Only an external impact could have caused a Russian plane to dive into the Egyptian desert, killing all 224 people on board, the airline said Monday, adding to a series of incomplete and confusing statements from investigators that left unclear why the plane broke up in mid-flight.
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Speaking to reporters on Monday, senior Kogalymavia executive Alexander Smirnov said that “no technical failures” could account for why the Airbus 321 would have broken up in mid-air.
“We rule out a technical fault and any mistake by the crew”.
The mystery deepened yesterday (Nov 2) over the weekend crash of a Russian charter plane on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt that killed all 224 aboard, with company executives ruling out technical or human error only to be upbraided by aviation officials who called such assertions premature.
Hossam Kamal said the committee – which includes Egyptian and Russian experts as well as representatives from Ireland, where the Metrojet Airbus A321-200 was registered – will conclude its last field inspection at the crash site by the end of the day Tuesday and start working on the black boxes.
“It doesn’t tell us if it was a bomb… or if somebody had a fight in the airplane with a gun – there is a whole raft of things that could happen in this regard”, he said.
The first 10 bodies of victims of Saturday’s plane crash over Egypt were identified by their families Tuesday, Russian officials said.
From the United States, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence believes that there is still no evidence of terrorist involvement, yet he doesn’t rule out the possibility.
However, the plane had passed safety checks and its operator, Kogalymavia, owner of the Metrojet brand, has said damage from the 2001 mishap was fully repaired and could not have been a factor in the Sinai crash. FlightRadar24, a Sweden-based flight tracking service, said the aircraft was descending rapidly when the signal to air traffic control was lost. “But, as I say, we must do it on the basis of evidence and not on speculation”.
An Egyptian militant group affiliated with Daesh Takfiri terrorists claimed on Saturday that it had downed the plane in retaliation for Moscow’s anti-Daesh military campaign in Syria.
Russian Federation said it hoped its crews would complete their search mission at the remote location by Monday evening, where so far investigators have found 12 segments of the plane’s fuselage. A second plane was due to leave Cairo this evening.
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The claim led a few worldwide carriers to reroute flights away from the Sinai, though defense experts have raised strong doubts about whether the Islamic State could have missile systems capable of hitting an airliner at 31,000 feet.
