Egyptian officials say it is “too early to draw any conclusions” about the cause of the recent crash of EgyptAir Flight MS804.

Egyptian authorities said on May 21 that they are still analyzing data related to the crash of EgyptAir flight MS804 in the Mediterranean Sea on the morning of May 19, and stated that it is too early to draw a final conclusion.

Debris from the ill-fated Egyptian plane. Photo: Egyptian Army.

This statement shows that the cause of the plane crash has not yet been concluded.

Egyptian investigators said they were processing and evaluating information and data from the air traffic control system, as well as the Civil Aircraft Communications and Reporting System (ACARS). "It is too early to draw any conclusions," the Egyptian authorities said in a statement.

Meanwhile, speaking to the press after meeting with the families of the victims in the plane crash, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault declared that he had ruled out any hypothesis about the cause of the crash of the EgyptAir plane in the Mediterranean Sea.

Mr. Ayrault affirmed that the search for the MS804 plane and its black boxes remains the top priority in order to find "conclusive" answers: "France has supported Egypt with all available means to promote the search for the plane and the victims of the accident. French investigators have also arrived in Egypt. We have also sent an aircraft and a naval vessel to participate in the search. The priority is currently to find the plane's black box so that the data can be analyzed to clarify the cause of the plane crash."

Foreign Minister Ayrault also expressed France's desire to share solidarity with the families of the victims, through the search for transparent information about the disappearance of flight MS804. France had about 15 citizens on board flight MS804.

The French Foreign Minister's statement was made after the French aviation safety agency confirmed on the same day that flight MS804 had sent out warning messages about smoke on board before crashing into the Mediterranean.

Earlier in the day, Egyptian authorities launched an investigation after the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a source, that automated warning messages indicated smoke in the plane's nose and a problem with the flight control system. The warning came three minutes before air traffic controllers lost contact with Flight MS804, the newspaper said. CNN also reported that there was a smoke warning on Flight MS804 minutes before it crashed in the Mediterranean.

Egypt, France and Greece have sent military aircraft and ships to search the area around the plane crash. Authorities are currently searching a large area. The search radius is currently 40 miles and will be expanded if necessary. Egypt has announced that it has found a body part, several plane seats and more luggage suspected to be from passengers on the missing plane.

At this point, there has been no sign of the plane’s “black box.” The black box could provide vital information about what happened to the ill-fated plane. Therefore, the cause of the crash is currently unknown.

However, in the absence of a distress signal like this, it is likely that a bomb or technical failure caused the plane to be destroyed in just a few seconds./.

According to VOV