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EgyptAir MS804 Plane Crash Strengthens Case For Ejectable Black Boxes On Commercial Aircraft

Ejectable flight recorders would remove the need for seabed searches
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Managing Editor, Global

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Missing EgyptAir flight MS804 has strengthened the case for black box flight recorders that can pop out of an aircraft before an accident, according to Airbus' most senior engineer.

The missing Airbus A320 was flying from Paris to Cairo when it disappeared over the Mediterranean on May 19 with 66 people on board, triggering a flurry of speculation as to the cause, including suggestions it was brought down by terrorists.

But Airbus Executive Vice President for Engineering Charles Champion has claimed an ejectable flight recorder would remove the need for seabed searches, Reuters reported.

Investigators are searching in some of the deepest waters of the Mediterranean for the EgyptAir Airbus which crashed on May 19, killing 66 people.

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An image showing recovered debris of the EgyptAir jet that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea released on May 21
Handout . / Reuters

The jet's black boxes are designed to emit acoustic signals for 30 days after a crash, giving search teams fewer than three weeks to spot them in waters up to 9,840-feet (3,000-meters) deep, which is on the edge of their range.

"If we have a deployable recorder it will be much easier to find," Airbus Executive Vice President for Engineering Charles Champion told a media event.

"We have been working on that and this only reinforces our overall approach."

Ejectable or "deployable" recorders would separate from the tail during a crash and float, emitting a distress signal.

Recommended by investigators after an Air France A330 jet crashed in 2009, the idea came to the fore after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 in March 2014.

Rapidly emerging details painted a murky picture of what actually happened to the plane, but but the claim that the plane sent a distress call before it came down has now been confirmed.

