Apple sued over iPhone's alleged role in EgyptAir flight 804 crash
The claimants operating theory suggests that an overheating iPhone 6s or tablet caused the crash that killed 66 people in 2016.
Several survivors of victims of the EgyptAir crash have filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that an iPhone 6S or iPad Mini belonging to the copilot overheated in the cockpit and caught fire, leading to the crash. The suit was first reported by gossip website TMZ .
EgyptAir Flight 804 was a flight from Paris to Cairo that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on May 19, 2016, killing all 66 people aboard. Nearly two years later, the cause of the crash remains mysterious. Investigations continue, although many reports have stated that smoke had been detected on the plane.
Theories as to what caused the crash have run the gamut from terrorism to a fire that began in the plane's avionics bay.
Now, plaintiffs' attorneys think they've found a culprit for the mysterious crash: Apple. It's not clear how much money the suit is for, or what jurisdiction it was filed in.
A published investigation in early 2017 laid out the circumstantial case that a copilot had placed his iPhone and tablet on a glare-shield in the cockpit, as seen on CCTV cameras.
Experts pushed back on that theory. David Learmount, a former pilot and operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine, told The Daily Telegraph in 2017 that the theory was a "red herring," and far from the most plausible explanation.
"A phone bursting into flames just below the windscreen is a fairly spectacular thing to take place on a flight, and they would have told somebody on the ground. Nobody has mentioned this," Learmount said. "The key point is while there were warnings about the window heating systems, there were also smoke alarms in the toilet and avionics bay under the floor. How would the fire have got under there? It doesn't make sense."
Learmount believes that the computer in the avionics bay was damaged, and issued erroneous warnings to the pilot after a short-circuit or explosion.
There are no documented cases of an "exploding" iPhone causing a plane to crash. However, there were a couple of well-publicized incidents in 2016 in which smartphones either spontaneously combusted or otherwise began smoking on planes. One of them was in the news just weeks before the EgyptAir crash. None of those cases caused an explosion even remotely near large enough to threaten the plane itself or result in any fatalities.
For the Apple suit to succeed, attorneys will need to demonstrate that the iPhone caused the plane to crash, and that Apple was somehow culpable in the engineering surrounding the battery, resulting in the fire.
Several survivors of victims of the EgyptAir crash have filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that an iPhone 6S or iPad Mini belonging to the copilot overheated in the cockpit and caught fire, leading to the crash. The suit was first reported by gossip website TMZ .
EgyptAir Flight 804 was a flight from Paris to Cairo that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on May 19, 2016, killing all 66 people aboard. Nearly two years later, the cause of the crash remains mysterious. Investigations continue, although many reports have stated that smoke had been detected on the plane.
Theories as to what caused the crash have run the gamut from terrorism to a fire that began in the plane's avionics bay.
Now, plaintiffs' attorneys think they've found a culprit for the mysterious crash: Apple. It's not clear how much money the suit is for, or what jurisdiction it was filed in.
Not much substance, and a hard road
Also unclear is how the plaintiffs plan to establish that the iPhone or iPad caused the crash, or how they may determine that the copilot's device was responsible.A published investigation in early 2017 laid out the circumstantial case that a copilot had placed his iPhone and tablet on a glare-shield in the cockpit, as seen on CCTV cameras.
Experts pushed back on that theory. David Learmount, a former pilot and operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine, told The Daily Telegraph in 2017 that the theory was a "red herring," and far from the most plausible explanation.
"A phone bursting into flames just below the windscreen is a fairly spectacular thing to take place on a flight, and they would have told somebody on the ground. Nobody has mentioned this," Learmount said. "The key point is while there were warnings about the window heating systems, there were also smoke alarms in the toilet and avionics bay under the floor. How would the fire have got under there? It doesn't make sense."
Learmount believes that the computer in the avionics bay was damaged, and issued erroneous warnings to the pilot after a short-circuit or explosion.
There are no documented cases of an "exploding" iPhone causing a plane to crash. However, there were a couple of well-publicized incidents in 2016 in which smartphones either spontaneously combusted or otherwise began smoking on planes. One of them was in the news just weeks before the EgyptAir crash. None of those cases caused an explosion even remotely near large enough to threaten the plane itself or result in any fatalities.
For the Apple suit to succeed, attorneys will need to demonstrate that the iPhone caused the plane to crash, and that Apple was somehow culpable in the engineering surrounding the battery, resulting in the fire.
Comments
If the off-chance it WAS an iPhone, if it was the Pilot's own property and they were charging it in the cockpit - I'd say the blame lies solely with him/her for introducing that risk, not the device. Today's blame-culture is crazy.
Apple is not going to settle this case. They'll fight it, and I hope they sue for lawyer and other costs associated with this B.S. lawsuit.
Suits like this only reinforce the stereotype of lawyers as sleazy, greedy SOBs. The type of people that you do not want to associate with. So what happens if I DO have a legal problem? Where I should seek legal advice. Sorry but Perry Mason is gone. All people have to choose from are sleeze-balls that would sue their mother if they could make a buck? So why would I call one of them? At the very least they'll cost me a lot and I'll get no satisfaction. Even if I do 'win' the lawyer would get most of any award and I'd end up with nothing. So I might as well handle it myself.
I'm not saying that IS my opinion. Just that the legal profession has put themselves into this position. By not disciplining those that abuse the system, the view has arose among the public that it doesn't matter what your claim, status, or victimhood is, that a lawyer is always the bad guy. Is always working for themselves first. That the law is ruled by greed, and winning takes precedence over what is right, what is just.
Is there anyone in the legal profession that would be willing to answer this? How can we have a justice system when one of the most important parts of that system, the attorneys, has through their own actions become utterly unworthy of respect? What is the legal profession going to do to reform their image.
Any lawyers out there want to weigh in?
There are no limits to the greed of Lawyers
That's more like it IMHO.
Cant see this going anywhere without some more evidence.
I think the OP was correct. Lawyers can thrive only due to the greed of people.