Egypt says flight data recorder of doomed plane recovered

The second black box of the crashed EgyptAir plane has been retrieved, Egyptian investigators said on Friday.

The Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that the analysis of the two “black boxes” may take weeks.

On May 19, EgyptAir flight MS804 – en route to Cairo from Paris – disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea shortly after entering Egyptian airspace. Both should help investigators determine what caused Flight MS804 to crash last month, killing all 66 people aboard. Investigators also hope the black boxes will offer clues as to why there was no distress call.

No group has claimed responsibility for bringing down the plane, but investigation sources have said that it is too early to rule out any causes, including terrorism.

The Egyptian investigation committee said preparations were under way to transfer the two flight recorders to Alexandria where they will be received by an official from the general prosecutor’s office and investigators.

While the statement didn’t elaborate on the condition of the recorder, it implied that the memory unit had been safely recovered.

The second “black box” of the crashed “EgyptAir Airlines” aircraft was found in the Mediterranean Sea.

The devices are now on their way back to Alexandria, Egypt, for evaluation, the accident investigation committee said.

The memory units inside the recorders can provide key data, including the last conversations inside the cockpit, information about auto-pilot mode or even smoke alarms.

“We will be having a wealth of information that helps the investigators eliminate some possibilities while giving priority to others”, said Hani Galal, an Egyptian aviation expert. It disappeared when it was at an altitude of about 10,000ft (3,048m). Honeywell, the USA technology company that manufactured the cockpit voice recorder, is also providing technical support.

Wreckage from the plane and body parts have been found east of the plane’s last reported location. Investigators said earlier that they had narrowed down search area to a five-kilometer (three-mile) radius of the Mediterranean.

Egypt’s aviation industry has been under global scrutiny since October 31, 2015, when a Russian Airbus A321 flying to St. Petersburg from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard.