The flight took off at 04:44 Eastern European Time (0244 GMT) from runway 22R at the Egyptian resort en route to Paris via Cairo. After taking off, the aircraft should have climbed and initiated a left turn to follow the air corridor to Cairo designated by the Sharm el-Sheikh VOR station. The captain appeared surprised when the autopilot was engaged, which he immediately switched off again. The copilot warned the captain that the bank angle was increasing. At a bank angle of 40 degrees to the right, the captain said "OK come out".