Egypt deploys submarine to find crashed jet's black boxes

Cairo Egypt on Sunday deployed a submarine to hunt for the crucial black boxes of an EgyptAir plane in the Mediterranean President AbdelFattah alSisi said as he asserted that no theory was being favoured in the probe into what caused the jet to crash with 66 people on boardA submarine belonging to Egypts Oil Ministry that could operate at a depth of 3000 metres under the sea level had been deployed for the purpose Sisi said in a live televised address also his first public comments on Thursdays crashThis submarine moved today in the direction of the plane crash because we are working hard to retrieve the two boxes which are the black boxes he said in remarks that began with a minute of silence adding All the theories are possibleThere is no particular theory we can affirm right now he added even as the Egyptian aviation minister had earlier said that terrorism was more likely than technical failure in causing the illfated EgyptAir Flight MS804 en route from Paris to Cairo to plunge into the watersInvestigators continued to piece together clues for a potential breakthrough even as some reports of an audio from the jet and even of locating the black boxes emergedMultinational searchers scouring the waters 290 kms north of Alexandria have made headway by recovering debris passengers belongings body parts luggage and aircraft seats from the jet that initially went missing and was later declared crashedSisi said it is very very important to us to establish the circumstances that led to the crash of that aircraft even as he pointed out it will take time to determine the exact cause of the tragedy that has seen no survivors His remarks come a day after French authorities also said all theories are being examined and none is favouredSmoke was detected inside the cabin of the Airbus A320 minutes before it plunged into the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people on board including children Frances aviation safety agency said the plane had transmitted automated messages indicating smoke in the cabin and the pilots flight control unitHowever reports said the first available audio from the plane showed the pilot in normal contact with Swiss air traffic controllers hours before officials lost contact with the jetControl EgyptAir804 contact Padova 120 decimal 725 good night Pilot This is 0725 Padova control Unintelligible 804 Thank you so much Good day er good night This and the smoke alerts indicate a sudden dramatic turn of events that led to the plane making sudden swerves before dropping off radar over the Mediterranean It made a 90degree turn left and then dropped from 37000 feet to 15000 feet before swerving 360 degrees rightEgypts military displayed wreckage and personal belongings yesterday The chunks of debris included an uninflated life vest a seat a purse shoes carpet a scarf parts of chairs and cushions and a sling bag The EgyptAir label appeared on one piece of wreckageEgyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the search is ongoing It has uncovered initial pieces of the aircraft body parts belongings of the deceased and it will continue hopefully until we can ascertain exactly where the plane has gone down he told CNNShoukry said it was not clear how long the searchers will take to recover the cockpit voice and flight data recorders the socalled black boxes to shed crucial information about what was going on during the final moments before the crashWe do not I think have the technical abilities to operate in such deep waters whereas many of our partners might have this facility he said referring to the US France Britain Russia and others cooperating in the searchMeanwhile CBS News quoting an Egyptian government source reported that search crews located the data recorders close to an area where human remains and debris from the crashed flight were found The report further said there hasbeen no official confirmation and EgyptAir did not confirm or deny that the black boxes have been locatedFrench authorities have said that finding the plane is of course the priority along with finding the black boxes to analyse them which will allow us to answer legitimate questionsFrances dual goal is to offer solidarity with the families but also transparency on the circumstances of this planes disappearance said Foreign Minister JeanMarc Ayrault at yesterdays news conference with the families of the victims that include 30 Egyptians 15 French two Iraqis and one person each from the UK Belgium Kuwait Saudi Arabia Sudan Chad Portugal Algeria and CanadaThe tragedy has raised fears of a repeat of the bombing of a Russian passenger jet by the Islamic State over Egypt last October that killed all 224 people on board though the dreaded group has not claimed reponsibility for the crash despite issuing a new video yesterday that called for attackson the US and European countries during Ramzan