The chief investigator in the EgyptAir plane crash says search teams in the Mediterranean have picked up a beacon believed to be from the fallen aircraft.
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Egypt has hired a recovery company to help find EgyptAir Flight 804’s wreckage and black boxes in an area of the Mediterranean Sea narrowed down to about 3 miles wide.
Media reports on Thursday suggested that a new signal had allowed officials to further home in on where the black box recorders might be located.
France’s air accident investigation agency has said a French naval ship specializing in underwater searches will help search for the black boxes.
The Airbus 330 has three emergency locator transmitters, including one in the tail of the plane, which also houses the flight data recorders – but authorities could not determine which transmitter was emitting the signal.
The investigation into the crash is led by an Egyptian-headed committee.
Small pieces of the wreckage and human remains have already been recovered while the bulk of the plane and the bodies of the passengers are believed to be deep under the sea.
The BEA said the La Place left Corsica on Thursday and was heading towards the search zone north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria, where it would begin operations within days.
” It is interesting to mention that the French ship used for the research will be equipped with Alseamar, considered the best equipment ” to detect signals from the black boxes, said the Egyptian Ministry.
Separately, the plane transmitted a series of seven emergency messages indicating smoke had been detected in two locations and noting unspecified problems with cockpit windows and flight computers.
The BEA added that discussions are still underway to add a second ship to the search force; the latter vessel would carry an underwater robot capable of lifting debris from extreme depths.
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More than a week after the Airbus A320 crashed on May 19 with 66 people on board, including 30 Egyptians and 15 from France, investigators have no clear picture of its final moments.
