rear of the Lotus Air’s Airbus A-320 after it landed on Thursday at Charles de Gaulle airport, said Jacques Lebrot, prefect in charge of the airport. He described the smoke as the “start of a fire”.

The plane, coming from Cairo, carried 163 passengers and seven crew members, he said.

The incident came less than three weeks after the January 3 crash into the Red Sea of a charter plane flying for another Egyptian company, Flash Airlines, that killed all 148 people aboard – mostly French tourists.

The Flash Airlines crash raised questions about the safety of charter flights.

Lebrot, speaking by telephone, confirmed a report in the daily Le Parisien that the Lotus Air fuselage had a hole 40 centimetres in diameter. He said two metallic parts were found on the runway but stressed that it was not immediately known whether these pieces came from the Lotus Air plane.

The Accident Investigation Bureau, or BEA, said it had opened an inquiry. Lebrot said the plane’s two black boxes were being analysed and the investigation could be completed by next week.

A statement by the BEA referred to an “incident” concerning the auxiliary power group, located in the tail of the aircraft, “that caused damage in the neighbouring zone”. The auxiliary power group furnishes electricity once the plane is on the ground.

“The aircraft, not being in a state to return, as the crew … confirmed, is immobilised at Roissy” (Charles de Gaulle), the BEA statement said.