by WorldTribune Staff, May 25, 2016

A log signed by one of the pilots of EgyptAir Flight 804 showed no technical problems with the airliner before it took off from Paris, a report said on May 24.

The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, which published a scan of the technical log on its website, said the plane transmitted 11 “electronic messages” starting at 5:09 p.m. ET on May 18, about 3 1/2 hours before disappearing from radar screens with 66 passengers and crew on board.

According to the report, the first two messages indicated the engines were functional while the third message, which came in at 8:26 p.m. ET on May 18, “showed a rise in the temperature of the co-pilot’s window.” The plane transmitted messages for the next three minutes before it disappeared from radar, Al-Ahram said.

Sources within the Egyptian investigation committee told Reuters the plane did not make contact with Egyptian air traffic control, but Egyptian air traffic controllers were able to see it on radar on a border area between Egyptian and Greek airspace known as KUMBI, 260 nautical miles from Cairo.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said the plane disappeared without swerving off radar screens after less than a minute of it entering Egyptian airspace. Air traffic controllers from Greece and Egypt have given differing accounts of the plane’s final moments, noted Reuters.

Reports on May 24 said that human remains from the crash indicated that the plane suffered an explosion before crashing, but Egyptian officials later denied there was evidence of an explosion on the flight.

Many airline industry and terrorism analysts continue to believe terrorism was the most likely cause of the crash. Analysts are basing that belief on previous threats to the plane, the proximity of hundreds of maintenance workers to the plane at four high-risk airports in the 48 hours before the crash, and an odd trajectory recorded on the flight – as well as the lack of emergency warnings before the plane was spotted with a flash and a fireball.

  Flight 804, Logs show Egyptair jet had no technical problems before takeoff, Paris to Cairo, WorldTribune.com