EgyptAir Flight 804 update: Investigators detect signals from the missing plane
Wed Jun 01, 2016 04:29:pm Africa
3.3K By Buchi Obichie
CNN reports that a specialized locator equipment on board the French vessel La Place, has detected a signal from the sea-bed in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Egyptian investigative committee said in a statement that the signal is "assumed to be from one of the data recorders"of missing EgyptAir flight 804.
The plane, which had 66 people aboard, allegedly crashed in the Mediterranean Sea on May 19, while on a flight from Paris to Cairo.
Since then, authorities have been searching for wreckage and the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders, which could reveal evidence about what caused the crash.
Authorities hope to locate the data recorders, so a specialized vessel managed by the Deep Ocean Search company can then retrieve them. That vessel is set to join the search team within a week, the investigative committee said.
So far, search teams have found small pieces of debris, victims' remains and personal effects from the plane. They haven't found the aircraft's fuselage.
There have been previous claims by investigators regarding having detected a signal from the plane.
Last week, a lead investigator in the search said airplane manufacturer Airbus, had detected signals from the plane's Emergency Locator Transmitter; a device that can manually or automatically activate at impact and will usually send a distress signal.
The signals gave investigators a more specific location to detect pings from the black boxes.
Time is of the essence; as the batteries powering the flight recorders' locator beacons are certified to emit high-pitched signals for about 30 days after they get wet.
The data recorders have been fixtures on commercial flights around the world for decades.
The flight data recorder gathers 25 hours of technical data from the airplane's sensors, recording several thousand distinct pieces of information.
In the meantime, a case of terrorism and the chances of a blast aboard the aircraft have not been ruled out.
The Egyptian government has said that the plane was more likely to have been brought down by an act of terrorism than a mechanical fault.
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