French deploy robot to find Red Sea crash plane

THE French Navy deployed a robot submarine as France and Egypt stepped up a major search to find the fuselage and flight data recorders of the aircraft that crashed into the Red Sea, killing 148 people.

Body parts recovered from the sea so far bore no burns, suggesting there was no explosion on the Egyptian-chartered Boeing 737 that plunged into the sea minutes after takeoff on Saturday, French Deputy Foreign Minister Renaud Muselier said.

The crash came amid worldwide fears that terrorists would use an aircraft to stage an atrocity. But Muselier told France-Info radio: "There is no reason to believe there was an attack." He said he thought the crash, which killed 133 French citizens, was an accident. Egyptian officials say the crash appeared to have been caused by a mechanical problem.