A team of investigators from France has arrived in Malta to probe Monday’s plane crash as the island’s worst aviation incident of modern times continues to be shrouded in mystery.

Sources close to the French Defence Ministry have told French journalists that the investigations were being conducted by a special team of investigators, who were sent to Malta to establish what had caused the light aircraft to come crashing down, killing all five Frenchmen on board.

Questions sent by the Times of Malta to the French Ministry of Defence remained unanswered at the time of writing.

Sources said the French investigators briefly examined the wreckage before it was loaded onto an open skip and taken to “a safe place” where it would be examined in more detail. The road is expected to be reopened soon.

The French meet such incidents with a wall of silence

The sources said there was a “strong possibility” that the wreckage would be flown off the island for more detailed forensic examinations but this could only happen when and if the Maltese inquiring Magistrate, Doreen Clarke, gave her go-ahead.

Contrary to standard procedure in aviation disasters, the names of the passengers were not released by the authorities. What is known about them is that the men were officials from the agency for external security, DGSE.

Three of the deceased men were directly employed by the security agency, the French defence ministry confirmed in the hours following the crash, while the other two were employed by CAE Aviation – the firm that leased the plane to the French government.

Sources close to the French government told the Times of Malta that such incidents were met with a wall of silence, in line with French military tradition, as they concerned the country’s intelligence operations.

The five men’s remains have not been released by the inquiring magistrate but have been put at the disposal of the French team. Meanwhile, Transport Malta yesterday refused to reply to questions directly related to the aircraft’s safety certification.

The transport watchdog was asked whether it had requested a safety certificate from the plane’s operators, since it had been in Malta for some five months.

However, the spokesman refused to reply, citing the investigation. “It is not prudent to comment, since there is an ongoing inquiry and investigation,” he said curtly.

matthew.xuereb@timesofmalta.com