Investigators retrieve black box of crashed EgyptAir plane

Egyptian officials say the device was found broken into pieces but experts retrieved the crucial memory unit.

A search team has recovered the cockpit voice recorder from EgyptAir flight MS804 that crashed into the Mediterranean last month, killing all the 66 passengers on board.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Egypt said the device was found broken into pieces but somehow the experts have managed to retrieve the recorder's crucial memory unit.

The Airbus A320 crashed on May 19 while flying from Paris to Cairo. Since then, the search teams have been working to locate the wreckage and to recover the two black box recorders. The black box keeps a track of all the conversations and other sounds in the pilots' cabin and hence it becomes an important part in understanding the reasons behind any disaster.

The public prosecutor of Egypt said that the recovered device should be handed over to Egyptian air accident investigators for analysis.

Meanwhile, two specialist vessels, John Lethbridge and Laplace are still searching for the second black box, which is supposed to contain the flight data recorder. The team has to still detect the signals from the device.

Usually, the black boxes are located in the tail of a plane; hence the search becomes easier if the wreckage and one of the boxes are recovered.

On Monday, the investigation committee said the experts are expecting the black boxes to stop emitting signals around June 24, making it difficult for the teams to find the second device as the plane crashed in one of the deepest parts in the Mediterranean Sea.

Based on the radar imagery that was obtained from the Egyptian military, the investigation team indicated that the plane had turned sharply to the left and then went around 360 degrees to the right before it disappeared from the radar.

However, the investigation sources have said that it is too early to rule out any possibilities, including terrorism.

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