EgyptAir MS804 data shows evidence of onboard fire

Initial evidence gleaned from the flight data recorder (FDR) of Egyptair flight MS804 indicates the Airbus A320 experienced smoke in two separate locations on the aircraft prior to its crash into the Mediterranean Sea. The Egyptian investigating committee said that, following the cleaning and repair of the FDR in France, it has downloaded the data and is now decoding and validating some 1,200 parameters. The committee added that the recovered data covered the entire flight from takeoff at Paris Charles De Gaulle airport to the point at 37,000 ft. over the Mediterranean “where the accident occurred.” The EgyptAir A320 was en route from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Cairo May 19 with 66 people on board when it lost radar contact and crashed. Work is now underway on the next phase of reading and analyzing the data. There have been reports for some weeks that messages sent by the A320's Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), which sends data on any faults or deviations from the norm to an airline’s home base, indicated the presence of smoke in both an avionics bay under the flight deck and a lavatory. “Recorded data is showing a consistency with ACARS' messages of lavatory smoke and avionics smoke,” the committee said in a statement, adding: “Some recovered wreckage parts of the front section of the aircraft showed signs of high temperature damage and soot.”<br/>