A black box recording from the EgyptAir jet that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea last month has confirmed there was smoke on board.
The two MS804 flight recorders recovered from the Mediterranean Sea. Photo: AFP PHOTO / MEDIA CENTER OF THE EGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION
All 66 people on board flight MS804 died when the plane, travelling from Paris to Cairo, vanished from radar. It was later found to have plunged into the sea.
The plane's black boxes were recovered from a depth of 3000m.
Data from them has backed automated electronic messages sent by the Airbus A320 showing smoke was detected.
Automated electronic messages sent by the plane had earlier shown that smoke detectors went off in a toilet and in the avionics area below the cockpit, minutes before the plane disappeared.
Investigators said the black box data was consistent with those messages and that part of the front section of the wreckage "showed sign of high temperature damage" and soot.
The team appeared to think the Airbus A320 was not brought down deliberately.
No distress call was made from the jet, and the cause of the crash remains unknown.
Radar data showed the plane turned 90 degrees left then 360 degrees right, dropping from 11,300m to 4600m and then 3000m before it disappeared.
- BBC
