Egyptian submarines search for black boxes of crashed EgyptAir plane

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah Al Sissi says submarines were deployed on Sunday to search for the black boxes of the crashed plane which had 66 people on board.

The black box contains recordings which can help investigators to know the reasons for the crash.

“Search equipment has moved today, it’s not a secret, from the oil ministry. They have a submarine that can reach 3,000 metres under water. It moved today in the direction of the plane crash site because we are working hard to salvage the black boxes, which include data and recordings that will help to a great extent in knowing the reasons behind the plane crash,” Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi said.

Egypt sending submarine to site of EgyptAir crash to search for black boxes: https://t.co/RCi9sMcvJI

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 22, 2016

The Egyptian navy has announced that they have so far found human remains, wreckage and the personal belongings of passengers floating in the Mediterranean about 290 kilometres north of Alexandria.

President Al-Sissi has called on the press not to hastily draw conclusions about what probably caused the crash.

“It’s very important to know that there is no scenario that we can confirm yet. I wish to take this opportunity, with all of us here, to say to both the Egyptian and foreign media: so far, all scenarios are possible. So please, it is very important that we do not talk and say there is a specific scenario,” Al-Sissi added.

According to French investigators, the plane had sent a series of warnings indicating that smoke had been detected on board, although it was not clear what caused the smoke.