The Egyptian military has released images of items found during the search in the Mediterranean Sea for missing Egypt Air flight MS804.
The photos reportedly show debris from the missing EgyptAir A320. Photo: AFP/ Egyptian military spokesperson's Facebook page
They include life vests, parts of seats and objects clearly marked EgyptAir.
The Airbus A320 was en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people aboard when it vanished from radar early on Thursday.
Investigators have confirmed smoke was detected in various parts of the cabin three minutes before it disappeared, but said the cause is still not known.
More debris recovered from the sea. Photo: AFP/ Egyptian military spokesperson's Facebook page
A service was held for EgyptAir hostess Yara Hani (pictured). Photo: AFP
Speaking on Saturday (local time) after meeting relatives of victims, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said "all theories are being examined and none is favoured".
Images posted on the Facebook page of the spokesman for the Egyptian Armed Forces showed life vests and other items with the EgyptAir logo.
The search has also reportedly found body parts and luggage.
The main body of the plane and the two "black boxes" which show flight data and cockpit transmissions have not yet been located.
While no bodies have been recovered, memorials have been taking place for the victims.
A service was held in a Cairo church on Saturday for air hostess Yara Hani, who was aboard the doomed plane.
The photos reportedly show debris from the missing EgyptAir A320. Photo: AFP/ Egyptian military spokesperson's Facebook page
Smoke alarms
The Aviation Herald said that smoke detectors had gone off in the toilet and the aircraft's electronics before the signal was lost.
It said it had received flight data filed through the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) from three independent channels.
It said the system showed that at 2.26am (local time) on Thursday smoke was detected in the jet's toilet.
A minute later there was an avionics alert indicating smoke in the bay below the cockpit that contains aircraft electronics and computers.
Contact with the plane was lost at 2.33am.
ACARS is used to routinely download flight data to the airline operating the aircraft.
French Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault. Photo: AFP
Confirming the data, France's Bureau of Investigations and Analysis told AFP it was "far too soon to interpret and understand the cause of the accident as long as we have not found the wreckage or the flight data recorders".
Agency spokesman Sebastien Barthe told Associated Press the messages "generally mean the start of a fire" but added: "We are drawing no conclusions from this. Everything else is pure conjecture."
Philip Baum, the editor of Aviation Security International Magazine, told the BBC that technical failure could not be ruled out.
"There was smoke reported in the aircraft lavatory, then smoke in the avionics bay, and over a period of three minutes the aircraft's systems shut down, so you know, that's starting to indicate that it probably wasn't a hijack, it probably wasn't a struggle in the cockpit, it's more likely a fire on board."
-BBC
