Kogalymavia’s deputy general director, Alexander Smirnov, told a news conference in Moscow on Monday that only a “technical or physical action” could have caused the incident, Press TV reported.
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Moscow immediately ruled an ISIL missile strike as a possibility and various military experts said that ISIL could not have the weaponry to shoot down an aircraft flying at 31,000 feet.
Bosses from Russian airline Kogalymavia, which owns the Metrojet brand, have insisted only “some kind of impact” could have caused the disaster.
Young women grieve at an entrance of Pulkovo airport outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on Monday, November 2, 2015.
The Airbus A321-200 that crashed Saturday was built more than 18 years ago and changed several operators before entering Metrojet’s fleet in 2012. The crash shocked the global community as all the 224 people on board lost their lives.
Egypt’s president has dismissed Islamic State’s claim it brought down the airliner that crashed in the Sinai peninsula as “propaganda”.
An investigation by aviation experts using data from the aircraft’s “black boxes” has yet to give its conclusions.
Other sources told the TASS news agency that material that did not belong to the downed plane had been found at the crash site. Experts from Ireland are expected to arrive in Egypt try to figure out exactly what happened. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. He would not comment on any possible reason for the crash, citing the ongoing investigation.
While an Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State seized the opportunity to claim responsibility for the plane crash Saturday, Russian officials remained skeptical.
United States Intel Chief, James Clapper said on Monday that no evidence has surfaced to indicate what caused the deadly crash, terrorism can not be ruled out. “That’s a very serious piece of equipment, and I don’t think they have that sophistication”. The official said the activity could mean many things, including that a plane engine exploded because of a malfunction or a bomb blast.
Egyptian officials have said they are finishing fieldwork first, and then will go on to investigate the data in the black boxes. The city is holding three days of mourning through Tuesday.
Without answer, families of the mainly Russian victims find only pain and support of a nation, crying beside them.
Metrojet officials also said that the plane was regularly reviewed for signs of structural weakening and argued that although the company had withheld wages recently, that did not affect safety standards.
As the investigation moved forward, more of the dead were brought to St. Petersburg.
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Egyptian activists stand in front of the Russian embassy while holding placards in solidarity with the Russian passengers who died in Saturday’s plane crash over Sinai, in Cairo, Egypt, November 1, 2015.
