Father-of-two Richard Osman – a geologist working for mining company Centamin – was one of 66 passengers on board EgyptAir MS804 when it crashed into the Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo last May. No one survived.
Egyptian authorities have long believed that the jet was brought down by a bomb placed on board at Charles de Gaulle Airport in the French capital.
The theory gained further credibility last December when an Egyptian investigative committee claimed it had found traces of explosives on the victims’ remains.
But a source this week told the AFP news agency that there were ‘no explosive charges’ aboard the plane and ‘no traces of powder were found’.
The source added that the lack of explosive material ‘closes the door’ on the theory that the jet was downed by a bomb.
No terrorist group has ever claimed responsibility for the crash.
French investigators have always worked on the belief that a mechanical fault caused the crash, claiming that a fire broke out in or close to the cockpit. The plane then plunged 22,000 feet before disappearing from radar.
Earlier this year French newspaper, Le Parisien, citing Air Transport Gendarmerie investigation documents, reported on an alternative theory that the blaze began when the co-pilot’s mobile phone over-heated and caught fire in the cockpit.
