A Russian airliner carrying 224 passengers and crew crashes in Sinai, killing everyone on board
Isil says it brought down on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula
Egyptian aviation authorities say there was no SOS call from the commerical plane that crashed in northern Sinai with 17 children and 207 adults on board
The wreckage of the Russian airliner.
• Russian operated Kogalymavia flight was travelling from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg
• All 224 people on board died when it crashed on Sinai peninsula
• Isil claims to have 'destroyed' the plane
• 'No SOS call, no faults with plane' aviation authority says
• Rescuers continuing task of recovering and identifying bodies
• Was it terrorism or a mechanical fault ?
A relative reacts at Pulkovo international airport, St Petersburg.
A Russian airliner carrying 224 people crashed in a mountainous area of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, killing everyone on board. It was one of the deadliest incidents involving Airbus aircraft over the past decade.
The Islamic State (Isil) group affiliate in Egypt claimed it downed the plane, without saying how. But Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail expressed doubt about the claim, saying experts confirmed that a plane cannot be downed at such an altitude, and Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov said the claim "cannot be considered accurate".
A woman reacts at Pulkovo airport.
Germany's Lufthansa, Emirates and Air France said they would halt flights over Sinai until the reasons behind the crash became clear.
Egypt's civil aviation minister Hossam Kamal said there had been no sign of any problems on board the flight.
Initial reports suggested it had asked to land early because of a technical failure but Mr Kamal told a press conference on Saturday that this was not the case.
"Up until the crash happened, we were never informed of any faults in the plane, nor did we receive any SOS calls," he said.
All contact with air traffic control had been normal, and pre-flight checks showed no problems, he added.
Debris from crashed Russian jet lies strewn across the sand at the site of the crash, Sinai, Egypt Photo: EPA
The Airbus A321 with 214 Russian and three Ukranian passengers and seven crew, had taken off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in south Sinai bound for Saint Petersburg. It lost contact with air traffic control 23 minutes later.
"Unfortunately, all passengers of Kogalymavia flight 9268 Sharm el-Sheikh-Saint Petersburg have died. We issue condolences to family and friends," the Russian embassy in Cairo said.
At just 10 months of age, Darina Gromova is thought to be the youngest victim of the tragedy:
A map of the crash site:
The head of the Orthodox Church in Russia, Patriarch Kirill, has attacked Russians who celebrated Halloween in the wake of the air disaster in Egypt.
“I was struck by the information about how people vigorously celebrated in some nightclubs a festival that is not ours, that is not very comprehensible for us, the festival known as Halloween,” Patriarch Kyrill said after a Sunday service in Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported.
Alexei Anikin, head of the Emergencies ministry, talks to media at Pulkovo airport.
“I prayed so that God would not punish these people,” he added.
The conservative church has a history of crictising Russians who celebrate Halloween and several events across the country were cancelled earlier this week amid fears that the "evil" occasion would have a "negative influence on fragile minds".
The Patriarch also expressed his condolences on Sunday to those who had lost loved ones in the tragedy. “Anyone of us could have been in that plane,” he said.
Russia is today marking an official day of mourning for those killed – with public buildings flying flags at half-mast across the country and entertainment programmes on television cancelled.
“I was struck by the information about how people vigorously celebrated in some nightclubs a festival that is not ours, that is not very comprehensible for us, the festival known as Halloween,” Patriarch Kyrill said after a Sunday service in Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported.
Alexei Anikin, head of the Emergencies ministry, talks to media at Pulkovo airport.
“I prayed so that God would not punish these people,” he added.
The conservative church has a history of crictising Russians who celebrate Halloween and several events across the country were cancelled earlier this week amid fears that the "evil" occasion would have a "negative influence on fragile minds".
The Patriarch also expressed his condolences on Sunday to those who had lost loved ones in the tragedy. “Anyone of us could have been in that plane,” he said.
Russia is today marking an official day of mourning for those killed – with public buildings flying flags at half-mast across the country and entertainment programmes on television cancelled.
Egypt’s prime minister, Sherif Ismail, looks at the remains of the crashed plane near al-Arish city.
Russian authorities have ordered Kogalymavia to suspend all flights of its Airbus A321 planes in the wake of the disaster.
A spokesperson for air safety watchdog Rostransnadzor said that checks into Kogalymavia in connection with the crash of one of its planes over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula with the loss of 224 lives, will last at least until November 30, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
The order effectively grounds Kogalymavia’s fleet — because six of the air company’s eight planes are A321s. The firm, which is also facing a criminal investigation, had previously said that it was not planning to halt flights in the wake of the crash.
A spokesperson for air safety watchdog Rostransnadzor said that checks into Kogalymavia in connection with the crash of one of its planes over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula with the loss of 224 lives, will last at least until November 30, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
The order effectively grounds Kogalymavia’s fleet — because six of the air company’s eight planes are A321s. The firm, which is also facing a criminal investigation, had previously said that it was not planning to halt flights in the wake of the crash.
A man lights a candle for the victims outside the Russian embassy in Kiev, Ukraine.
Two French crash investigators are en route for Egypt today, sent by the Civil Aviation Investigation and Analysis Bureau (BEA), an agency that investigates crashes and safety issues.
The investigators, accompanied by six technical advisors from Airbus, the airliner’s French-based manufacturer, are to go to the crash site. The team also includes two German investigators.
It is standard procedure for the multinational European aerospace company to assist in investigations into crashes involving its aircraft.
It is still unclear if the cause of the crash was a technical fault or terrorism.
Egyptian emergency services wait near the crash site.
French experts expressed doubt that Isil shot down the airliner despite a statement purporting to be from the terrorist group claiming responsibility.
Yves Trotignon, a former intelligence agent, believes the statement was genuinely issued by Isil, but said it was unlikely that the group had shot down the airliner, flying at an altitude of 9,000 metres, with a missile.
People lay flowers and light candles outside the Russian embassy in Kiev.
“Only the armed forces of a country have the capability to do that,” said Mr Trotignon, now a risk assessment consultant with Risk&Co.
However, terrorism experts said Isil had never claimed an attack it did not carry out. Mr Trotignon told Le Parisien newspaper: “The statement does not say they shot it down, but that they destroyed it... You could imagine explosives on board, or sabotage.”
People lay flowers and light candles outside the Russian embassy in Kiev.
A French political scientist, Mathieu Guidère, said Isil “is very well established in the Sinai, has infiltrated almost all organisations and infrastructure, so it is quite possible that a fighter sabotaged the plane at the airport before it took off or placed a device on board.”
The investigators, accompanied by six technical advisors from Airbus, the airliner’s French-based manufacturer, are to go to the crash site. The team also includes two German investigators.
It is standard procedure for the multinational European aerospace company to assist in investigations into crashes involving its aircraft.
It is still unclear if the cause of the crash was a technical fault or terrorism.
Egyptian emergency services wait near the crash site.
French experts expressed doubt that Isil shot down the airliner despite a statement purporting to be from the terrorist group claiming responsibility.
Yves Trotignon, a former intelligence agent, believes the statement was genuinely issued by Isil, but said it was unlikely that the group had shot down the airliner, flying at an altitude of 9,000 metres, with a missile.
People lay flowers and light candles outside the Russian embassy in Kiev.
“Only the armed forces of a country have the capability to do that,” said Mr Trotignon, now a risk assessment consultant with Risk&Co.
However, terrorism experts said Isil had never claimed an attack it did not carry out. Mr Trotignon told Le Parisien newspaper: “The statement does not say they shot it down, but that they destroyed it... You could imagine explosives on board, or sabotage.”
People lay flowers and light candles outside the Russian embassy in Kiev.
A French political scientist, Mathieu Guidère, said Isil “is very well established in the Sinai, has infiltrated almost all organisations and infrastructure, so it is quite possible that a fighter sabotaged the plane at the airport before it took off or placed a device on board.”
