Investigators say smoke detected in EgyptAir plane before crash

(FoxNews.com) - French investigators announced Saturday that smoke was detected in multiple places on the ill-fated EgyptAir plane before it plummeted into the Mediterranean Sea.

The Aviation Herald initially reported that sensors detected smoke in a lavatory, suggesting a fire onboard the aircraft before it went down.

David Learmount, a noted aviation expert, told Fox News Friday that the data received from some satellites indicates that a fire could’ve started in the avionics compartment of the plane which knocked out computers and control mechanisms on the flight. He said that would’ve caused the plane to crash.

French officials didn’t say what could have caused parts of flight 804 to fill up with smoke. Spokesman Sebastien Barthe told the Associated Press the plane’s automatic detection system sent messages indicating smoke a few minutes before it disappeared from radar.

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