Egypt’s investigation into the Russian plane crash over the nation’s Central Sinai has indicated it was not downed as an act of terror.
All of the 224 on board the Metrojet Airbus A321-200 were killed
Egypt’s civil aviation ministry said in a statement to Ahram Online:
“The investigative committee completed on Sunday the preliminary report on the [Russian] plane crash.
“The technical investigative committee has so far not found any evidence indicating criminal or terrorist activity in the downing of the plane.”
The statement added that a copy of the report has been sent to authorised international experts taking part in the probe, including from Russia, Ireland, and France, and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
On 17 November, Russia asserted for the first time that a homemade bomb containing up to 1 kilogram of TNT blew apart the Airbus A321, which took off from the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh en route to Russia’s St Petersburg.
Since the 31 October crash, which claimed the lives of all 224 aboard, Egypt insisted that its full investigation must be completed to definitively determine the cause of the crash. The Egyptian government has dismissed statements made by the US and Britain backing the Russian assertion of a terrorist attack, saying that only an official probe can draw such a finding. He added that the committee is “continuing its work,” saying that the preliminary conclusion will be verified with more detailed information in later phases of the probe.
Quashing theories that the bomb was planted on the plane in Turkey, El-Muqqadam affirmed that black box recordings of the passenger jet indicated that the aircraft’s route for five days prior to the crash remained confined to flights between Egyptian and Russian airports only.
Several countries have suspended flights to Sharm El-Sheikh or Egypt altogether over security fears, prompting concerns that the country’s already-troubled tourism industry could face a huge drop. Russia has also banned incoming flights by Egypt’s state-owned airline EgyptAir over concerns of the company’s implemented security measures on the back of the disaster.
