Egyptian investigators say the memory chips are intact from the cockpit voice recorder of the EgyptAir plane that went down on May 19, killing all 66 people on board.
So far, investigators have not been able to determine what caused EgyptAir Flight 804 to crash. They're hoping the voice recordings could help clear up the mystery. There has been no claim of responsibility for bringing the plane down, and the pilot did not issue a distress call.
Search teams recovered the voice and flight data recorders from the Mediterranean more than two weeks ago from a depth of about 10,000 feet. Investigators have been repairing the cockpit recorder in Paris.
Though the memory chips are intact, some of the components used to communicate with the chips were damaged and had to be replaced, according to a statement released by Egypt's Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The investigators said that after they replaced the components, "tests results were satisfactory as it enabled the reading of the recorders of the [Cockpit Voice Recorder] memory unit."
Earlier this week, investigators said they were able to download information from the flight data recorder, which was able to record the entirety of the flight, as we reported.
They said the data recorder indicated that there was smoke on board the plane, in a toilet and in the avionics section below the cockpit. That's consistent with earlier information from the plane's Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, which transmits messages to ground stations during the flight.
Investigators say they plan to return to Cairo "soon" to continue analyzing the flight data and voice recorders. They add that search teams are still working to recover human remains from the sea.
The doomed Airbus A320 departed from Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport shortly after 11 p.m. local time. It disappeared from radar while flying at 37,000 feet over the Mediterranean.
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