As Russians grieve on a day of national mourning, rescue teams begin the grim task of recovering bodies:
Police open the way for ambulances carrying the bodies of passengers from the Russian airliner into a morgue in Cairo, Egypt.
It has been a busy 24 hours for Sherif Ismail, the Egyptian prime minister.
Within hours of the crash he was on the scene in the Sinai, being photographed as investigators pulled one of the blackboxes out of the wreckage.
Aviation experts questioned whether such a visit was helpful while forensics teams were still trying to gather evidence.
The prime minister then returned to Cairo and personally visited the Zenhoum morgue, where many of the victims' bodies have been brought. He oversaw workers as they took fingerprint and DNA samples from the deceased.
Mr Islmail also visited the Russian embassy in Cairo to offer the government's condolences to the Russian people.
Crowds gathered on Sunday in St Petersburg to pay respects to those killed in the Airbus 321 crash
Packed with tourists, there were families, newly engaged couples and people returning from holidays marking birthdays and anniversaries.
One of the youngest victims of the tragedy was 10-month old Darina Gromova. A photograph of the young girl posted by her mother just before leaving St Petersburg, where she stands pressed against the glass window of the airport terminal looking at a plane, has gone viral:
Tatyana Gromova posted this image two weeks ago of her daughter Darina looking at a plane before the family boarded the ill fated flight to St Petersburg Photo: Instagram/ Tatyana Gromova
Another victim was an official from the western Russian city of Pskov, Alexander Kopylov, who had bought the holiday to Egypt as a present for his wife.
“I couldn’t believe it. And when the information was confirmed it was a shock,” said Pskov mayor Ivan Tsetsersky, Russian television reported.
Military investigators from Egypt and Russia stand near the debris of a Russian airliner
Many of the dead were from St. Petersburg but others had traveled to Russia’s second city for the onward flight to Egypt. The dead were from 13 of Russia’s 85 regions. Relatives of the dead were gathering in St. Petersburg on Sunday, according to media reports.
Clothes are pictured on the ground at the site where the airliner crashed.
The bodies of those killed in the disaster are expected to begin arriving in St. Petersburg in the early hours of Monday morning — and funerals are likely to begin immediately.
A pathologist at Cairo's central morgue told The Telegraph that the bodies from the crash he had seen were charred beyond recognition.
The remains of the the Airbus A321 in the al-Hasanah area of Egypt.
"They died far away from here, but the tragedy feels close to anyone with a family. These men and women had people waiting for them in Russia. Instead they are being sent to my morgue," he said.
The Russian news agency Tass is reporting that the bodies are due to be repatriated today.
Egyptian officials at Kabret military base in Suez receive the bodies of 34 passengers.
"We expect the first plane [with the bodies] to land here already tomorrow," said Leonid Bogdanov, a St Petersburg official.
The city's vice-governor, Igor Albin, told the Moscow-based Rossiya 24 news channel that four planes were involved in the operation.
Egypt’s prime minister Sherif Ismail looks at the wreckage of the airliner.
Russian state-owned television channel NTV has aired an excerpt of an interview with the wife of pilot Sergei Trukhachyov — in which she says he expressed fears about the state of the aircraft just before the flight out of Sharm el Sheikh.
Russia’s emergencies minister Vladimir Puchkov visits the crash site of the Airbus A321 in Egypt
“My older daughter spoke with him just before he left. He complained before the flight that the technical condition of the plane left much to be desired,” Natalya Trukhachyova said.
A woman at Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg grieves at the news of the crash of the Airbus A321 in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, killing all on board
The plane had suffered at least two minor accidents this year, according to Russian news agencies. The incidents, both in March, saw the plane’s undercarriage fail to retract and a fault with equipment in the cockpit.
The wreckage was found roughly 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the North Sinai town of El-Arish, Egyptian officials said.
Debris was found across a wide area of the Sinai peninsula, Russia says
Debris and bodies was spread over an area of between two and a half to just over three square miles. The aircraft's black box had been retrieved and sent for analysis, Mr Ismail said.
The Isil affiliate waging an insurgency in the Sinai claimed that "the soldiers of the caliphate succeeded in bringing down a Russian plane". It said this was in revenge for Russian air strikes against Isil in Syria.
Debris from crashed Russian jet lies strewn across the sand at the site of the crash, Sinai, Egypt
Three military experts said Isil in Sinai does not have surface-to-air missiles capable of hitting a plane at high altitude. But they could not exclude the possibility of a bomb on board or a surface-to-air missile strike if the aircraft had been descending to make an emergency landing.
Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail examines the Russian plane’s black box at the crash site
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin ordered rescue teams dispatched to Egypt. Russian experts would take part in the Egyptian-led investigation, Mr Ismail said.
The plane's flight recorders have been recovered and sent for tests
After not answering its phones for much of the day, Kogalymavia, which operates under the name Metrojet, broke its silence with a statement offering condolences to the families of the victims.
"We will all need great courage to overcome these losses," it said.
It also defended the pilot, saying he had "more than 12,000 hours" of flight experience, "including 3,860 hours with Airbus A321".
Russia's emergency ministry published a list of the passengers, ranging in age from a 10-month-old girl to a 77-year-old woman. A senior Egyptian aviation official said the charter flight was flying at 30,000 feet when communication was lost.
At Saint Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, family members awaited news. Ella Smirnova, 25, said she had been there to meet her parents.
One official said the plane appeared to have broken in two
"I spoke to them last on the phone when they were already on the plane, and then I heard the news.
"I will keep hoping until the end that they are alive, but perhaps I will never see them again."
A senior Egyptian air traffic control official said the pilot told him in their last communication that he had radio trouble.
Russian aviation official Sergei Izvolsky told Interfax news agency the aircraft took off from Sharm el-Sheikh at 5:51 am (0351 GMT).
He said it did not make contact as expected with Cyprus air traffic control.
"Communication was lost today with the Airbus 321 of Kogalymavia which was carrying out flight 9268 from Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg," Izvolsky told Russian television networks.
"The plane departed Sharm el-Sheikh with 217 passengers and seven crew members. At 7:14 Moscow time the crew was scheduled to make contact with... Larnaca (Cyprus). However, this did not happen and the plane disappeared from the radar screens."
Metrojet, says it has two A320s and seven A321s, and that it carried 779,626 passengers in the first nine months of 2015, according to the Russian aviation agency Rosaviatsia.
Russia has a dismal air safety record, with charter operators often under pressure to book to capacity on ageing jets in an attempt to cut costs.
Kogalymavia is a small regional carrier that flies mostly international charter services.
The crash is likely to raise renewed concerns about the safety of air travel in a country with an ageing fleet of airliners.
The last major air crash in Egypt was in 2004, when a Flash Airlines Boeing 737 plunged into the Red Sea after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh. All 148 people on board, most of them French, died.
Millions of tourists, including many Russians, visit the resort, one of Egypt's major attractions for its pristine beaches and scuba diving.
It and other resorts dotting the Red Sea coast are heavily secured by the military and police, as an Islamist insurgency rages in north Sinai bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip since the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Emirates airlines has announced it has stopped flying over Egypt's Sinai peninsula after the Russian passenger plane went down in the area.
"Emirates is currently avoiding flying over the Sinai peninsula until more information is available," a spokesman said in a statement.
"We are currently monitoring the situation."
AFP has heartbreaking details of how friends and relatives at Pulkovo airport in Saint Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, were told the news of the crash:
Airport officials tried to keep things calm with a tannoy announcement asking all those waiting to meet those on board the ill-fated Sharm el-Sheikh flight to "come to the information stand".
They were then ushered on to buses and taken to a hotel where psychologists and doctors were waiting at an impromptu crisis centre which has already asked family members to provide DNA samples for identifying remains.
Isil claims of responsibility..
