EgyptAir Flight 804 First Audio Transmission Released: Reports

The first available audio transmission between the pilot of EgyptAir Flight 804 and air traffic controllers in Zurich has been released, reports said Saturday. The conversation, which took place late Wednesday, is not the final transmission from the Paris-to-Cairo passenger plane, which crashed Thursday, with 66 people on board.

There also has not been any official confirmation over the released clip.

The recording was published on the website, liveatc.net, which releases air traffic control broadcasts, the Associated Press reported. It appeared routine as the pilot checked with air traffic controllers in Zurich, before the plane was handed over to Italian air traffic controllers in Padua (Padova).

The communication took place over two hours before air traffic controllers in Athens lost contact with the EgyptAir plane.

Pilot: Hello, hello, EgyptAir 804, flight level 370, squawk number 7624

Control: EgyptAir 804 radar contact

Pilot: Thank you so much

Control: EgyptAir804 contact Padova 1-2-0, decimal 7-2-5, good night.

Pilot: This is 0-7-2-5 Padova control. (Unintelligible) 8-0-4. Thank you so much. Good day, er, good night.

Although it is yet to be established why the Airbus A320 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, French investigators confirmed Saturday that smoke was detected in multiple places on MS804. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said “all the hypotheses are being examined.”

On Saturday, the Egyptian military also released the first photos of the wreckage of Flight 804. The photographs show fragments of plane seats, life vests and luggage. Officials had also found body parts in the sea.

The jet, which took off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and disappeared from radar shortly after entering Egyptian airspace, was carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew members. Thirty of the passengers were Egyptian, 15 were French and the remaining were citizens from across the world.