1st LD: Crashed EgyptAir flight's cockpit voice recorder recovered, found damaged

The Egyptian Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee said Thursday the cockpit voice recorder of crashed EgyptAir flight MS804 has been recovered but found damaged.

"The device has been recovered in several stages as it was found damaged, but the vessel managed to salvage the part containing the memory unit, which is the most important in the voice recorder," the investigation committee said in a statement.

EgyptAir Flight MS804, an Airbus A320, went missing from radar screens on May 19 en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board, including 30 Egyptians and 15 French.

Later on, the Egyptian military announced the finding of some personal belongings of the victims and small pieces of the plane wreckage in the Mediterranean Sea 290 km north of Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria.

The cockpit voice recorder is to be handed to prosecution officials and investigators in Alexandria.

On Wednesday, the investigation committee said the hired vessel located several spots of the wreckage of the doomed plane, noting it was provided by the first images of the wreckage from one of the spotted sites.

Investigation is still on into the tragic fall of EgyptAir Flight MS804, with all theories like a terrorist bombing and a severe technical failure on the table yet without a strong clue. Endit