Video grab from 2013 shows an Airbus A321, with registration number EI-ETJ, taking off from Salzburg
This is believed to be the plane, captured on video in 2013 taking off from Salzburg.
The A321 is a medium-haul jet in service since 1994, with over 1,100 in operation worldwide and a good safety record. It is a highly automated aircraft relying on computers to help pilots stay within safe flying limits.
Airbus said the A321 that crashed was built in 1997 and had been operated by Metrojet since 2012. It had flown 56,000 hours in nearly 21,000 flights and was powered by engines from International Aero Engines consortium, which includes United Technologies unit Pratt & Whitney and Germany's MTU Aero Engines .
Russia's Investigative Committee says it is checking fuel samples from the aircraft's last refueling stop, in the southern Russian city of Samara, according to RIA news agency. Searches are also being carried out at Moscow's Domodedovo airport where the airline that operated the plane is based.
Last summer the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington issued a safety warning, known as a Notice to Airmen, saying airlines should not fly below 26,000 feet when passing over the north of the Sinai peninsula.
It advised “extreme caution during flight operations due to ongoing violence, unrest security operations and the risk to safety from small arms, rocket propelled grenades, mortars, anti-aircraft fire and shoulder fired, man portable air defence systems".
However, airlines said they would be well above this altitude when passing over the region.
The FAA warning was repeated by the European Aviation Safety Agency.
Air France is the latest airline to say it will avoid flying over the Sinai Peninsula for safety reasons. A spokeswoman for the company that Air France flights will avoid the area pending the investigation "as a precaution, until further notice".
Here's what Sharif Ismail, the Egyptian prime minister, said earlier about the possibility that an Isil affiliate had shot down the plane, according to the state news agency Mena:
Experts have affirmed that technically planes at this altitude cannot be shot down, and the black box will be the one that will reveal the reasons for the crash.
Egypt has now recovered both black boxes, the civil aviation minister told a news conference. Egyptian authorities had earlier said they had found one.
Egyptian gov officials at the site where #Russian flight #7K9268 crashed in the #Sinai, killing 224 people on board.
Reuters is reporting that France's civil aviation safety agency (BEA) will be sending a team of two safety investigators to Egypt along with six technical advisers from Airbus. They will be joined by two investigators from Germany's Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation and four from the Russian equivalent, the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK).
Mt Sinai, Sinai Desert, Egypt
The terrain rises to around 9,000 feet very quickly and you are at 10,500 feet within about 25 miles of the airport.
The plane was carrying 217 passengers, including 25 children, Russian transport authorities said. There were seven crew members on board.
You have to be certain of your navigation and the performance of the aeroplane. One of the things I emphasise is you have to know which way to turn if an engine fails.
Normally an engine failure is not a problem, but flying out of Sharm does require more planning and awareness of what you are going to turn into.
Lufthansa is one of the airlines that says it will now avoid the area. However, British Airways says it will continue to fly over Sinai.
The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so.
Timeline: the course of flight KGL9268
Our safety team continually liaises with the appropriate authorities around the world, and we conduct very detailed risk assessments into every route we operate.
There's a lot of scepticism that Isil would have been able to shoot down an airliner at close to cruising altitude.
The Russian airline Kogalymavia’s Airbus A321 with a tail number of EI-ETJ on an airstrip of Moscow’s Domodedovo international airport.
The Russian airline whose plane crashed in the Sinai region on Saturday says the aircraft was in good shape and the pilot was experienced.
Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail (R) listens to rescue workers as he looks at the remains of a Russian airliner after it crashed in central Sinai near El Arish city, north Egypt, October 31, 2015
In a statement on its website, Moscow-based Metrojet says the A321 received required factory maintenance in 2014.
The statement identified the captain of the plane as Valery Nemov and said he had 12,000 air hours of experience, including 3,860 in A321s.
Tourists enjoy the beach in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh
AFP is reporting more details on the Islamic State (IS) group affiliate in Egypt that claimed that it downed the plane, without saying how, but there has been no official word on the cause of the crash.
The IS affiliate, which is waging a deadly insurgency in the Sinai, claimed that "the soldiers of the caliphate succeeded in bringing down a Russian plane" there.
Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail (2nd L) and Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou look at the remains of a Russian airliner which crashed in central Sinai near El Arish city, north Egypt, October 31, 2015.
It said this was in revenge for Russian air strikes against militants in Syria, where IS controls territories that straddle Iraq.
Three military experts said IS in Sinai does not have surface-to-air missiles capable of hitting a plane at high altitude.
Police deployed at Cairo's main morgue. The bodies of those killed in the Sinai plane crash are on their way.
AFP reports that the Islamic State group's affiliate in Egypt has claimed it had downed the Russian passenger plane that crashed Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula, where the jihadists are waging an insurgency, killing all on board.
"The soldiers of the caliphate succeeded in bringing down a Russian plane in Sinai," said the statement circulated on social media.
David Cameron says his thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims:
What caused the crash?
David Learmount, consulting editor with Flight Global, said it was too early to rule anything out during the early stages of an investigation.
The remains of a Russian airliner which crashed is seen in central Sinai near El Arish city, north Egypt, October 31, 2015. The Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia under the brand name Metrojet, carrying 224 passengers crashed into a mountainous area of Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Saturday shortly after losing radar contact near cruising altitude, killing all aboard.
“Flight radar data makes clear there was a flight upset, but we have no idea why. There are loads of terrorist factions operating in the area and many affiliated to Islamic State. The Egyptians work very hard on security at Sharm El Sheik because if you wanted to destroy the tourist economy that would be the likewise target.
However the plane was too high for a shoulder launched missile, but it was 2,000 feet lower than MH17.”
A desperate wait for news at Pulkovo international airport outside St. Petersburg.
However, sounding a note of caution about terrorism, he added: "In this case the aircraft appears to have come down in one piece, unlike MH17.”
Pilot Adel Mahjoub, the chairman of the Egyptian Company of Airports, which run Sharm el-Shiekh Airport, said that the Russian plane was checked before taking off and it was valid for flying.
The Metrojet's Airbus A-321 with registration number EI-ETJ that crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, is seen in this picture taken in Antalya, Turkey September 17, 2015
He told press that a technical team was sent to Sharma el-Shiekh Airport to collect all available data about the plane before it took off, including the surveillance cameras of the security check and technical check, supplying the plane with fuel and meals before taking off. He added that all that data will be handed to the ministry of civil aviation and the air crashes accidents committee.
Victoria Sevryukova, believed to be a victim of the Russian MetroJet Airbus A321 plane that crashed 20 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh
A statement from Egypt's President Abdulfattah al-Sisi:
The Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt offers its sincere condolences to the leadership, government and people of Russia as well as the families of the victims of the Russian plane crash that took place near Al-Hasana City in Sinai.
A woman reacts at Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg, Russia, October 31, 2015
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is following developments and is in contact with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and other senior officials, who have headed to the crash site. The President instructed the investigation
committee, formed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, to swiftly carry out its mission and identify the reasons that led to the accident. This is in addition to coordinating efforts with the relevant Russian authorities.
Relatives of victims of a Russian airliner which crashed in Egypt, mourns at a hotel near Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg, Russia, October 31, 2015
The Presidency is closely following the situation with members of the crisis management team, headed by the prime minister and that includes the ministers of civil aviation, tourism, interior, social solidarity, health and population, local development, and representatives from the ministry of defense and foreign affairs. The Presidency receives regular reports on the latest developments.
Victoria Sevryukova in Sharm el-Sheikh
Ahmed Abu Draa, a well-known journalist based in El Arish for the Masry al-Youm (Egypt Today) newspaper, has told the Telegraph he has tried to get to the scene of the crash, about 60 miles south of El Arish, but been turned back by the military authorities, who have sealed off the area.
The plane came down in mountainous central Sinai, a remote and barren spot even before large areas became inaccessible because of the militant insurgency.
