EgyptAir Flight MS804: France says crash was not an act of terrorism

Reason for crash that killed 66 is still unclear

(File Photo) All 66 people on board were killed in the crash (AP)

French authorities have not found any evidence that the crash of an EgyptAir flight in May was terror-related.

Investigators have launched a manslaughter inquiry into the Flight 804 crash that crashed in the Mediterranean last month, killing all 66 people on board.

The Airbus A320 was flying from Paris to Cairo when it crashed into May 19. The reason for the crash is still unclear.

The pilots made no distress call and no group claimed responsibility for bringing down the aircraft.

Prosecutor's office spokesman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre said the inquiry into the downed Paris to Cairo flight would be an accident investigation, not a terrorism investigation.

She said authorities are "not at all" favouring the theory the plane was downed deliberately, though the status of the inquiry could eventually change if evidence emerges to that effect.

Search teams have recovered its two flight recorders, but they suffered damage and Egyptian investigators were unable to download information from the so-called black boxes.

The recorders' memory cards arrived on Monday in Paris, Egyptian investigators said.

Technicians at France's air accident investigation agency, the BEA, will attempt to remove salt damage and repair them, and then send them back to Egypt for analysis.

While the plane was Egyptian and crashed in Egyptian waters, France can also investigate because the plane was manufactured by France-based Airbus and French citizens were among those killed.