Advertisement

Submarine to join the search for EgyptAir Flight 804’s black box

Click to play video: 'EgyptAir Flight 804: New audio released from on board crashed flight'
EgyptAir Flight 804: New audio released from on board crashed flight
WATCH ABOVE: The search intensifies in the Mediterranean for more wreckage from EgyptAir Flight 804 including the plane's black boxes. The plane, traveling from Paris to Cairo, crashed into the sea last week killing all 66 people on board. Jonathan Vigliotti reports – May 23, 2016

CAIRO – Egypt’s president said on Sunday a submarine belonging to his country’s Oil Ministry was headed to the site of the crash of EgyptAir Flight-804 in the eastern Mediterranean to join the search for the cockpit voice and flight data recorders, commonly known as black boxes.

WATCH: Egyptian submarine joins hunt for EgyptAir Flight 804 black boxes. Aarti Pole reports.

Click to play video: 'Hunt is on for black boxes of Egypt Air Flight 804'
Hunt is on for black boxes of Egypt Air Flight 804

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi also said Egypt was jointly investigating the Thursday crash with the French government. “It is very, very important to us to establish the circumstances that led to the crash of that aircraft,” he said in comments broadcast live on Egyptian TV channels.

Story continues below advertisement

He said the submarine, which has the capacity to operate at a depth of 3,000 metres (9842 feet) below the surface, left for the site Sunday. He gave no further details.

READ MORE: Smoke, cockpit trouble in chaotic finale moments for EgyptAir plane

Making his first public comments since the crash of the Airbus A320 while en route from Paris to Cairo, el-Sissi says it “will take time” to determine the exact cause of the crash, which killed all 66 people on board.

WATCH: An international search is taking place in the Mediterranean Sea, where EgyptAir Flight 804 went down with 66 people on board.  Jeff Semple reports from Paris. 
Click to play video: 'Search for EgyptAir Flight 804 black boxes, as debris and remains turn up'
Search for EgyptAir Flight 804 black boxes, as debris and remains turn up

He thanked the nations that have joined Egyptian navy ships and aircraft in the search for the wreckage and started his comments with a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

READ MORE: Marwa Hamdy identified as Canadian on Flight MS804

El-Sissi also cautioned the media against premature speculation on the cause of the crash.

Story continues below advertisement

“There is not one scenario that we can exclusively subscribe to … all scenarios are possible,” he said.

El-Sissi spoke a day after the leak of flight data showing trouble in the cockpit and smoke in a plane lavatory aboard the doomed aircraft, bringing into focus the chaotic final moments of the flight, including a three-minute period before contact was lost as alarms on the plane screeched one after another.

WATCH: Egyptian military released video of debris from EgyptAir flight 804

Click to play video: 'Egyptian military released video of debris from EgyptAir flight 804'
Egyptian military released video of debris from EgyptAir flight 804

Officials have been cautioning that it was still too early to say what happened to the aircraft, but mounting evidence points to a sudden, dramatic catastrophe that led to the crash.

Egypt’s military on Saturday released the first images of aircraft debris plucked from the sea, including personal items and damaged seats. Egypt is leading a multi-nation effort to search for the plane’s black boxes and other clues that could help explain its sudden plunge into the sea.

Story continues below advertisement

“If they lost the aircraft within three minutes that’s very, very quick,” said aviation security expert Philip Baum. “They were dealing with an extremely serious incident.”

READ MORE: Flight MS804: What caused EgyptAir plane crash? A look at possible scenarios

Authorities say the plane lurched left, then right, spun all the way around and plummeted 38,000 feet (11,582 metres) into the sea – never issuing a distress call.

Investigators have been poring over the plane’s passenger list and questioning ground crew at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport, where the airplane took off. Beside Egypt, ships and planes from Britain, Cyprus, France, Greece and the United States are taking part searching a wide area of sea 180 miles (290 kilometres) north of the Egyptian port city of Alexandria.

The EgyptAir tragedy deepens the country’s struggle to revive its battered economy. While it may not reflect directly on security at Egypt’s airports – which has been under international scrutiny since a Russian airliner crashed in the Sinai Peninsula in October after taking off from an Egyptian resort – the country’s association with yet another air disaster will further damage its vital but currently depressed tourism industry.

Sponsored content

AdChoices