(Bloomberg) — A Russian airliner that crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula killing all 224 people on board appears to have broken up in midair, scattering debris over an area of rugged terrain up to 20 kilometers wide, according to an aviation official.
Viktor Sorochenko, executive director of the Interstate Aviation Committee, which includes nearly a dozen ex-Soviet states including Russia, told reporters after a visit to the crash site that it was still too early to say what had caused the disaster, according to Interfax. Egypt's President Abdel- Fattah El-Sisi said the investigation must be allowed to run its course.
The Metrojet Airbus A321 crashed on Saturday just 23 minutes after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm El- Sheik, bound for St. Petersburg. Egyptian officials have indicated technical issues were the cause, and have dismissed a claim of responsibility issued by the Islamic State's Sinai affiliate. The flight's "black box" recorders have been recovered and are being studied.
"Let's not jump to conclusions," El-Sisi said in televised comments. Egypt doesn't "have a problem cooperating with the different sides to find out the truth," he said.
The president's call for patience came amid conflicting reports about the plane's condition, and questions about its wild fluctuations in altitude in the final seconds of the flight. Amid the uncertainty, several airlines diverted their aircraft from the area, at least temporarily.
In this photo released by the Prime Minister's office, Sherif Ismail, right, looks at the remains of a crashed passenger jet in Hassana, Egypt on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. (Suliman el-Oteify/Egyptian Prime Minister's Office via AP)
Egyptian and Russian officials have largely discounted the possibility that the Islamic State was able to shoot down the jetliner, which had reached its cruising altitude of 31,000 feet, given their limited capability and access to the weaponry that would require. Former Israeli national security adviser Yaakov Amidror, an army reserves general, however, said "other scenarios also have to be considered, especially the possibility that the plane was sabotaged at the airport before taking off."
Debris was scattered over a wide arc in central Sinai's remote Al-Hassana area, about 60 kilometers south of the city of Al-Arish, where security forces have been waging a concerted fight against militants. Authorities have recovered at least 173 bodies, according to Egypt's state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper, with most already transferred to Cairo's main morgue. A flight carrying the bodies of 100 of those who died is expected to leave for Russia this evening, Interfax reported.
A Russian investigator walks near wreckage a day after a passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg, Russia, crashed in Hassana, Egypt, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. The Metrojet plane, bound for St. Petersburg in Russia, crashed 23 minutes after it took off from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday morning. The 224 people on board, all Russian except for four Ukrainians and one Belarusian, died. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
An Airbus team, along with the Russian officials, arrived in Egypt. The country's Civil Aviation Ministry issued a statement saying Egypt had the necessary equipment and expertise to carry out the investigation and the analysis of the black box data.
Information gleaned from the devices — one of which records cockpit conversations and the other technical readings aboard the flight — could prove pivotal in determining the cause of the crash of an aircraft that had been in service for about 18 years.
Women light candles to pay tribute to victims of a Metrojet plane crashed in Egypt, in front of the Russia's Embassy in Vilnius, Lithunia, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Russian authorities set up an investigation committee that's studying all possible reasons for the crash, Interfax reported, citing the body's spokesman Vladimir Markin. Investigators have taken possession of all documentation regarding the downed plane from the airline. Authorities also banned Metrojet A321 flights.
The co-pilot's former wife told Russia's NTV channel that her husband had been worried about the aircraft's technical condition. While Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal said the pilot hadn't made an SOS call, the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite channel reported he had sought permission to land at a nearby airport.
Egyptian security forces stand guard by debris of a Russian airplane at the site a day after the passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg, Russia crashed in Hassana, Egypt, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. (AP Photo)
Air France, the French unit of Air France-KLM Group, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Emirates Airlines and FlyDubai said they would avoid flying over the Sinai area until the cause of the crash is known.
Flight paths came under public scrutiny following the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July 2014 over eastern Ukraine, an area some airlines skirted because of fighting between government troops and pro-Russian separatists. Investigators said that crash, which killed 298 people, was caused by a missile.
In its final seconds Saturday, the Metrojet plane was bucking wildly, abruptly climbing and descending before communication was lost, according to unverified data from FlightRadar24.com, which tracks flight routes. At times it dropped as fast as 6,000 feet per minute, only to reverse and climb even faster, repeating that pattern several times. It also slowed dangerously. In the final 24 seconds before losing contact, it dropped to 71 miles per hour from 470 mph, according to the data. Jetliners such as the Airbus 321 can't stay aloft at such a speed.
