Analysis & Opinions - CNN

EgyptAir Downing: What We Don't Know is Vital

| May 19, 2016

EgyptAir Flight 804's downing is a tragedy. But we still don't know what kind of tragedy. While Donald Trump's certainty that it was a terrorist act may assure some, and could even be accurate, this isn't how investigations like this work. Theories serve only as a way to guide this investigation, but it is facts that will tell us what actually happened. And that matters not simply for the future safety of the global aviation network, but for the stresses on America's own aviation apparatus.

As data, sometimes conflicting, sometimes simply inaccurate, comes through over the next couple of days, it should be somewhat reassuring to recognize that the potential explanations are limited. Planes do not simply fall from the sky. The most likely theories of the case are that it was either pilot error, mechanical failure, or some purposeful disruption like terrorism....

Continue reading: http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/19/opinions/egyptair-crash-security-issues-opinion-kayyem/

For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Kayyem, Juliette.“EgyptAir Downing: What We Don't Know is Vital.” CNN, May 19, 2016.

The Author

Juliette Kayyem Headshot

Juliette Kayyem

  • Member of the Board, Belfer Center
  • Belfer Senior Lecturer in International Security, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Faculty Director, Homeland Security Project
  • Faculty Affiliate, Middle East Initiative
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