An Egyptian soldier prays as emergency workers prepare to unload bodies of victims from the crash of a Russian aircraft over the Sinai peninsula from a police helicopter to ambulances, near Suez, Egypt, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015
Police raided the Moscow offices of the Siberian-based airline Kogalymavia, whose planes are branded as Metrojet, on Saturday, the Interfax news agency reported. Police were reportedly seizing computers and documents.
Kogalymavia spokeswoman Oksana Golovina said that there was no reason to blame the pilots for the crash and that the captain of the plane had over 12,000 hours of flying experience, NTV television station reported.
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Saturday
According to the pilots’ online chatroom, Prune the pilot did report an engine malfunction. But at the same time pilots have also been warned of a potential terrorist threat in a Notice to Airmen:
The remains of a Russian airliner which crashed is seen in central Sinai near El Arish city.
SECURITY EGYPT, NORTHERN SINAI PENINSULA, POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS SITUATION CONTENT: GERMANY ADVISES ALL GERMAN OPERATORS NOT TO PLAN AND CONDUCT FLIGHTS BELOW FL260 DUE TO HAZARDOUS SITUATION IN THE AIRSPACE OF EGYPT, REGION NORTHERN SINAI (FIR CAIRO). POTENTIAL RISK TO AVIATION OVERFLYING THIS AREA BELOW FL260 AND TAKE OFF / LANDING AT ALL AIRPORTS FROM DEDICATED ANTI-AVIATION AND GROUND TO GROUND WEAPONRY. OPERATORS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO TAKE POTENTIAL RISK INTO ACCOUNT IN THEIR RISK ASSESSMENT AND ROUTEING DECISION. AFFECTED AREA: AREA WITHIN N311400E322200 - N294000E324000 - N293000E345400 N312000E341200 - N311400E322200 EMERGENCY SITUATIONS: IN AN EMERGENCY THAT REQUIRES IMMEDIATE DECISION AND ACTION FOR THE SAFETY OF THE FLIGHT, THE PILOT IN COMMAND MAY DEVIATE FROM THIS NOTAM TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED BY THAT EMERGENCY.
People gather at the airline information desk at of Russian airline Kogalymavia’s desk at Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg
Airbus has already set up a crisis room in Toulouse to gather information about the crash. The disaster will be investigated by experts from Russian and Egyptian aviation agencies. They will be joined by a team from the European Aviation Safety Agency, because the Airbus was made in Europe and the US National Transportation Safety Board because the engines were manufactured in America.
A woman reacts next to Russian Emergencies Ministry members at Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg
There are around 1,2000 Airbus 321s in service. The plane is best described as a medium haul workhorse used by airlines around the world. It has a range of 3,000 nautical miles - or 3,452 miles.
The A321 has been in the air since 1993. In July 2010 152 people died when an Airblue crashed into the Margalla hills while trying to land at Bhutto International Airport (ISB) in Pakistan. The accident was attributed to pilot error.
In 2003 an aircraft operated by TransAsia Airways had to be written off when it crashed a utility vehicle on the runway. There were no fatalities.
There have also been 17 other accidents in which a plane has sustained serious, but not catastrophic damage, the most recent being last month when an Air Berlin flight had to be diverted to Munich after suffering tire damage after taking off from Dusseldorf for Kos.
Egyptian officials say that all 224 passengers and crew have died.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an order making tomorrow - November 1 - a national day of mourning.
All Russian flags on state buildings will be at half-mast and there will be special programmes on state-owned media outlets, according to the decree that was posted on the Kremlin website.
As investigators examine the plane's black box, we look at what this small item can tell us about a crash:
A security source has told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur(DPA) that the black box of the Russian plane has been found.
Looping playback of #7K9268. Last data recorded at 04:13:22 UTC
He added that from the primary examination of the wreckage and tail of the plane, there are no indications that the plane suffered a terrorist operation and at this stage the crash is thought to be caused by a technical error.
"There are no survivals among its passengers," the source told DPA.
Adel Mahgoub, chairman of the state company that runs Egypt's civilian airports, said all passengers and crew were Russian citizens.
Roughly three million Russian tourists, or nearly a third of all visitors in 2014, come to Egypt every year, mostly to Red Sea resorts in Sinai or in mainland Egypt.
"It is too premature to detect the impact this will have on tourism. We need to know what happened first," Tourism Ministry spokeswoman Rasha Azazi told The Associated Press.
Pictures have now emerged of distressed relatives waiting earlier today at the airport in St Petersburg for news of their loved ones. Authorities have since moved relatives to a nearby hotel:
Relatives seek more information from staff at the airport
Relatives wait for more news
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered officials to coordinate with their Egyptian counterparts to organize the dispatch of Russian planes to Egypt with rescuers and investigators able to work at the site of the crash.
The Russian leader also ordered the country’s Emergency Situations ministry to work closely with relatives of the victims of those on board the plane. Relatives and friends who gathered at Saint Petersburg airport, where the downed plane was due to land, have now been removed in buses to a nearby hotel.
Relatives of passengers of MetroJet Airbus A321 at Pulkovo II international airport in St. Petersburg, Russia
The Russian focus appears to now be on possible technical faults that could have brought down the plane. The Airbus that came down was built in 1994 but had been used intensively in recent years, according to Russian state-owned television. Sunday’s flight was reportedly its 17th of this week.
Russia has launched a criminal investigation into the crash, according a spokesman for the country’s Investigative Committee.
Rescuers claim they have heard voices in the wreckage of the Russian plane that has crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, according to Sky News.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed government departments to begin organising official assistance for the families of those on board the Kogalymavia flight, according to Russian news service RIA Novosti.
People arrive at Pulkovo airport after the Russian airline Kogalymavia Airbus A321 carrying more than 224 passangers crashed in central Sinai
An official in the Egyptian Air traffic control has told local reporters that the last communication with the pilot of the Russian plane was while he was flying at 30 thousand feet. The pilot complained of malfunction in the wireless devices and he asked for an emergency landing at the nearest airport.
The crew of the downed plane had made recent complaints about engine trouble, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, that cites security sources at Sharm el-Sheikh airport.
"Several times in the last week this plane had requested assistance from technical support because the engine would not start," the source was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.
The plane was an Airbus A320, the first of which were produced in the 1980s. The first flight of an Airbus A320 was in 1988.
People comfort each other at Pulkovo airport
The Egyptian prime minister Sherif Ismail said that an investigation will be opened into the crash of the Russian plane.
He added in a statement before heading to the location of the crash, that a team from the Ministry of Aviation will go to the crash location and that there is coordination with the Russians in this regard.
The Israeli military says it is assisting Egypt with aerial surveillance as the recovery operation in the Sinai begins.
Israel has the most sophisticated military in the region and its spy planes and satellites could be useful to Egyptian authorities. The Israeli military says it has offered continuing help to both Russia and Egypt if needed.
A Russian website with close links to the security services has published a complete list of passengers.
Many of the surnames are the same, indicating dozens of families were on the plane. Egypt is a traditionally very popular area for Russian tourists.
Relatives that waited for arriving #7K9268 in Pulkovo are loading into buses
The Ministry of Tourism has just released a statement saying the Prime Minister, Sherif Ismail, and Hisham Zazou, have come out of an emergency cabinet meeting in Cairo and are now on their way to the crash scene with a number of other ministers.
The area where the wreckage has been reported is just off the road between El Arish to some of the villages at the heart of the current insurgency just a couple of miles away, and has been sealed off by the military for all non-locals for more than a year.
Mohammed Sabry, a reporter based in El Arish, has told us the area of the crash is firmly sealed off. He quotes a government spokesman telling him that any injured survivors will be taken to the Nasser Institute Hospital in Cairo and the dead to the Zeinhom morgue, also in the capital.
Russia’s civil air agency is expected to have a news conference shortly at a hotel adjacent to the airport.
