Signals detected from crashed EgyptAir black boxes in Mediterranean

CAIRO, May 26 (UPI) -- Signals have been detected from the emergency transmitter on crashed EgyptAir Flight MS804, investigators said Thursday.

The EgyptAir flight crashed May 19 into the Mediterranean Sea north of Alexandria, Egypt, killing all 66 on board. Egyptian investigators said they can now narrow their search to a three-mile area, due to signals they received from one of three pieces of locator equipment on the plane.

A French ship with detection equipment was sent to the location in hopes of finding the plane's black box data recorders, said Ayman al-Muqaddam, head of the investigation team. Another company is searching multiple locations over a 20-nautical-mile radius where the boxes might be.

Egyptian and French submarines are searching the area, but others equipped with deep sea robotics could be added, allowing searchers to reach depths of 10,000 feet.

The Airbus 320 was en route from Paris to Cairo when it dropped off the radar near Greek airspace. There were 66 people on board -- 56 passengers, two cockpit crew, five cabin crew and three security personnel. Among them were 30 Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis, and one each from Britain, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Chad, Portugal, Algeria and Canada.

Debris from the aircraft, passenger belongings and some human remains have been found in the waters off the Egyptian coast.