Investigators Reportedly Received Signals from Crashed EgyptAir Plane’s Black Box

Electronic signals presumed to come from a black box of the EgyptAir passenger jet that crashed last month, have been detected in the Mediterranean, AP reported on Wednesday.

The newswire quoted an announcement from Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry as saying French Navy vessel Laplace had received the signals from deep under the Mediterranean. The ministry had received the information from the committee investigating the crash. According to the Egyptian announcement, the signals were assumed “to be from one of the data recorders" of the plane, AP said.

The French Navy had confirmed the Laplace arrived on Tuesday in the search area and picked up the signals "overnight," the AP added.

The frequencies of the signals could match with the frequencies of data recorders, a French Navy spokesman has told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity. The spokesman has added that the search was at an early stage with the location and identification of the source of the signals yet to be determined.

Retrieving from the seabed the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, known as the black boxes, can help resolve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of EgyptAir Flight MS804 with 66 passengers and crew on board on May 19. The Airbus A320 en route to Cairo from Paris crashed in the Mediterranean some 290 km from the Egyptian port city of Alexandria with no obvious explanation.

The cause of the crash remains a mystery but Egypt's civil aviation minister has said the possibility of a terror attack was stronger than equipment failure. Investigators said last month that smoke had been detected in the cabin of the aircraft three minutes before it disappeared from radar screens. Yet, no group has claimed to have downed the plane.

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