Black box memory chips from crashed EgyptAir jet flown to France for repair

CAIRO - Damaged memory chips from the black boxes of crashed EgyptAir Flight MS804 were flown to France on Monday for repairs, a source on the investigation committee said on Monday.

The EgyptAir Airbus went down into the eastern Mediterranean Sea en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19 and all 66 people on board were killed.

Egyptian investigators have been trying for days to repair the memory chips, which would allow them to begin transcribing and analysing the recordings and data in pursuit of insight into what caused the crash.

The investigation committee source said the memory chips were accompanied by investigators to France, where they will remove sea salt deposits from the chips at a lab belonging to France's BEA air accident investigation agency.

The chips will be returned to Cairo for analysis once they are repaired.

Debris from the jet has been brought to Cairo airport where investigators will try to reassemble part of the plane's frame in search of additional clues that may help explain crash, the source added.