The rescue teams have found the wreckage of the plane in an area South of Arish called Hasna. Search and rescue teams have arrived to the location of the crashed plane. The plane was flying on 31 thousand feet when it disappeared from the radar, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
There are reports the plane’s captain told air traffic control shortly after take-off that the flight was suffering a technical fault and requested a change of route.
In an earlier statement the Egyptian cabinet said: "Military planes have discovered the wreckage of the plane... in a mountainous area, and 45 ambulances have been directed to the site to evacuate dead and wounded.”
Airspace over Sinai Peninsula when #7K9268 disappeared from Flightradar24 at 04:13 UTC
Prime Minister Ismail cancelled a visit to the city of Ismailiya and formed an operations room to follow up on the situation.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Facebook page that Russian Embassy personnel in Egypt are working to clarify the situation.
AFP reports: Egyptian military planes have spotted the wreckage of a Russian passenger plane that crashed Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula with 224 people on board, the government said.
"Military planes have discovered the wreckage of the plane... in a mountainous area, and 45 ambulances have been directed to the site to evacuate dead and wounded," a cabinet statement said.
El Arish, the town near the spot apparently located by rescuers as the crash scene, is the main city on the north, Mediterranean coast of the Sinai. It is also the main government base in the fight against the insurgents whose uprising has been based in the towns and villages to the south and east such as Sheikh Zuweid.
The Russian airline Kogalymavia Airbus A321 with a tail number of EI-ETJ
On a visit to the area two years ago, before the military sealed it off, The Telegraph witnessed the army sending in Apache helicopters and blowing up houses it believed belonged to the insurgents, who then went by the name Ansar Beit al-Maqdis. Since then they have renamed themselves "Wilayat Sinai" - the Province of Sinai, of Isil's "Caliphate".
In return, scores of police and soldiers have been killed by shootings, ambushes and mines - roadside IEDS - around El Arish.
The remains of the plane have been found in the desolate mountainous area of Southern Arish, Sinai.
Rescue workers said the airbus KGL-9268, had been almost completely destroyed and there were unlikely to be any survivors.
On board the plane were 17 children, along with 200 adults and seven crew, said aviation authorities.
Meanwhile Egyptian security sources said there were no indications that the airbus had been shot down.
Online flight tracking websites show the plane came down in an area of northern Sinai close to the Israeli border. Perhaps more significantly close to the area where the Egyptian army is fighting an insurgency by militants loyal to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Sharm el Sheikh airport Egypt
The Airbus A-321 had just taken off from the Red Sea resort on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg when it crashed.
Most of the passengers were understood to be tourists.
The Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said in a statement that flight 9268 left Sharm el-Sheikh at 06:51 Moscow time (03:51 GMT) and was due into St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport at 12:10.
The authority added that the aircraft failed to make scheduled contact with Cyprus air traffic control 23 minutes after take-off and disappeared from the radar.
A Russian plane carrying more than 200 people has crashed after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The Egyptian government confirmed on Saturday morning that the passenger plane had gone down in central Sinai.
A statement from prime minister Sherif Ismail’s office said he had formed a cabinet level crisis committee to deal with the crash.
Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova
Prime minister Ismail’s office stated: “A Russian civilian plane... crashed in the central Sinai."
Egyptian air traffic control lost contact with the civilian airliner, carrying 224 people, shortly after it took off from the popular resort Sharm el-Sheikh to head to Russia, aviation sources said.
The sources said the passenger plane was mainly carrying Russian tourists and that a search was underway.
There was confusion earlier after one report said the plane had reappeared over Turkey.
Speed / Alt plotted on graph. Speed (purple) drops off before we lost contact at 04:13:10z #7K9268
Ayman al-Muqaddam, the head of the central air traffic accident authority in Egypt, initially said: "The ... Russian airline had told us that the Russian plane we lost contact with is safe and that it has contacted Turkish air traffic control and is passing through Turkish skies now,"
Flight #7K9268 was descending with about 6000 feet per minute just before signal was lost
But security sources in the Sinai Peninsula also confirmed reports that the aircraft was missing.
A senior aviation official said it was a charter flight operated by a Russian company and had on board 217 passengers and seven crew members. Communication with the aircraft was lost, he added.
Police open the way for ambulances carrying the bodies of passengers from the Russian airliner into a morgue in Cairo, Egypt.
It has been a busy 24 hours for Sherif Ismail, the Egyptian prime minister.
Within hours of the crash he was on the scene in the Sinai, being photographed as investigators pulled one of the blackboxes out of the wreckage.
Aviation experts questioned whether such a visit was helpful while forensics teams were still trying to gather evidence.
The prime minister then returned to Cairo and personally visited the Zenhoum morgue, where many of the victims' bodies have been brought. He oversaw workers as they took fingerprint and DNA samples from the deceased.
Mr Islmail also visited the Russian embassy in Cairo to offer the government's condolences to the Russian people.
Crowds gathered on Sunday in St Petersburg to pay respects to those killed in the Airbus 321 crash
Packed with tourists, there were families, newly engaged couples and people returning from holidays marking birthdays and anniversaries.
One of the youngest victims of the tragedy was 10-month old Darina Gromova. A photograph of the young girl posted by her mother just before leaving St Petersburg, where she stands pressed against the glass window of the airport terminal looking at a plane, has gone viral:
Tatyana Gromova posted this image two weeks ago of her daughter Darina looking at a plane before the family boarded the ill fated flight to St Petersburg Photo: Instagram/ Tatyana Gromova
Another victim was an official from the western Russian city of Pskov, Alexander Kopylov, who had bought the holiday to Egypt as a present for his wife.
“I couldn’t believe it. And when the information was confirmed it was a shock,” said Pskov mayor Ivan Tsetsersky, Russian television reported.
Military investigators from Egypt and Russia stand near the debris of a Russian airliner
Many of the dead were from St. Petersburg but others had traveled to Russia’s second city for the onward flight to Egypt. The dead were from 13 of Russia’s 85 regions. Relatives of the dead were gathering in St. Petersburg on Sunday, according to media reports.
Clothes are pictured on the ground at the site where the airliner crashed.
The bodies of those killed in the disaster are expected to begin arriving in St. Petersburg in the early hours of Monday morning — and funerals are likely to begin immediately.
A pathologist at Cairo's central morgue told The Telegraph that the bodies from the crash he had seen were charred beyond recognition.
The remains of the the Airbus A321 in the al-Hasanah area of Egypt.
"They died far away from here, but the tragedy feels close to anyone with a family. These men and women had people waiting for them in Russia. Instead they are being sent to my morgue," he said.
The Russian news agency Tass is reporting that the bodies are due to be repatriated today.
Egyptian officials at Kabret military base in Suez receive the bodies of 34 passengers.
"We expect the first plane [with the bodies] to land here already tomorrow," said Leonid Bogdanov, a St Petersburg official.
The city's vice-governor, Igor Albin, told the Moscow-based Rossiya 24 news channel that four planes were involved in the operation.
Egypt’s prime minister Sherif Ismail looks at the wreckage of the airliner.
Russian state-owned television channel NTV has aired an excerpt of an interview with the wife of pilot Sergei Trukhachyov — in which she says he expressed fears about the state of the aircraft just before the flight out of Sharm el Sheikh.
Russia’s emergencies minister Vladimir Puchkov visits the crash site of the Airbus A321 in Egypt
“My older daughter spoke with him just before he left. He complained before the flight that the technical condition of the plane left much to be desired,” Natalya Trukhachyova said.
A woman at Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg grieves at the news of the crash of the Airbus A321 in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, killing all on board
The plane had suffered at least two minor accidents this year, according to Russian news agencies. The incidents, both in March, saw the plane’s undercarriage fail to retract and a fault with equipment in the cockpit.
The wreckage was found roughly 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the North Sinai town of El-Arish, Egyptian officials said.
