Signals heard from EgyptAir crash site in Mediterranean

By Mahmoud al-Husseini

CAIRO

An Egyptian investigative committee said Wednesday that it had received signals that might have emanated from the black boxes aboard EgyptAir flight MS804, which crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on May 19 with 66 people aboard.

The signals were detected one week after a deal was signed between the Egyptian authorities and a multinational company to cooperate in the search for the plane wreckage.

"Listening devices aboard the French naval vessel Laplace, which has participated in the search for the black boxes received signals from the bottom of the [Mediterranean] sea in the crash area," read a statement released Wednesday by the investigative committee.

Search efforts have since been stepped up in the area with a view to recovering the black boxes, which contain flight data records, it added.

On May 19, EgyptAir flight MS804 -- flying from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board -- disappeared shortly after entering Egyptian airspace.

The following day, Egyptian state television said the army had found some plane wreckage in the eastern Mediterranean.

The ill-fated aircraft had been carrying 30 Egyptians and 15 French nationals, along with 21 others of various nationalities.

Both the French and Egyptian authorities have since launched investigations to determine the cause of the crash, which remains unknown until now.