Missing Egyptair Plane A320
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In this Thursday, May 19, 2016 video image released by the Egyptian Defense Ministry, an Egyptian ship searches in the Mediterranean Sea for the missing EgyptAir flight 804 plane which crashed after disappearing from radar early Thursday morning while carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo. The Egyptian army said Friday, May 20, 2016 that it has found wreckage of the missing Airbus 320 (290 kilometers) north of the city of Alexandria, Egypt. Logo in top left corner of the Egyptian Defense Ministry. (AP Photo/Egyptian Defense Ministry) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Unidentified relatives and friends of passengers who were flying in an EgyptAir plane that vanished from radar en route from Paris to Cairo react as they wait outside the Egyptair in-flight service building where relatives are being held at Cairo International Airport, Egypt May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY (credit:Amr Dalsh / Reuters)
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In this Thursday, May 19, 2016 video image released by the Egyptian Defense Ministry, an Egyptian plane and ship search in the Mediterranean Sea for the missing EgyptAir flight 804 plane which crashed after disappearing from radar early Thursday morning while carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo. The Egyptian army said Friday, May 20, 2016 that it has found wreckage of the missing Airbus 320 (290 kilometers) north of the city of Alexandria, Egypt. Logo in top left corner of the Egyptian Defense Ministry. Arabic in lower right reads, "from the search for the missing plane." (AP Photo/Egyptian Defense Ministry) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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In this Thursday, May 19, 2016 video image released by the Egyptian Defense Ministry, an Egyptian plane flies over an Egyptian ship during the search in the Mediterranean Sea for the missing EgyptAir flight 804 plane which crashed after disappearing from the radar early Thursday morning while carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo. The Egyptian army said Friday, May 20, 2016 that it has found wreckage of the missing Airbus 320 (290 kilometers) north of the city of Alexandria, Egypt. Logo in top left corner of the Egyptian Defense Ministry. (AP Photo/Egyptian Defense Ministry) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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In this Thursday, May 19, 2016 video image released by the Egyptian Defense Ministry, an Egyptian plane and ship search in the Mediterranean Sea for the missing EgyptAir flight 804 plane which crashed after disappearing from radar early Thursday morning while carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo. The Egyptian army said Friday, May 20, 2016 that it has found wreckage of the missing Airbus 320 (290 kilometers) north of the city of Alexandria, Egypt. Logo in top left corner of the Egyptian Defense Ministry. (AP Photo/Egyptian Defense Ministry) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Unidentified relatives and friends of passengers who were flying in an EgyptAir plane that vanished from radar en route from Paris to Cairo react as they wait outside the Egyptair in-flight service building where relatives are being held at Cairo International Airport, Egypt May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (credit:Amr Dalsh / Reuters)
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A relative of the victims of the EgyptAir flight 804 is escorted at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside of Paris, Thursday, May 19, 2016. Egyptian aviation officials say an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board has crashed. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) (credit:Michel Euler/AP)
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Relatives of passengers on a vanished EgyptAir flight leave the Egyptair in-flight service building where they were held at Cairo International Airport, Egypt, Thursday, May 19, 2016. Egyptian aviation officials say an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board has crashed. The officials say the search is now underway for the debris. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) (credit:Amr Nabil/AP)
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Relatives of passengers on a vanished EgyptAir flight grieve as they leave the in-flight service building where they were held at Cairo International Airport, Egypt, Thursday, May 19, 2016. Egyptian aviation officials say an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board has crashed. The officials say the search is now underway for the debris. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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An air force personnel walks near an Erieye EMB-145H AEW&C radar aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force, which took part and now is on stand by, in the searching operation of the missing Egypt plane, at the military air base of Kastelli on the southern Greek island of Crete, Friday, May 20, 2016. The search is continuing for missing EgyptAir flight 804, which disappeared from the radar while carrying passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo. Authorities are scouring a wide area south of the Greek island of Crete to search for wreckage, over 24 hours after the Airbus 320 lost contact. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Relatives of passengers on a vanished EgyptAir flight leave the Egyptair in-flight service building where they were held at Cairo International Airport, Egypt, Thursday, May 19, 2016. Egyptian aviation officials say an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board has crashed. The officials say the search is now underway for the debris. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) (credit:Amr Nabil/AP)
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Unidentified relatives and friends of passengers who were flying in an EgyptAir plane that vanished from radar en route from Paris to Cairo react as they wait outside the Egyptair in-flight service building where relatives are being held at Cairo International Airport, Egypt May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (credit:Amr Dalsh / Reuters)
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Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail talks to reporters at Cairo International Airport, Thursday, May 19, 2016. He said it was too early to say whether a technical problem or a terror attack caused the plane to crash. "We cannot rule anything out," he said. An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board crashed in the Mediterranean Sea early Thursday morning, Egyptian aviation officials said. (AP Photo/Selman Elotefy) (credit:Selman Elotefy/AP)
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Unidentified relatives and friends of passengers who were flying in an EgyptAir plane that vanished from radar en route from Paris to Cairo react as they wait outside the Egyptair in-flight service building where relatives are being held at Cairo International Airport, Egypt May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (credit:Amr Dalsh / Reuters)
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People wait outside the international arrivals terminal at Cairo Airport, Egypt May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY (credit:Amr Dalsh / Reuters)
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Tv crews wait near the EgyptAir desk at Charles de Gaulle airport, after an EgyptAir flight disappeared from radar during its flight from Paris to Cairo, in Paris, France, May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann (credit:Christian Hartmann / Reuters)
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Journalists report near the EgyptAir desk at Charles de Gaulle airport, after an EgyptAir flight disappeared from radar during its flight from Paris to Cairo, in Paris, France in Paris, France, May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann (credit:Christian Hartmann / Reuters)
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Security forces are seen outside the international arrivals terminal at Cairo Airport, Egypt May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (credit:Amr Dalsh / Reuters)
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FILE - In this Tuesday, March 29, 2016, file photo, the hijacked aircraft of Egyptair after landing at Larnaca airport, Cyprus. A similar Airbus A320 EgyptAir plane from Paris to Cairo carrying 66 people disappeared from radar early Thursday morning, the airline said. EgyptAir Flight 804 was lost from radar at 2:45 a.m. local time when it was flying at 37,000 feet, the airline said. It said the Airbus A320 had vanished 10 miles (16 kilometers) after it entered Egyptian airspace. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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An Egypt and EgyptAir flags are seen over Egyptair in-flight service building where relatives were been being held at Cairo International Airport, Egypt, Thursday, May 19, 2016. An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo carrying 66 people disappeared from radar early Thursday morning, the airline said. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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An employee works at the EgyptAir desk at Charles de Gaulle airport, after an EgyptAir flight disappeared from radar during its flight from Paris to Cairo, in Paris, France, May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann (credit:Christian Hartmann / Reuters)
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An unidentified woman reacts as she waits outside the Egyptair in-flight service building, where relatives and friends of passengers who were flying in an EgyptAir plane that vanished from radar en route from Paris to Cairo are being held, at Cairo International Airport, Egypt May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (credit:Amr Dalsh / Reuters)
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The EgyptAir plane scheduled to make the following flight from Paris to Cairo, after flight MS804 disappeared from radar, taxies on the tarmac at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France, May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann (credit:Christian Hartmann / Reuters)
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In this Thursday, May 19, 2016 video image released by the Egyptian Defense Ministry, an Egyptian plane searches in the Mediterranean Sea for the missing EgyptAir flight 804 plane which crashed after disappearing from the radar early Thursday morning while carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo. The Egyptian army said Friday, May 20, 2016 that it has found wreckage of the missing Airbus 320 (290 kilometers) north of the city of Alexandria, Egypt. Logo in top left corner of the Egyptian Defense Ministry. Arabic at right reads, "The missing plane." (AP Photo/Egyptian Defense Ministry) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy addresses world press in press conference about missing Egyptair flight MS804.

