One expert told the newspaper the certain cause of the crash was not a technical fault or pilot error but a bomb brought in from outside and planted in the plane.
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The Russian-operated Airbus went down over the Sinai on October 31 after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh en route to St. Petersburg.
But the crash could expose holes in security measures at overseas airports where US airports do operate, security analysts and members of Congress said Thursday.
The black box audio recording from the Russian passenger jet which crashed in the Siani desert killing 224 people confirms the plane was brought down by a bomb, it has been claimed.
U.S. and British officials fear a bomb might have blown up the plane in midair.
“The British airline wants to schedule 18 flights at the same time and wants to transport British passengers from Sharm al-Sheikh without their luggage, which we would have to transport later”, Minister of Civil Aviation Hossam Kamal said.
President Barack Obama: I don’t think we know yet.
More than 20 flights were scheduled to leave Sharm el-Sheikh today with about 4,000 British tourists expected to be brought home, but it is now unclear how many will have actually made the journey by tonight.
Britain is requesting extra background checks on Egyptian baggage handlers, according to Downing Street sources quoted by the daily, suggesting that the theory of a terrorist mole within Sharm el-Sheikh airport had not been ruled out.
The suspension, which is covering all of Egypt is even more sweeping than that imposed by Britain, which only halted flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.
“All of these samples have been delivered to Moscow and are now being carefully studied”, minister Vladimir Puchkov said in televised comments.
The United Kingdom grounded all flights to and from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday, saying there was a “significant possibility” the Russian airliner was downed by a bomb.
The airline added: “We will continue to work with the Egyptian authorities and the UK Government to get our customers back home as soon as possible and we continue to work on a contingency plan so we can operate as soon as we receive permission to fly”.
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“As long as we haven’t established the causes of the incident, I consider it appropriate to suspend the flights of Russian aircraft to Egypt”, said Bortnikov.