Debris was found across a wide area of the Sinai peninsula, Russia says
Debris and bodies was spread over an area of between two and a half to just over three square miles. The aircraft's black box had been retrieved and sent for analysis, Mr Ismail said.
The Isil affiliate waging an insurgency in the Sinai claimed that "the soldiers of the caliphate succeeded in bringing down a Russian plane". It said this was in revenge for Russian air strikes against Isil in Syria.
Debris from crashed Russian jet lies strewn across the sand at the site of the crash, Sinai, Egypt
Three military experts said Isil in Sinai does not have surface-to-air missiles capable of hitting a plane at high altitude. But they could not exclude the possibility of a bomb on board or a surface-to-air missile strike if the aircraft had been descending to make an emergency landing.
Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail examines the Russian plane’s black box at the crash site
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin ordered rescue teams dispatched to Egypt. Russian experts would take part in the Egyptian-led investigation, Mr Ismail said.
The plane's flight recorders have been recovered and sent for tests
After not answering its phones for much of the day, Kogalymavia, which operates under the name Metrojet, broke its silence with a statement offering condolences to the families of the victims.
"We will all need great courage to overcome these losses," it said.
It also defended the pilot, saying he had "more than 12,000 hours" of flight experience, "including 3,860 hours with Airbus A321".
Russia's emergency ministry published a list of the passengers, ranging in age from a 10-month-old girl to a 77-year-old woman. A senior Egyptian aviation official said the charter flight was flying at 30,000 feet when communication was lost.
At Saint Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, family members awaited news. Ella Smirnova, 25, said she had been there to meet her parents.
One official said the plane appeared to have broken in two
"I spoke to them last on the phone when they were already on the plane, and then I heard the news.
"I will keep hoping until the end that they are alive, but perhaps I will never see them again."
A senior Egyptian air traffic control official said the pilot told him in their last communication that he had radio trouble.
Russian aviation official Sergei Izvolsky told Interfax news agency the aircraft took off from Sharm el-Sheikh at 5:51 am (0351 GMT).
He said it did not make contact as expected with Cyprus air traffic control.
"Communication was lost today with the Airbus 321 of Kogalymavia which was carrying out flight 9268 from Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg," Izvolsky told Russian television networks.
"The plane departed Sharm el-Sheikh with 217 passengers and seven crew members. At 7:14 Moscow time the crew was scheduled to make contact with... Larnaca (Cyprus). However, this did not happen and the plane disappeared from the radar screens."
Metrojet, says it has two A320s and seven A321s, and that it carried 779,626 passengers in the first nine months of 2015, according to the Russian aviation agency Rosaviatsia.
Russia has a dismal air safety record, with charter operators often under pressure to book to capacity on ageing jets in an attempt to cut costs.
Kogalymavia is a small regional carrier that flies mostly international charter services.
The crash is likely to raise renewed concerns about the safety of air travel in a country with an ageing fleet of airliners.
The last major air crash in Egypt was in 2004, when a Flash Airlines Boeing 737 plunged into the Red Sea after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh. All 148 people on board, most of them French, died.
Millions of tourists, including many Russians, visit the resort, one of Egypt's major attractions for its pristine beaches and scuba diving.
It and other resorts dotting the Red Sea coast are heavily secured by the military and police, as an Islamist insurgency rages in north Sinai bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip since the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Emirates airlines has announced it has stopped flying over Egypt's Sinai peninsula after the Russian passenger plane went down in the area.
"Emirates is currently avoiding flying over the Sinai peninsula until more information is available," a spokesman said in a statement.
"We are currently monitoring the situation."
AFP has heartbreaking details of how friends and relatives at Pulkovo airport in Saint Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, were told the news of the crash:
Airport officials tried to keep things calm with a tannoy announcement asking all those waiting to meet those on board the ill-fated Sharm el-Sheikh flight to "come to the information stand".
They were then ushered on to buses and taken to a hotel where psychologists and doctors were waiting at an impromptu crisis centre which has already asked family members to provide DNA samples for identifying remains.
Isil claims of responsibility..
Video grab from 2013 shows an Airbus A321, with registration number EI-ETJ, taking off from Salzburg
This is believed to be the plane, captured on video in 2013 taking off from Salzburg.
The A321 is a medium-haul jet in service since 1994, with over 1,100 in operation worldwide and a good safety record. It is a highly automated aircraft relying on computers to help pilots stay within safe flying limits.
Airbus said the A321 that crashed was built in 1997 and had been operated by Metrojet since 2012. It had flown 56,000 hours in nearly 21,000 flights and was powered by engines from International Aero Engines consortium, which includes United Technologies unit Pratt & Whitney and Germany's MTU Aero Engines .
Russia's Investigative Committee says it is checking fuel samples from the aircraft's last refueling stop, in the southern Russian city of Samara, according to RIA news agency. Searches are also being carried out at Moscow's Domodedovo airport where the airline that operated the plane is based.
Last summer the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington issued a safety warning, known as a Notice to Airmen, saying airlines should not fly below 26,000 feet when passing over the north of the Sinai peninsula.
It advised “extreme caution during flight operations due to ongoing violence, unrest security operations and the risk to safety from small arms, rocket propelled grenades, mortars, anti-aircraft fire and shoulder fired, man portable air defence systems".
However, airlines said they would be well above this altitude when passing over the region.
The FAA warning was repeated by the European Aviation Safety Agency.
Air France is the latest airline to say it will avoid flying over the Sinai Peninsula for safety reasons. A spokeswoman for the company that Air France flights will avoid the area pending the investigation "as a precaution, until further notice".
Here's what Sharif Ismail, the Egyptian prime minister, said earlier about the possibility that an Isil affiliate had shot down the plane, according to the state news agency Mena:
Experts have affirmed that technically planes at this altitude cannot be shot down, and the black box will be the one that will reveal the reasons for the crash.
Egypt has now recovered both black boxes, the civil aviation minister told a news conference. Egyptian authorities had earlier said they had found one.
Egyptian gov officials at the site where #Russian flight #7K9268 crashed in the #Sinai, killing 224 people on board.
Reuters is reporting that France's civil aviation safety agency (BEA) will be sending a team of two safety investigators to Egypt along with six technical advisers from Airbus. They will be joined by two investigators from Germany's Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation and four from the Russian equivalent, the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK).
Mt Sinai, Sinai Desert, Egypt
The terrain rises to around 9,000 feet very quickly and you are at 10,500 feet within about 25 miles of the airport.
The plane was carrying 217 passengers, including 25 children, Russian transport authorities said. There were seven crew members on board.
You have to be certain of your navigation and the performance of the aeroplane. One of the things I emphasise is you have to know which way to turn if an engine fails.
Normally an engine failure is not a problem, but flying out of Sharm does require more planning and awareness of what you are going to turn into.
Lufthansa is one of the airlines that says it will now avoid the area. However, British Airways says it will continue to fly over Sinai.
The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority, and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so.
Timeline: the course of flight KGL9268
Our safety team continually liaises with the appropriate authorities around the world, and we conduct very detailed risk assessments into every route we operate.
There's a lot of scepticism that Isil would have been able to shoot down an airliner at close to cruising altitude.
The Russian airline Kogalymavia’s Airbus A321 with a tail number of EI-ETJ on an airstrip of Moscow’s Domodedovo international airport.
The Russian airline whose plane crashed in the Sinai region on Saturday says the aircraft was in good shape and the pilot was experienced.
Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail (R) listens to rescue workers as he looks at the remains of a Russian airliner after it crashed in central Sinai near El Arish city, north Egypt, October 31, 2015
In a statement on its website, Moscow-based Metrojet says the A321 received required factory maintenance in 2014.
The statement identified the captain of the plane as Valery Nemov and said he had 12,000 air hours of experience, including 3,860 in A321s.
Tourists enjoy the beach in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh
AFP is reporting more details on the Islamic State (IS) group affiliate in Egypt that claimed that it downed the plane, without saying how, but there has been no official word on the cause of the crash.