Pictured: Sherif FathyRef: SPL1286204 200516
Picture by: MM/Splash News

Splash News and Pictures
Los Angeles:310-821-2666
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 (credit:MM/Splash News)
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Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy speaks, after EgyptAir plane vanished from radar en route from Paris to Cairo, during a news conference at headquarters of ministry in Cairo, Egypt May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (credit:Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters)
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In this Thursday, May 19, 2016 video image released by the Egyptian Defense Ministry, an Egyptian plane searches in the Mediterranean Sea for the missing EgyptAir flight 804 plane which crashed after disappearing from the radar early Thursday morning while carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo. The Egyptian army said Friday, May 20, 2016 that it has found wreckage of the missing Airbus 320 (290 kilometers) north of the city of Alexandria, Egypt. Logo in top left corner of the Egyptian Defense Ministry. Arabic at right reads, "From the search of the missing plane." (AP Photo/Egyptian Defense Ministry) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy addresses world press in press conference about missing Egyptair flight MS804.

Pictured: Sherif FathyRef: SPL1286204 200516
Picture by: MM/Splash News

Splash News and Pictures
Los Angeles:310-821-2666
New York:212-619-2666
London:870-934-2666
photodesk@splashnews.com

 (credit:MM/Splash News)
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Egypt's Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy (L) speaks during a press conference on May 19, 2016 at the Ministry of Civil Aviation at Cairo's airport after an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo crashed into the Mediterranean sea with 66 people on board. The Airbus A320 fell 22,000 feet and swerved sharply twice in Egyptian airspace before it disappeared from radar screens, Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos told a news conference. Fathy said he could not rule out either terrorism or a technical problem. / AFP / KHALED DESOUKI (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:KHALED DESOUKI via Getty Images)
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CAIRO, EGYPT - MAY 19: Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy holds a press conference regarding to missing EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board over the eastern Mediterranean Thursday morning after it entered Egyptian airspace, in Cairo, Egypt on May 19, 2016. (Photo by Ala Ahmed/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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A cameraman records an Erieye EMB-145H AEW&C radar aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force, which took part and now is on stand by, in the searching operation of the missing Egypt plane, at the military air base of Kastelli on the southern Greek island of Crete, Friday, May 20, 2016. The search is continuing for missing EgyptAir flight 804, which disappeared from the radar while carrying passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo. Authorities are scouring a wide area south of the Greek island of Crete to search for wreckage, over 24 hours after the Airbus 320 lost contact. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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A security airport checks an Egyptair plane after arrival from Cairo to Luxor International Airport, Egypt May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (credit:Amr Dalsh / Reuters)

“The investigating committee received satellite reports indicating receiving an electronic distress call from the plane’s Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT),” Egypt’s State Information Service said.

It follows reports that the search area for the plane has been narrowed to a three-mile radius, as search teams strive to find the plane’s black boxes before their signal runs out.

The teams are waiting for a specialised ship designed to carry out deep water searches.

It has previously been reported that the plane’s crew made verbal distress calls.

The captain, 37-year-old Mohamed Said Shoukair also reportedly had a conversation with Cairo air traffic for several minutes about the presence of smoke in the plane.

Claims that flight MS804 was brought down by a bomb have been dismissed as speculation.

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A commercial aircraft cockpit data recorder, or 'black box'
Bloomberg via Getty Images

Since the crash, there have been emerging and sometimes contradictory reports on how it happened, including on whether it swerved suddenly before it vanished from radar.

Ships and planes from Egypt, Greece, France, the United States and other nations have been searching the Mediterranean north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria for the jet’s voice and flight data recorders, as well as more bodies and parts of the aircraft.

Small pieces of the wreckage and human remains have been recovered while the bulk of the plane and the bodies of the passengers are believed to be deep under the sea. A Cairo forensic team has received the human remains and is carrying DNA tests to identify the victims.

Because of the difficulties in finding the black boxes, Egypt has contracted two foreign companies, Alseamar and Deep Ocean Research, to help locate the flight data recorders of the plane.

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