Five days after the plane crashed, human remains of the victims arrived at a morgue in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, where forensic experts were to carry out DNA tests, according to the head of EgyptAir, Safwat Masalam.
Security official at Cairo morgue said family members had arrived at the building to give DNA samples to match with the remains, which included those of a child. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the press.
Egyptian authorities said they believe terrorism is a more likely explanation than equipment failure, and some aviation experts have said the erratic flight suggests a bomb blast or a struggle in the cockpit. But so far no hard evidence has emerged.
A 2013 report by the Egyptian ministry of civil aviation records that the same plane made an emergency landing in Cairo that year, shortly after taking off on its way to Istanbul after one of the engines "overheated." Aviation experts have said that overheating is uncommon yet is highly unlikely to eventually cause a crash.
Azmy, head of the National Air Navigation Services Company, said that in the minutes before the plane disappeared it was flying at its normal altitude of 37,000 feet, according to the radar reading. "That fact degrades what the Greeks are saying about the aircraft suddenly losing altitude before it vanished from radar," he added.