Egyptian crash victims flown home

The coffins of the Egyptian victims are loaded in Bahrain

The bodies of 56 Egyptians killed in the Gulf Air plane crash have been flown back to Egypt for burial amid emotional scenes at Cairo aiport.

Hundreds of distraught relatives gathered at the airport to meet the special flight, crying and screaming as the wooden coffins were carried to a fleet of waiting ambulances.

Distraught relatives returned from Bahrain with the bodies of their loved ones

A total of 64 Egyptians were among the 143 people killed on Wednesday when Flight 072 from Cairo crashed into the sea near Bahrain, just before it was due to land.

Seven of the Egyptian bodies have been kept in Bahrain because of doubts over their identities. The body of one of the Egyptians, a member of the crew who lived in Bahrain, is likely to be buried there.

In Bahrain, some of the relatives who had gone to identify the dead, lashed out as they queued to board the plane back to Cairo.

Some shouted "Unbelievers!" at waiting journalists, while several women fainted and were helped into wheelchairs by medical staff.

Identity mix-ups

Gulf Air and the Egyptian authorities have mounted a huge operation to bring home the dead and care for the families.

A formal inquiry into the crash has begun

Three medics and two clerics were on board the special flight from Bahrain and special tents for the mourners have been set up at Cairo airport.

Bahraini crash victims, and those from neighbouring Gulf Arab states have already been buried.

Ibrahim Abdullah al-Hammar, Bahrain's Transport Ministry undersecretary for civil aviation, said 130 bodies had so far been handed over to their families.

However some families have said that there have been mix-ups in identifying the bodies. A Christian woman at Cairo airport said one relative had been buried as a Muslim by a Bahraini family.

Investigation

As the bodies of the victims were repatriated, Bahraini, French and American investigators launched a formal inquiry into the crash of the Airbus A320.

Bahrain was also due to hand over the plane's two flight recorders to US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) experts for analysis.

Mourning the pilot, Captain Ihsan Shakeeb

Gulf Air said the black boxes would be flown to Washington on Saturday, accompanied by two of the airline's senior staff members and one of the crash investigators.

The chief pilot of Gulf Air's Airbus A320 fleet, Captain Hamid Ali, rejected reports that pilot error was behind the crash.

He defended 37-year-old pilot Ihsan Shakeeb, saying he was considered "very experienced" with 6,856 flying hours - much more than the minimum 4,000 required.

The pilot's wife, Tracey Shakeeb, said her husband had worked for Gulf Air for many years and knew the aircraft inside out.

"He was in a high-risk job. But in conversations with him, he always assured me of his confidence in the company and its aircraft," she said.