The IS affiliate, which is waging a deadly insurgency in the Sinai, claimed that "the soldiers of the caliphate succeeded in bringing down a Russian plane" there.
Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail (2nd L) and Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou look at the remains of a Russian airliner which crashed in central Sinai near El Arish city, north Egypt, October 31, 2015.
It said this was in revenge for Russian air strikes against militants in Syria, where IS controls territories that straddle Iraq.
Three military experts said IS in Sinai does not have surface-to-air missiles capable of hitting a plane at high altitude.
Police deployed at Cairo's main morgue. The bodies of those killed in the Sinai plane crash are on their way.
AFP reports that the Islamic State group's affiliate in Egypt has claimed it had downed the Russian passenger plane that crashed Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula, where the jihadists are waging an insurgency, killing all on board.
"The soldiers of the caliphate succeeded in bringing down a Russian plane in Sinai," said the statement circulated on social media.
David Cameron says his thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims:
What caused the crash?
David Learmount, consulting editor with Flight Global, said it was too early to rule anything out during the early stages of an investigation.
The remains of a Russian airliner which crashed is seen in central Sinai near El Arish city, north Egypt, October 31, 2015. The Airbus A321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia under the brand name Metrojet, carrying 224 passengers crashed into a mountainous area of Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Saturday shortly after losing radar contact near cruising altitude, killing all aboard.
“Flight radar data makes clear there was a flight upset, but we have no idea why. There are loads of terrorist factions operating in the area and many affiliated to Islamic State. The Egyptians work very hard on security at Sharm El Sheik because if you wanted to destroy the tourist economy that would be the likewise target.
However the plane was too high for a shoulder launched missile, but it was 2,000 feet lower than MH17.”
A desperate wait for news at Pulkovo international airport outside St. Petersburg.
However, sounding a note of caution about terrorism, he added: "In this case the aircraft appears to have come down in one piece, unlike MH17.”
Pilot Adel Mahjoub, the chairman of the Egyptian Company of Airports, which run Sharm el-Shiekh Airport, said that the Russian plane was checked before taking off and it was valid for flying.
The Metrojet's Airbus A-321 with registration number EI-ETJ that crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, is seen in this picture taken in Antalya, Turkey September 17, 2015
He told press that a technical team was sent to Sharma el-Shiekh Airport to collect all available data about the plane before it took off, including the surveillance cameras of the security check and technical check, supplying the plane with fuel and meals before taking off. He added that all that data will be handed to the ministry of civil aviation and the air crashes accidents committee.
Victoria Sevryukova, believed to be a victim of the Russian MetroJet Airbus A321 plane that crashed 20 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh
A statement from Egypt's President Abdulfattah al-Sisi:
The Presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt offers its sincere condolences to the leadership, government and people of Russia as well as the families of the victims of the Russian plane crash that took place near Al-Hasana City in Sinai.
A woman reacts at Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg, Russia, October 31, 2015
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is following developments and is in contact with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and other senior officials, who have headed to the crash site. The President instructed the investigation
committee, formed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, to swiftly carry out its mission and identify the reasons that led to the accident. This is in addition to coordinating efforts with the relevant Russian authorities.
Relatives of victims of a Russian airliner which crashed in Egypt, mourns at a hotel near Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg, Russia, October 31, 2015
The Presidency is closely following the situation with members of the crisis management team, headed by the prime minister and that includes the ministers of civil aviation, tourism, interior, social solidarity, health and population, local development, and representatives from the ministry of defense and foreign affairs. The Presidency receives regular reports on the latest developments.
Victoria Sevryukova in Sharm el-Sheikh
Ahmed Abu Draa, a well-known journalist based in El Arish for the Masry al-Youm (Egypt Today) newspaper, has told the Telegraph he has tried to get to the scene of the crash, about 60 miles south of El Arish, but been turned back by the military authorities, who have sealed off the area.
The plane came down in mountainous central Sinai, a remote and barren spot even before large areas became inaccessible because of the militant insurgency.
An Egyptian soldier prays as emergency workers prepare to unload bodies of victims from the crash of a Russian aircraft over the Sinai peninsula from a police helicopter to ambulances, near Suez, Egypt, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015
Police raided the Moscow offices of the Siberian-based airline Kogalymavia, whose planes are branded as Metrojet, on Saturday, the Interfax news agency reported. Police were reportedly seizing computers and documents.
Kogalymavia spokeswoman Oksana Golovina said that there was no reason to blame the pilots for the crash and that the captain of the plane had over 12,000 hours of flying experience, NTV television station reported.
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Saturday
According to the pilots’ online chatroom, Prune the pilot did report an engine malfunction. But at the same time pilots have also been warned of a potential terrorist threat in a Notice to Airmen:
The remains of a Russian airliner which crashed is seen in central Sinai near El Arish city.
SECURITY EGYPT, NORTHERN SINAI PENINSULA, POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS SITUATION CONTENT: GERMANY ADVISES ALL GERMAN OPERATORS NOT TO PLAN AND CONDUCT FLIGHTS BELOW FL260 DUE TO HAZARDOUS SITUATION IN THE AIRSPACE OF EGYPT, REGION NORTHERN SINAI (FIR CAIRO). POTENTIAL RISK TO AVIATION OVERFLYING THIS AREA BELOW FL260 AND TAKE OFF / LANDING AT ALL AIRPORTS FROM DEDICATED ANTI-AVIATION AND GROUND TO GROUND WEAPONRY. OPERATORS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO TAKE POTENTIAL RISK INTO ACCOUNT IN THEIR RISK ASSESSMENT AND ROUTEING DECISION. AFFECTED AREA: AREA WITHIN N311400E322200 - N294000E324000 - N293000E345400 N312000E341200 - N311400E322200 EMERGENCY SITUATIONS: IN AN EMERGENCY THAT REQUIRES IMMEDIATE DECISION AND ACTION FOR THE SAFETY OF THE FLIGHT, THE PILOT IN COMMAND MAY DEVIATE FROM THIS NOTAM TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED BY THAT EMERGENCY.
People gather at the airline information desk at of Russian airline Kogalymavia’s desk at Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg
Airbus has already set up a crisis room in Toulouse to gather information about the crash. The disaster will be investigated by experts from Russian and Egyptian aviation agencies. They will be joined by a team from the European Aviation Safety Agency, because the Airbus was made in Europe and the US National Transportation Safety Board because the engines were manufactured in America.
A woman reacts next to Russian Emergencies Ministry members at Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg
There are around 1,2000 Airbus 321s in service. The plane is best described as a medium haul workhorse used by airlines around the world. It has a range of 3,000 nautical miles - or 3,452 miles.
The A321 has been in the air since 1993. In July 2010 152 people died when an Airblue crashed into the Margalla hills while trying to land at Bhutto International Airport (ISB) in Pakistan. The accident was attributed to pilot error.
In 2003 an aircraft operated by TransAsia Airways had to be written off when it crashed a utility vehicle on the runway. There were no fatalities.
There have also been 17 other accidents in which a plane has sustained serious, but not catastrophic damage, the most recent being last month when an Air Berlin flight had to be diverted to Munich after suffering tire damage after taking off from Dusseldorf for Kos.
Egyptian officials say that all 224 passengers and crew have died.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an order making tomorrow - November 1 - a national day of mourning.
All Russian flags on state buildings will be at half-mast and there will be special programmes on state-owned media outlets, according to the decree that was posted on the Kremlin website.
As investigators examine the plane's black box, we look at what this small item can tell us about a crash:
A security source has told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur(DPA) that the black box of the Russian plane has been found.
Looping playback of #7K9268. Last data recorded at 04:13:22 UTC
He added that from the primary examination of the wreckage and tail of the plane, there are no indications that the plane suffered a terrorist operation and at this stage the crash is thought to be caused by a technical error.
