Memorial for victims of the 2004 French plane crash
1. Wide of Sharm el-Sheik memorial
2. Flags
3. French Transport and Tourism Minister Dominique Perben lays wreath and stands beside his Egyptian counterpart Zohair Garanah
4. Close-up of wreath
5. Family members going to memorial
6. Various of crying relatives at memorial
7. Various of pictures placed at memorial
8. SOUNDBITE: (French) Dominique Perben, French Transport and Tourism Minister:
Myself, as a minister, I would like to send a message, namely the determination to work together with all nations for better security of civilians, and that the international community, along with the French initiative should take stricter measures for protection.
9. Wide of the memorial
10. Close-up of a teddy bear
11. SOUNDBITE: (French) Andre Sadegout, lost his son and grandson in the crash:
We''re very unhappy. We lost our son and grandson. We assisted at the cremation and it''s very, very hard. Today we''re here at the memorial. It''s very beautiful, but it hurts despite of the passage of two years now. We''re suffering tremendously.
12. Various of family members
13. Wide of the boat carrying family members to where the plane crashed
14. Family members throwing flowers into the sea at the crash site
15. Wide of boats
STORYLINE:
Mourners sailed into the Red Sea on Wednesday to throw flowers, photos, and in some cases, the cremated ashes of their relatives who died in a 2004 plane crash into the water.
The crash off the coast of the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik killed all 148 passengers and crew aboard the privately chartered Boeing 737.
Earlier, French Transport and Tourism Minister Dominique Perben and his Egyptian counterpart, Zohair Garanah, unveiled a large sculpture, comprised of eight columns in a semicircle that list, in French and Arabic, the names of the victims.
Most onboard were French tourists returning to Paris from the popular resort on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula.
About 150 relatives, most of them flown from France, gathered on a hill overlooking the site of the crash to unveil the monument, which included an aluminium sculpture of birds that oscillate in the wind.
Some choked back tears as they listened to the imam of a local mosque reflect on how large-scale accidents can make people appreciate the value of life.
A French priest also gave words of support.
The Boeing 737, operated by the charter company Flash Airlines, crashed on 2 January 2004, killing 134 French tourists as well as one Moroccan and 13 Egyptians.
Perben told families that the Sharm el-Sheik accident had brought about upgrades in safety regulations on commercial jets.
In his speech, Garanah told the families that Egypt would shed light on how the crash occurred.
Garanah thanked French authorities for their role in the investigation and for standing with Egypt and supporting its tourism after the accident.
He invited the international community to continue to provide technical assistance to the Egyptian investigation.
Egyptian investigators said in March that technical failures likely caused the crash, but a French team blamed the Egyptian crew for failing to react quickly enough.
Transcripts from the cabin of Flash Airlines flight FSH604 showed confusion among the crew as the plane banked heavily to the right seconds after take off from Sharm el-Sheik.
The plane crashed into the Red Sea about three minutes after take off.
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Report blames technical failure for 2004 crash of airliner that killed 148
SHOTLIST
1. Exterior of conference centre
2. Close up of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) sign
3. Wide of the conference hall
4. Medium shot of the audience
5. SOUNDBITE: (French) Paul Louis Arslanian, Head of the French Air Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA):
Considering the complexity of this investigation, differences in the interpretation of the cause of the accident still exist. These differences deal essentially with the interpretation of the facts leading to the accident and mainly with the physiological aspects and the way the crew faced the event, and they are in our comments, they appeared clearly in our comments.
6. Cutaway of Arslanian
7. SOUNDBITE: (French) Paul Louis Arslanian, Head of the French Air Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA):
For us the key issue is that the plain remained operational during the whole event.
8. Cutaway of audience
9. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Shaker Kelada, Head of the Egyptian investigation committee:
Something abnormal happened in the cabin and the reaction of the crew, when they realised it, was the right one but the time left was not enough to rescue the aeroplane. This is the Egyptian committee's opinion and in the Egyptian report there are differences between the French opinion and the American one. The French agreed with two of the technical defects and the interference of the pilot but the American opinion says that there are no defects in the plane.
10. Wideshot of the podium
FILE
Sharm el Sheik, 4 January 2004
11. Various shots of the debris of the aeroplane in the Red Sea
STORYLINE
An Egyptian investigation blamed technical failure for a January 2004 crash of a passenger jet carrying French tourists from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, the head of the investigation announced on Saturday.
The report also said that the Egyptian pilot of the Flash Airlines flight appeared to have been disoriented about the plane's position as the craft apparently banked too far moments after taking off from Sharm el-Sheik.
The plane crashed into the sea about three minutes after takeoff and the 148 people on board, passengers and crew, died in the accident.
The report listed four possible causes for the January 2 crash, all technical - a fault in the airlerons, which controls the aircraft's roll; a temporary jam in either a cable or wheel in the left spoiler, a plate on the wing that regulates lift; or a fault in the autopilot that prevented it turning on.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737 owned by the charter airline, was carrying 134 French tourists returning home to Paris from the popular resort on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, as well as a Moroccan and 13 Egyptians.
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FLASH AIRLINES CRASH
Flash Airlines crash : on January 3, 2004, the Boeing 737, charter flight 604 crashed into the Red Sea shortly after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
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