[Peetwo]

FWIW - the - AIRLIVE  - link is worth checking out.

Update 16 June 2016:

Short factual report from the Egyptian AAIC:

Cairo 15 june 2016
Investigation Progress Report (8) by the Egyptian Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee

 

 

John Lethbridge; the vessel contracted by the Egyptian government to join the search efforts for the data recorders and the wreckage of the doomed A320; had identified several main locations of the wreckage, accordingly the first images of the wreckage were provided to the investigation committee. Based on the wreckage locations; The search team and investigators onboard of the vessel will draw a map for the wreckage distribution spots.

Immediately a meeting was held between the investigation committee members to study thoroughly the progressive actions taken during the past period and in order to plan how to best handle the wreckage in the coming period.

It is worth mentioning that the debris retrieved earlier are still in possession of the forensic evidences under supervision of the criminal prosecution; to carry out standard procedures then it will be handed to the technical investigation committee after concluding such procedures. 

And from Reuters via the SMH:

Missing EgyptAir flight MS804 plane wreckage spotted in Mediterranean Sea
Date June 16, 2016 - 8:06AM

New York: A deep ocean search vessel hunting for the remains of an EgyptAir jet that crashed in the eastern Mediterranean last month has identified several main locations of its wreckage, the Egyptian investigation committee said on Wednesday.

The committee said that a vessel contracted by the Egyptian government to join the search efforts for the data recorders and the wreckage of the doomed A320 "had identified several main locations of the wreckage, accordingly the first images of the wreckage were provided to the investigation committee."

The wreckage of a missing EgyptAir plane has reportedly been found. Photo: AP

Based on the wreckage locations the search team and investigators on board the vessel will draw a map for the wreckage distribution spots, it added

The plane disappeared with 66 people on board, including the crew, on May 19 while the plane was over the Mediterranean Sea. No group has claimed responsibility for a terror attack involving the plane.

The announcement has come at a crucial time for the investigation, with the flight data recorders expected to stop emitting signals on June 24. Without the "black boxes", investigators say there is not enough information to explain why flight MS804 crashed.

Debris and personal belongings from MS804 which were earlier recovered from the sea. Photo: Egyptian Armed Forces

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/missing-egyptair-flight-ms804-plane-wreckage-has-been-found-reports-20160615-gpk1pe.html#ixzz4BhbVzbzf

Update 17/06/16 - CVR/FDR found & recovered

Courtesy the AP via the Oz:

Searchers retrieve black box of missing Egyptian airliner

• AP
  
• 12:00AM June 17, 2016
  

Searchers have narrowed the search area to a site with a radius of 500m.

Egypt’s investigation committee says the cockpit voice recorder of the doomed EgyptAir plane has been found and pulled from the Mediterranean Sea.

The committee says the so-called black box has been damaged but that the vessel searching for the wreckage has managed to safely pull the “memory unit which is the most important in the recorder”.

The announcement late last night cames a day after the committee said that the vessel John Lethbridge, which was contracted by the government to join the search for the plane debris and flight recorders, had spotted and obtained images from the wreckage of the EgyptAir plane.

The search team and investigators had completed a map that shows the location of debris within a 500m radius of the site, the sources said.

The committee said earlier yesterday the ­vessel John Lethbridge, which was contracted by the Egyptian government, had spotted and obtained ­images of the fuselage of the Airbus A320.

It said the survey vessel “had identified several main locations of the wreckage” and obtained ­images of the wreckage located between Crete and the Egyptian coast. The 75m-long vessel is equipped with sonar and equipment capable of detecting wreckage at depths of just over 1800m.

The A320 en route to Cairo from Paris had been cruising ­normally in clear skies on an overnight flight on May 19. The radar showed that the doomed aircraft turned 90 degrees left, then revolved a full 360 degrees to the right, plummeting from 38,000 feet to 15,000 feet before disappearing at about 10,000 feet. Leaked flight data indicated a sensor detected smoke in a ­lavatory and a fault in two of the plane’s cockpit windows in the final moments of the flight.

The cause of the crash has not been determined. Ships and planes from Egypt, Greece, France and the US have searched the Mediterranean north of Alexandria for the jet’s voice and flight data recorders, as well as more bodies and parts of the aircraft. Since the crash, only small pieces of wreckage and human remains have been recovered.

Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathi has said he believed terrorism was a more likely explanation than equipment failure or some other catastrophic event. But no hard evidence has emerged on the cause, and no militant group has claimed to have downed the jet.

Yesterday’s announcement came nearly two weeks after the French ship Laplace detected black box signals from the missing plane. Locator pings emitted by flight data and cockpit voice ­recorders can be picked up from deep underwater.

The Laplace, which left the search area last night, is equipped with three detectors designed to pick up those signals, which in the case of the EgyptAir plane are believed to be at a depth of some 3000m. By comparison, the wreckage of the Titanic is lying at a depth of some 3800m.

On Sunday, investigators said time was running out in the search for the black boxes. They said nearly two weeks remained ­before the batteries of the data and cockpit voice recorders expired and they stopped emitting signals.

If retrieved, the boxes could ­reveal whether a mechanical fault, a hijacking or a bomb caused the disaster.

The voice recorder should contain a record of the last 30 minutes in the cockpit, and is equipped to detect even loud breathing.

The data recorder would contain information on the engines, wings and cabin pressure. Investigators hope the black boxes will offer clues as to why there was no distress call.

DPA, AP
AVIATION P28,29

MTF...P2