EgyptAir black-box found, days before signal due to die

The cockpit recorder was discovered - broken into several pieces - by investigators just hours after the major search operation found pieces of the plane's cabin strewn across several sites.

But experts ensured the crucial memory unit within the device was recovered, paving the way towards establishing the cause of the tragedy that has baffled the world since the flight's disappearance on May 19.

The black box is a device installed into the cockpit that records conversations and other sounds heard in the pilot's cabin.

"The first photos of the wreckage do not allow [us] to establish any scenario of the accident," an earlier Airbus statement said, emphasising the need to locate the black box following the incident.

"Only the black boxes could contribute to a full understanding of the chain of events which led to this tragic accident."

On Monday, investigators warned signals from the plane's black box would stop emitting by the end of the month, increasing concerns among the search party and relatives of the victims.

The Airbus A320 departed from Paris on May 19 and went missing before reaching Cairo with 66 people on board.

Since the plane disappeared from radar, only small pieces of debris and some human remains have been retrieved from the crash site.  

Egypt initially suspected the aircraft was brought down by an attack, but it is now thought the crash may have been caused by a technical fault.

Automatic alerts sent by the Airbus indicated smoke in the cabin and a fault in the flight control unit, however no solid cause has been confirmed by authorities.

Thirty Egyptians, 15 French citizens, two Iraqis, two Canadians, and citizens from Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Chad, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sudan were onboard the flight.