Russian passenger jet crash over Sinai: Aftermath, reactions

Preliminary information retrieved from the black boxes of the crashed Russian jet indicates that no discussion took place in the cockpit concerning any mechanical or system problem, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an anonymous source familiar with the investigation, indicating that the pilots may have had no advance warning of the crash. The initial analysis of the cockpit recording contradicts previous reports that the crew realized they had an emergency and started dealing with it. The source told the WSJ that the crew may have had little or no time to react to the emergency.

Red Wings Airlines, a privately-owned Russian company, has stopped flying over the North Sinai conflict zone to avoid the area of Egyptian airspace where the Russian plane crashed shortly after takeoff Saturday. Previously Emirates, Lufthansa and Air France also said they have stopped flying over North Sinai, an area that is a base for Islamist insurgency.

Red Wings says it also plans to introduce some additional measures to enhance security during flights to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, TASS reported.

“[Our] cabin crew will be reinforced by highly qualified instructor pilots. Such a specialist is required in the cockpit to ensure the prompt reaction of the crew in case of emergency. Besides, from now on, our planes will be accompanied by a representative of the company, who will control the plane to prevent any unauthorized persons from boarding the aircraft,”Red Wings CEO Sergey Savostin told Izvestia daily.

Russian rescue teams will continue their search efforts for another two days, a representative of the Emergency Ministry told RIA Novosti. He added that the rescue mission could be extended.

Media reports citing sources close to the investigation of the flight 7K9268 crash are “negatively impacting” the progress of the probe, as preliminary conclusions are misinforming the public and complicating things for the investigating officials, an unnamed Russian investigator told RIA Novosti.

“We are talking about the dissemination of statements from informed sources in Cairo as well as experts, allegedly close to the investigation,” a source, said to be from the technical side of the investigation, told the agency.

Russian and Egyptian experts failed to find any blast-related trauma during their preliminary examination of the bodies of the victims of the Russian passenger jet that crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, a Russian source within the investigation told TASS news agency.

“There were no signs of an explosion impact found during the preliminary examination,” the source said.

One of the Egyptian experts also told TASS that “there were no signs of external impact” found on the bodies.

In an attempt to collect more information on the crashed plane, specialists from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) have observed the plane’s debris in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula using drones.

The bodies of the last 28 people killed in the plane crash have been sent to Russia alongside with the passengers’ personal belongings, Medhat Qandil, the head of the health unit at Sharm el-Sheikh airport said, Reuters reports.

No facts can prove the assumptions made by Russian officials that the crashed Airbus A321 broke up in the air, Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry claimed. « This could be a long process and we can’t talk about the results as we go along,” the ministry’s spokesman Mohamed Rahmi said referring to the process of investigation, as quoted by Reuters.

The US has offered Russia help in investigating the A321 passenger plane crash over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday.

The passengers who were sitting near the back of the plane died of so-called “explosive trauma,” sustaining 90 percent skin burns and having metal pieces in their bodies, Russian tabloid LifeNews reports, citing the results of a forensic examination. Those closer to the front of the plane died of different types of injuries, including blood loss, open cranio-cerebral traumas and multiple fractures. So far, there has been no official response to these reports.