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Russia
suspends flights to Egypt due to security concerns after Sinai crash
RT,
6
November, 2016
President
Vladimir Putin has agreed with the Federal Security Service to halt
all Russian flights to Egypt following an October 31 passenger plane
crash in Sinai that killed all 224 people on board.
"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. This primarily applies to the tourist flow,” FSB director
Aleksandr Bortnikov told a meeting of the Russian Anti-Terror
Committee on Friday.
Egypt
has provided Russian investigators with access to all the fragments
of the crashed plane as well as the baggage, he said. There is need
for “absolute objectivity” and “confirmed data” to establish
the causes of the disaster, he added.
Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin agreed with the
recommendations of the Federal Security Service (FSB). He added that
Putin had instructed the government to ensure the safe return of
Russian citizens from Egypt and to cooperate with the Egyptian
authorities on establishing air traffic security.
The
flights will be suspended until a “proper level of air
communication security” is established, he said.
Peskov
said that the decision to suspend flights was “solely connected
with security” reasons, and doesn’t suggest that Moscow considers
the A321 crash to be a terrorist attack.
Russia’s
civil aviation regulator has started drawing up plans to suspend
flights between Russia and Egypt, the agency’s chief, Alexander
Neradko, said Friday.
Around
45,000 Russians are currently on holiday in Egypt, TASS cited figures
provided by Russia’s tourism agency.
An
operational HQ headed by deputy PM Arkady Dvorkovich and under
Russia’s tourism watchdog, Rostourism, will be resolving issues
connected with the return of Russian citizens from Egypt, according
to a statement by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Meanwhile,
Dvorkovich said that up to 70,000 Russian citizens are currently in
Egypt, adding that authorities are not planning an “immediate
evacuation.”
“Swabs
and scrapings from all fragments of the [crashed] plane, baggage and
soil have been taken by Russian experts,” said the head of the
Russian Emergencies Service, Vladimir Puchkov, during the meeting.
“I
underline once more that the necessary samples have been taken from
all the elements that can contain traces of explosives,” he added.
“If there were explosives on the plane, we will be able to
determine it.”
The
Airbus A321 belonging to Russian Kogalymavia, which uses the brand
name Metrojet, crashed in Egypt 20 minutes after takeoff from Sharm
el-Sheikh airport on October 31. All 217 passengers and seven
crewmembers on board died in the disaster, making it the deadliest
incident of this kind in Russian aviation history. There was no
distress call prior to the crash.
Following
the disaster, the head of Russian aviation agency Rosaviatsia,
Aleksandr Neradko, said that all the signs suggested that the
destruction of the plane occurred “in the air and at a great
altitude.” The evidence for that was the remains of the plane and
the bodies, which have been scattered over an area measuring about 8
km by 4 km, he said.
The
airline of the ill-fated passenger jet said on Monday that the plane
must have been damaged by a force in flight and couldn’t have just
broken apart.
On
Tuesday, US media cited sources in the intelligence community saying
that that a US infrared satellite had detected a heat flash in the
same vicinity, indicating that an explosion may have occurred on
board.
On
Thursday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced that it was “more
likely than not” that a bomb caused the crash. His comments were
met with doubts from Moscow. During a telephone conversation between
Cameron and Putin on Thursday, the PM was accused of “acting before
he knows the facts,” according to tabloid paper the Sun.
On
Wednesday, Britain halted flights from and to the resort city of
Sharm el-Sheikh over concerns that the Russian passenger jet was
downed by a bomb on board.
LISTEN
MORE:
Earlier
in the week, a militant group associated with Islamic State (IS,
formerly ISIS) claimed to have shot down the Russian plane, but this
claim has been deemed unreliable.
Russian
and British tourists leaving Egypt would deprive the country of 70
percent of tourist traffic, resulting in a "severe blow" to
the industry, which constitutes over 11 percent of Egypt's GDP and
brings more than 14 percent of foreign currency earnings to the
country’s treasury, Adviser to the Egyptian Minister of Tourism
Mohamed Yousef said.
This is the version of events from western media (CNN and the Guardian)
Russian plane crash: flight recorder captured 'sound of explosion'
Vladimir
Putin orders halt to all flights to Egyptian airports as evidence
mounts that flight 9268 was brought down rather than suffering
mechanical failure
The
sound of an apparent explosion can be heard on the flight recorder of
the Russian-operated plane that came down over the Sinai peninsula,
killing all 224 people on board, adding to mounting evidence that a
bomb was smuggled aboard, French media sources said on Friday. Giving
further credence to the idea that the plane crash was a terrorist act
rather than because of structural failure, Russia, which for a week
has been resistant to speculation about a bomb, suspended flights to
all Egyptian airports.
An
Egyptian-led international team of aviation experts, including some
from France, successfully recovered the black box, the flight
recorder, from the crash site. Several French media outlets,
including the television station France 2, reported that the
investigators had listened to it and concluded that a bomb had
detonated, which would seem to rule out structural failure or pilot
error. The pilots can be heard chatting normally, including contact
with airport controllers, up until the apparent explosion.
Russian plane crash: Metrojet A321 was downed by bomb, black box analysis indicates
Sources
close to the investigation say explosion could be heard on recorder,
and rule out mechanical failure or crew error
Sources
close to the investigation say explosion could be heard on recorder,
and rule out mechanical failure or crew error
US Intel Heard 'Detailed Chatter' From ISIL Affiliates After Sinai Crash
6
November, 2015
US
officials have told NBC News that the Pentagon intercepted "detailed
chatter" shortly after the crash of the Metrojet A321. That
communications was allegedly sent between IS affiliates in Sinai and
the group's self-proclaimed capital in Raqqa.
According
to unnamed officials, the communications allegedly included boasts of
taking down the airliner.
"They
were clearly celebrating," the officials told NBC.
The
officials say that additional communications intercepted before the
crash warned of "something big in the area."
On
Thursday, President Obama indicated that it seemed increasingly
likely that a terrorist attack had brought down the plane.
"There
is information that is known by the — the US government — that
led the president to make that statement," White House press
secretary Josh Earnest said Friday.
Both
Russian and Egyptian authorities have cautioned against attributing
blame until the investigation is complete, though on Friday,
President Putin did agree to suspend all commercial flights to Egypt,
based on the recommendation of the Federal Security Service.
"The
head of state agreed with these recommendations. Putin instructed the
government to work out mechanisms for the implementation of these FSB
recommendations, and to ensure the return of Russian citizens,"
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The
Metrojet Airbus A321 crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on October 31
en route from Sharm El-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. All 224 people on
board were killed.
More from CNN
Russia: U.S., UK shared intel on crash
As if he wasn't already doing that already!
Will Putin go after terrorists in Egypt?
Rocket 'attack' on UK tour jet: Pilot with 189 passengers dodged missile above Sharm El Sheikh with just 'seconds to spare from нdisaster'
- Thomson flight from London took evasive action after pilot spotted missile
- Holidaymakers were not told they had been just seconds from disaster
- Comes amid claims British jihadists discussed ISIS 'mole' in Sharm el-Sheikh moments after a Metrojet plane crash in Sinai, killing 224 on board
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