If the FlightRadar24 data are correct, "it probably rules out sabotage," said Paul Hayes, director of air safety and insurance at Ascend Worldwide. "It's probably some sort of control problem."
Russian investigators stand near debris, luggage and personal effects of passengers a day after a passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg in Russia crashed in Hassana, Egypt, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Speed loss
Most worrisome is data showing a loss of speed, according to John Cox, a safety consultant and former airline pilot. "That bothers me," he said. "I wonder, did they manage to get the airplane stalled?"
Two recent accidents occurred with Airbus aircraft climbing sharply before losing speed and falling. In June 2009, an A330 operated by Air France went down in the Atlantic Ocean and in December 2014, an A320 operated by AirAsia Bhd. crashed in the Java Sea.
The A320 family is Airbus's most popular plane, a single- aisle, twin-engine type that allowed it to create a global duopoly with Boeing Co. for large passenger aircraft. The A321 is the longest variant.
The plane, operated by Metrojet since 2012 and produced in 1997, had logged about 56,000 flight hours over the course of nearly 21,000 flights, according to a statement from Blagnac, France-based Airbus.
Metrojet isn't attributing the crash to human error, Interfax reported, citing Oksana Golovina from Tourism Holding & Consulting, which owns Kogalymavia, as the carrier is known in Russia.
Russian investigators walk near debris, luggage and personal effects of passengers a day after a passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg, Russia crashed in Hassana, Egypt, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways said it will continue flying over the Sinai because there's no evidence of any "ulterior motive" in the crash, an airline spokesman said by e-mail, adding that it will comply with Egyptian instructions to avoid certain areas over the peninsula.
The Egyptian airspace over the Sinai continues to remain open, Mohamed Rahma, a civil aviation ministry spokesman, said in an e-mail. Preliminary investigations indicate the plane, an Airbus 321 operated by Russia's Metrojet, went down because of a technical problem, the state-run Ahram Gate website said, citing Egyptian security officials.
Flight paths became a matter of public debate after a Boeing Co. 777 aircraft crashed last year over eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian troops were battling pro-Russian separatists. The July 2014 crash that killed 298 people was later blamed on a missile launched from rebel-held territory. While Ukraine had blocked air traffic below a certain threshold, it had allowed airlines to fly at cruising altitude above conflict zones.
People react as they come to lay flowers and toys at an the entrance of Pulkovo airport outside St. Petersburg, Russia, during a day of national mourning for the plane crash victims, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. Hundreds of people are bringing flowers and pictures to St. Petersburg's airport to commemorate the 224 victims of Saturday's Russian plane crash in Egypt. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Sunday a day of mourning, "expressing sorrow for the victims and condolences to their families and friends," the Kremlin said on its website. There have been at least 100 deadly passenger plane crashes involving aircraft operated by Russian airlines that have killed more than 2,000 since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, according to Aviation Safety Network data.
–With assistance from Abdel Latif Wahba, Tamim Elyan and Ahmed Feteha in Cairo, Alan Levin in Washington, Andrea Rothman in Toulouse and Elena Mazneva in Moscow.
In this photo released by the Prime Minister's office, Sherif Ismail, third right, along with military and government officials, tour the site where a passenger plane crashed in Hassana, Egypt, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. (Suliman el-Oteify/Egyptian Prime Minister's Office via AP)
Ambulances line up as emergency workers unload bodies of victims from the crash of a Russian aircraft over the Sinai peninsula at the Kabrit military airport, some 20 miles north of Suez, Egypt, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. Officials said the pilot had reported a technical problem and was looking to make an emergency landing before radio contact with air traffic controllers went dead. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Egyptian emergency workers unload bodies of victims from the crash of a Russian aircraft from a police helicopter to ambulances at Kabrit airport in Suez, some 20 miles north of Suez, Egypt, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
An Egyptian military helicopter lands near the wreckage of a passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg in Russia that crashed in Hassana, Egypt, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Egyptian Army soldiers stand near luggage and personal effects of passengers a day after a passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg, Russia crashed in Hassana, Egypt, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. (AP Photo)
Debris of a Russian airplane is seen at the site a day after the passenger jet bound for St. Petersburg, Russia, crashed in Hassana, Egypt, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. (AP Photo)
People come to lay flowers and toys at an entrance of Pulkovo airport outside St.Petersburg, Russia, during a day of national mourning for the plane crash victims, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015. Hundreds of people are bringing flowers and pictures to St. Petersburg's airport to commemorate the 224 victims of the Russian plane crash in Egypt. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
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