Missing EgyptAir flight is said to have been forced to make three emergency landings in the 24 hours preceding the crash.

According to French public television channel France 3, the surprise claims were put to former aviation security official, Jean-Paul Troadec:

“These new findings are an important element for the investigators. We cannot presume to know exactly what happened on board but it’s not entirely normal to turn around several times after a technical incident without finding anything.”

The airplane’s warning systems called Acars are said to have signalled an anomaly on board shortly after takeoff from three airports where the Airbus had stopped, Euronews reports.

These alert procedures were investigated each time with a technical audit on the ground. The findings must have been negative since the plane was allowed to take off again.

Jean-Paul Troadec, however insisted that the Acars signals are emitted automatically only in the case of a malfunction. In normal mode they remain silent.