EgyptAir Flight MS804 disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea almost two weeks ago, crashing into the water and likely killing all 66 onboard. Officials soon recovered scattered debris — suitcases, parts of an airplane seat, human body parts — but hadn’t yet found the body of the plane or the all-important “black box” flight-data and voice recorder. But on Tuesday, Egyptian officials said a French search vessel has picked up pings that “might belong to one of the data recorders.”
The signals came from within the three-mile search area from the depths of the Mediterranean. Crews must still pinpoint the exact location and figure out a way to pull the black boxes from the water or the seabed without damaging them, an EgyptAir official told the Associated Press. These voice and data recorders are investigators’ best chance of piecing together what happened on the doomed flight. The black box will run out of batteries in about 30 days, making it much, much harder to find, so officials are rushing to recover it before the deadline.
