The damaged black box flight recorders of an EgyptAir plane that plunged into the Mediterranean last month arrived in France on Monday for repairs, said the country's air safety agency, amid hopes they will provide clues on why the aircraft went down.

EgyptAir said Monday advance compensation payments of $25,000 will be offered to families of the 66 people killed when one of its planes crashed into the Mediterranean last month.

Search teams on Friday recovered the second flight recorder of an EgyptAir plane from the bottom of the Mediterranean that could prove vital in establishing the cause of the unexplained crash.

The cockpit voice recorder from crashed EgyptAir flight MS804 has been found by search teams who had to salvage the device over several stages as it was damaged, the Egyptian investigation committee has said.

A search team on Thursday recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the EgyptAir plane that crashed into the Mediterranean last month in a major step towards establishing the cause of the tragedy.

Pieces of the cabin from the missing EgyptAir plane which crashed into the Mediterranean last month have been found, Egyptian investigators said Wednesday.

An EgyptAir flight from Cairo to Beijing made an emergency landing in Uzbekistan on Wednesday after a bomb threat that turned out to be a hoax, the airline said.

Egypt says a French ship has picked up signals from deep in the Mediterranean Sea, presumed to be from the flight recorders of the EgyptAir plane that crashed last month.

A signal has been detected that is likely to be from one of the black boxes of the EgyptAir plane that crashed in the Mediterranean last month, Egypt said Wednesday.

Egypt has hired a private firm to help find EgyptAir MS804's black boxes in an area narrowed down by an emergency signal sent when it hit the Mediterranean last week.

United in their grief, relatives and co-workers spoke of their shock at hearing the news. Others also expressed sadness over the tragic loss of the victims.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi warned the media yesterday against speculating about what brought down EgyptAir flight 804, and said all scenarios are being considered.