Forensics on Body Parts From EgyptAir Crash Suggest Onboard Explosion: Official

Updated | Human remains discovered at the crash site of EgyptAir flight MS804 point to an explosion onboard the plane, an Egyptian forensics official said on Tuesday.

Speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing investigation, the senior forensics official said that the 80 pieces of human remains transported to Cairo since the investigation began are so small that "there isn't even a whole body part, like an arm or a head."

He says that "the logical explanation is that it was an explosion" that downed the plane over the Mediterranean sea as it traveled from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board.

No traces of explosives have yet been found but the size of the human remains points to this conclusion, he said.

An official cause for the crash last Thursday has not been announced by Egyptian or French investigators. An Egyptian official on Monday contradicted Greek claims that the aircraft made sudden, abrupt turns before plummeting thousands of feet and disappearing from aviation radars.

"We did not record any form of swerving," head of National Air Navigation Services Company Ehab Mohieeldin told the Egyptian broadcaster CBC on Monday.

"That fact degrades what the Greeks are saying about the aircraft suddenly losing altitude before it vanished from radar," he continued.

Aviation experts and Egyptian officials initially said that the cause of the crash was more likely an act of extremism than a technical failure. French investigators said that the aircraft gave signals that indicated smoke was onboard the plane, in the toilet and in the plane's electronics. They gave no cause for the smoke.

As the investigation into the crash continues, Egypt's public prosecutor Nabil Sadek has asked France and Greece to pass over vital information on the flight, such as audio and visuals of its time parked at Charles de Gaulle airport, and transcripts of the pilot's conversations with Greek air traffic controllers.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.