Flight recorder on EgyptAir MS804 indicates fire before crash

Audio from the flight recorder of crashed EgyptAir flight MS804 mentions a fire on board the plane in its final moments, the investigation committee said on Saturday, confirming what sources on the committee had previously told Reuters.

The Airbus A320 plunged into the eastern Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19. All 66 people on board were killed. The cause of the crash remains unknown.

Earlier analysis of the plane’s flight data recorder showed there had been smoke in the lavatory and avionics bay, while recovered wreckage from the jet’s front section showed signs of high temperature damage and soot.

Initial audio extracted from the flight deck voice recorder had indicated an attempt to put out a fire on the jet before it crashed, committee sources had told Reuters.

The committee said on Saturday it was still “too early to determine the reason or the place where that fire occurred.”

The committee also said the John Lethbridge vessel, belonging to Mauritius-based Deep Ocean Search, had completed its search for human remains, which will now be transferred to Cairo for DNA analysis.