Flights security

EgyptAir 804: Wreckage and recorder show signs of heat, smoke

The flight data recorder on doomed EgyptAir Flight 804 indicates possible lavatory and avionics smoke before the plane plummeted into the Mediterranean Sea, the nation's civil aviation ministry said Wednesday.

Additionally, wreckage from the Airbus A320's front section showed "signs of high temperature damage and soot," the ministry said in a statement.

What caused the plane carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew members to plunge to the sea on May 19 remains a mystery, but the latest information could bring investigators closer to determining a cause.

"We now know that there was some form of either smoldering or some form of fire or some form of combustion, if you like, on that plane, and that has been verified," CNN aviation analyst Richard Quest said.

The recorded data was consistent with information from the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS -- which sends messages between planes and ground facilities -- indicating "lavatory smoke and avionics smoke," according to the ministry.