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Red Sea Crash Black Box May Be Found
EFL, just the new stuff Searchers hunting for the wreckage of an airliner zeroed in on a signal late Monday that could be the black box - holding clues to the cause of the Red Sea crash that killed all 148 people aboard. The U.S. State Department, meanwhile, said four people with dual U.S.-Egyptian citizenship were among the dead, the first word that Americans were on the Flash Airlines flight, which was bound for Paris via Cairo. Most of the passengers were French tourists. The plane - an 11-year-old Boeing 737 operated by the private Cairo-based carrier - crashed shortly after takeoff Saturday from this popular Red Sea resort. The crash coincided with heightened concern about terrorism in the skies, but Egypt quickly ruled out the possibility of an attack, saying the crash was an accident caused by a mechanical failure.
"But weâre sure of it, really we are!" A signal that could be the planeâs black box was detected late Monday by radar on a robotic arm used by searchers at the crash scene, a French Embassy official said. The official, who declined to be named, called the signal a positive development and said the search would resume Tuesday morning. As the country where the plane was made, the United States was sending a team of investigators to the scene, including experts from Boeing. France has sent in advanced military equipment to help find wreckage and remains, as well as forensics experts to identify body parts through DNA testing. A French military plane equipped with radar took its first surveillance flight over the area Monday, and a team of 16 French military divers was to begin work on Tuesday. Bet itâs mechanical. Rest of the story suggests that Flash Airlines could give the Ukrainians lessons. Posted by: Steve White 2004-01-06 |
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