Cairo: The contents of the black box from the EgyptAir jet that crashed on Thursday will be analysed in Egypt if it is found intact, air accident investigator Hani Galal told Egyptian private broadcaster CBC on Monday.
The recorder will be sent abroad for analysis if it is found in a damaged state, he said. Egyptian officials were able to track the plane for one minute before it crashed but were unable to communicate with the crew, the head of Egypt's National Navigation Services Company told the same channel.
Egyptian officials did not see the plane swerve, Ehab Mohieeldin added, contradicting comments made by the Greek defence minister.
EgyptAir flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean Sea. In an earlier report, France's air accident investigation agency said the jet sent a series of signals indicating that smoke had been detected on board before it crashed into the Mediterranean on May 19.
On March 21, Egyptian military had found human remains, wreckage and the personal belongings of passengers floating in the Mediterranean, which was the first confirmation that flight MS804 had plunged into the sea.
The navy was searching an area about 290 km north of Alexandria, just south of where the signal from the plane was lost early on Thursday. There was no sign of the bulk of the wreckage, or of a location signal from the "black box" flight recorders that are likely to provide the best clues to the cause of the crash.
