According to the report published by the Wall Street Journal on Friday, automated communication systems aboard the jetliner sent warning alerts indicating a failure in the control system minutes before the aircraft crashed in the Mediterranean.

The report cited “people familiar with the matter” as saying that the smoke and the accompanying intense heat might explain why the pilot failed to communicate with air-traffic controllers just before the descent.

“We are looking into this report,” an unnamed Egyptian civil aviation ministry official told AFP. “At this point, I can't deny or confirm it."

Meanwhile, another report released by the Aviation Herald said that smoke had been detected in the toilet and the electric system prior to the crash. The flight data were received through the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS).

Reports of a possible system failure came hours after the wreckage of the plane, including “personal belongings of the passengers and parts of the plane debris,” was found 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Alexandria.

The aircraft, flying at an altitude of 11,300 meters (37,000 feet), crashed early on Thursday (local time) 10 miles inside the Egyptian airspace and killed all 66 people onboard.

The Egyptian army says it has found wreckage of the missing EgyptAir flight 804, which crashed after disappearing from the radar while carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo.

An Egyptian court has sentenced 51 activists to two years each in prison for taking part in last month’s mass protests against a controversial government decision to hand over the control of two strategic Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

Egyptian courts have handed down prison terms to another 151 people arrested during protests against the government’s controversial decision to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

Mexico has expressed its dissatisfaction with the Egyptian government's response to an aerial bombing in Egypt last year in which eight Mexican tourists were killed.

Egyptian authorities have referred dozens of people to trial over the last year’s assassination of the country’s top prosecutor.

A court in Egypt has adjourned the pronouncement of its verdict in the trial of the first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, on charges of endangering national security by leaking state secrets to Qatar.

Unidentified armed men have attacked a police vehicle near the Egyptian, capital, Cairo, killing eight policemen.

Egypt’s police have detained a prominent rights lawyer who backed protests against the decision of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to transfer the sovereignty of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

The union of journalists in Egypt has slammed the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for stifling the press in what the union describes as a war against journalism.

Egyptian police have stormed the headquarters of the Journalists’ Syndicate in central Cairo and arrested two journalists on charges of inciting protest rallies against the government.

Egyptian police arrested at least 237 people during mass protests on April 25 against the government’s recent handover of two strategic islands to Saudi Arabia, says an Egyptian rights group.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi has warned that security forces will respond firmly to planned anti-government demonstrations over his decision to hand over two islands to Saudi Arabia.

Clashes have erupted in the Egyptian capital Cairo during protests against the government’s handover of two islands to Saudi Arabia.

An Egyptian court has postponed the pronouncement of its verdict in the trial of ousted President Mohamed Morsi on charge of spying for Qatar, saying it needs more deliberations.

An explosion has rocked Egypt’s volatile Sinai Peninsula, killing three Egyptian military forces, local media say.

Clashes have erupted in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, after a police officer killed a street vendor reportedly over the price of a cup of tea.

A rocket attack on a police convoy in Egypt's troubled Sinai Peninsula has left three officers dead, the interior ministry says.

An Egyptian opposition politician has launched legal proceedings against President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi over his decision to hand the control of two strategic Egyptian Red Sea islands over to Saudi Arabia.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and visiting French President Francois Hollande have inked economic and military agreements amid heightened national protests against Sisi’s policies.