"There are no survivals among its passengers," the source told DPA.
Adel Mahgoub, chairman of the state company that runs Egypt's civilian airports, said all passengers and crew were Russian citizens.
Roughly three million Russian tourists, or nearly a third of all visitors in 2014, come to Egypt every year, mostly to Red Sea resorts in Sinai or in mainland Egypt.
"It is too premature to detect the impact this will have on tourism. We need to know what happened first," Tourism Ministry spokeswoman Rasha Azazi told The Associated Press.
Pictures have now emerged of distressed relatives waiting earlier today at the airport in St Petersburg for news of their loved ones. Authorities have since moved relatives to a nearby hotel:
Relatives seek more information from staff at the airport
Relatives wait for more news
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered officials to coordinate with their Egyptian counterparts to organize the dispatch of Russian planes to Egypt with rescuers and investigators able to work at the site of the crash.
The Russian leader also ordered the country’s Emergency Situations ministry to work closely with relatives of the victims of those on board the plane. Relatives and friends who gathered at Saint Petersburg airport, where the downed plane was due to land, have now been removed in buses to a nearby hotel.
Relatives of passengers of MetroJet Airbus A321 at Pulkovo II international airport in St. Petersburg, Russia
The Russian focus appears to now be on possible technical faults that could have brought down the plane. The Airbus that came down was built in 1994 but had been used intensively in recent years, according to Russian state-owned television. Sunday’s flight was reportedly its 17th of this week.
Russia has launched a criminal investigation into the crash, according a spokesman for the country’s Investigative Committee.
Rescuers claim they have heard voices in the wreckage of the Russian plane that has crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, according to Sky News.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed government departments to begin organising official assistance for the families of those on board the Kogalymavia flight, according to Russian news service RIA Novosti.
People arrive at Pulkovo airport after the Russian airline Kogalymavia Airbus A321 carrying more than 224 passangers crashed in central Sinai
An official in the Egyptian Air traffic control has told local reporters that the last communication with the pilot of the Russian plane was while he was flying at 30 thousand feet. The pilot complained of malfunction in the wireless devices and he asked for an emergency landing at the nearest airport.
The crew of the downed plane had made recent complaints about engine trouble, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, that cites security sources at Sharm el-Sheikh airport.
"Several times in the last week this plane had requested assistance from technical support because the engine would not start," the source was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.
The plane was an Airbus A320, the first of which were produced in the 1980s. The first flight of an Airbus A320 was in 1988.
People comfort each other at Pulkovo airport
The Egyptian prime minister Sherif Ismail said that an investigation will be opened into the crash of the Russian plane.
He added in a statement before heading to the location of the crash, that a team from the Ministry of Aviation will go to the crash location and that there is coordination with the Russians in this regard.
The Israeli military says it is assisting Egypt with aerial surveillance as the recovery operation in the Sinai begins.
Israel has the most sophisticated military in the region and its spy planes and satellites could be useful to Egyptian authorities. The Israeli military says it has offered continuing help to both Russia and Egypt if needed.
A Russian website with close links to the security services has published a complete list of passengers.
Many of the surnames are the same, indicating dozens of families were on the plane. Egypt is a traditionally very popular area for Russian tourists.
Relatives that waited for arriving #7K9268 in Pulkovo are loading into buses
The Ministry of Tourism has just released a statement saying the Prime Minister, Sherif Ismail, and Hisham Zazou, have come out of an emergency cabinet meeting in Cairo and are now on their way to the crash scene with a number of other ministers.
The area where the wreckage has been reported is just off the road between El Arish to some of the villages at the heart of the current insurgency just a couple of miles away, and has been sealed off by the military for all non-locals for more than a year.
Mohammed Sabry, a reporter based in El Arish, has told us the area of the crash is firmly sealed off. He quotes a government spokesman telling him that any injured survivors will be taken to the Nasser Institute Hospital in Cairo and the dead to the Zeinhom morgue, also in the capital.
Russia’s civil air agency is expected to have a news conference shortly at a hotel adjacent to the airport.
The rescue teams have found the wreckage of the plane in an area South of Arish called Hasna. Search and rescue teams have arrived to the location of the crashed plane. The plane was flying on 31 thousand feet when it disappeared from the radar, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
There are reports the plane’s captain told air traffic control shortly after take-off that the flight was suffering a technical fault and requested a change of route.
In an earlier statement the Egyptian cabinet said: "Military planes have discovered the wreckage of the plane... in a mountainous area, and 45 ambulances have been directed to the site to evacuate dead and wounded.”
Airspace over Sinai Peninsula when #7K9268 disappeared from Flightradar24 at 04:13 UTC
Prime Minister Ismail cancelled a visit to the city of Ismailiya and formed an operations room to follow up on the situation.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Facebook page that Russian Embassy personnel in Egypt are working to clarify the situation.
AFP reports: Egyptian military planes have spotted the wreckage of a Russian passenger plane that crashed Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula with 224 people on board, the government said.
"Military planes have discovered the wreckage of the plane... in a mountainous area, and 45 ambulances have been directed to the site to evacuate dead and wounded," a cabinet statement said.
The Russian airline Kogalymavia Airbus A321 with a tail number of EI-ETJ
On a visit to the area two years ago, before the military sealed it off, The Telegraph witnessed the army sending in Apache helicopters and blowing up houses it believed belonged to the insurgents, who then went by the name Ansar Beit al-Maqdis. Since then they have renamed themselves "Wilayat Sinai" - the Province of Sinai, of Isil's "Caliphate".
In return, scores of police and soldiers have been killed by shootings, ambushes and mines - roadside IEDS - around El Arish.
The remains of the plane have been found in the desolate mountainous area of Southern Arish, Sinai.
Rescue workers said the airbus KGL-9268, had been almost completely destroyed and there were unlikely to be any survivors.
On board the plane were 17 children, along with 200 adults and seven crew, said aviation authorities.
Meanwhile Egyptian security sources said there were no indications that the airbus had been shot down.
Online flight tracking websites show the plane came down in an area of northern Sinai close to the Israeli border. Perhaps more significantly close to the area where the Egyptian army is fighting an insurgency by militants loyal to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Sharm el Sheikh airport Egypt
The Airbus A-321 had just taken off from the Red Sea resort on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg when it crashed.
Most of the passengers were understood to be tourists.
The Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said in a statement that flight 9268 left Sharm el-Sheikh at 06:51 Moscow time (03:51 GMT) and was due into St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport at 12:10.
The authority added that the aircraft failed to make scheduled contact with Cyprus air traffic control 23 minutes after take-off and disappeared from the radar.
The Egyptian government confirmed on Saturday morning that the passenger plane had gone down in central Sinai.
A statement from prime minister Sherif Ismail’s office said he had formed a cabinet level crisis committee to deal with the crash.
Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova
Prime minister Ismail’s office stated: “A Russian civilian plane... crashed in the central Sinai."
Egyptian air traffic control lost contact with the civilian airliner, carrying 224 people, shortly after it took off from the popular resort Sharm el-Sheikh to head to Russia, aviation sources said.
The sources said the passenger plane was mainly carrying Russian tourists and that a search was underway.
There was confusion earlier after one report said the plane had reappeared over Turkey.
Speed / Alt plotted on graph. Speed (purple) drops off before we lost contact at 04:13:10z #7K9268
Ayman al-Muqaddam, the head of the central air traffic accident authority in Egypt, initially said: "The ... Russian airline had told us that the Russian plane we lost contact with is safe and that it has contacted Turkish air traffic control and is passing through Turkish skies now,"
Flight #7K9268 was descending with about 6000 feet per minute just before signal was lost
But security sources in the Sinai Peninsula also confirmed reports that the aircraft was missing.
A senior aviation official said it was a charter flight operated by a Russian company and had on board 217 passengers and seven crew members. Communication with the aircraft was lost, he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.