Egyptian investigators on Friday found the flight data recorder belonging to the EgyptAir flight that crashed in the Mediterranean on May 19. The device was discovered a day after investigators found the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage of Flight MS804. The flight data recorder, or the second black box as it is otherwise known, maintains the computer files of any flight and has information about the altitude, speed and direction of the aircraft .

The investigators said they found the second black box in "several pieces". One of the two specialists vessels, which have been looking for the black boxes, salvaged the mangled device and has been able to retrieve the memory unit. “The vessel’s equipment was able to salvage the part that contains the memory unit, which is considered the most important part of the recording device,” the statement read.

The discovery of the second black box is expected to help investigators ascertain what caused the plane to crash with 66 people on board while it was headed to Cairo from Paris. The device will be handed over to Egyptian air accident investigators for analysis, reported AP.

International civil aviation norms require all aircraft to be equipped with both kinds of recorders, or black boxes as they are also known, in order to find information about a flight in case of a crash.