Fire on plane started by a terror device’
120 seconds of horror as jet plunged 7 miles Black box signal but deep waters hit search
The recovery of larger parts of the plane would suggest mechanical failure brought it down, whereas smaller pieces of fuselage would point to a bomb. But experts warn wreckage may have sunk in waters up to 14,000ft deep, delaying the recovery operation. The most detailed analysis of the crash so far, first seen on site AVHerald. com, came as funeral services for victims were held in Cairo yesterday. With no bodies identified, relatives planned to carry coffins containing stones to symbolise the loss of loved ones.
The 56 passengers on board included Briton Richard Osman, 40, who had recently become a dad for the second time. There were also 30 Egyptians, 15 French, one Belgian, one Iraqi, one Kuwaiti, one Saudi Arabian, one Chadian, one Portuguese, one Algerian and at least one Canadian.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault updated families on the progress of the investigation yesterday.
Fifty relatives of the French victims attended the briefing in central Paris, as well as ambassadors of the other affected nations. They were told that both terrorism and a technical fault remain possible explanations.
Meanwhile, France will next week start testing its own version of the Passenger Name Record system, which allows police to spot potential terror suspects before they board a flight.
Britain and the US have had PNR for several years and an EU- wide system was proposed in 2007 but did not become law because of privacy concerns. All 28 EU states apart from Denmark will join the new system.