Russian Airliner Crashes in Egypt, Killing 224

[Natalka]

A Russian charter flight ferrying 224 passengers and crew to St. Petersburg from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, crashed soon after taking off early Saturday, killing everyone onboard

The plane, an 18-year-old Airbus A321-200, disappeared from radar screens about 25 minutes after it took off, according to official accounts. Hossam Kamal, the Egyptian transportation minister, denied that anything abnormal had happened before the plane disappeared.

“Communications between the pilot and the tower were very normal — no distress signals occurred,” Mr. Kamal said at a news conference broadcast nationally. The pilot did not request to change his route to make an emergency landing, he said, emphasizing that “all was normal; the plane disappeared suddenly off the radar without any prior warning.”

Sherif Ismail, the Egyptian prime minister, said at a news conference that the flight recorder had been recovered,

An Egyptian government statement said the plane had been carrying 217 passengers, including 17 children, and seven crew members. Everyone onboard was Russian, most from the St. Petersburg region, except for three passengers from Ukraine and one from Belarus.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia ordered the establishment of a state commission to investigate the crash. The Russian government also sent a plane from its emergency services to take a team of investigators to the scene.
Mr. Putin declared Sunday a day of mourning for the victims. Russian news reports said the crash was the worst aviation disaster in Russian history.

RIP - Vechnaya Pamyat (Eternal Memory)





http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/wo...peninsula.html


There are conflicting reports as to whether this is an act of terrorism or not. A branch of IS claimed responsibility; Russia denies any such possibility.

[Patty Smyth]

How terrible

[MortgageQueen]

Yes. Awful. A vacation turned into a nightmare. Happening too often for comfort these days. . .

[Natalka]

Both black boxes of the plane had been found, Mohamed Hossam Kemal, the civil aviation minister, told a news conference.


Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail examines the Russian plane’s black box at the crash site.

Investigators said they were checking fuel samples from the last refuelling stop, in the Russian city of Samara, and have focused on the possibility that a technical failure could have caused the 18-year-old plane to crash.

A spokesman said investigators were questioning people who were involved in preparing the aircraft and its crew and were carrying out searches at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport where the airline that operated the plane was based.

Various reports suggested that a mechanical problem could have played a role. Security sources said an initial examination of the crash site showed the plane went down due to a technical fault, Reuters reported. Ria Novosti quoted a source in Sharm el-Sheikh airport as saying that the crew of the A321 appealed to the airport’s technicians due to “engine start failures several times over the past week”.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-of-a321-crash

[dededi]

Starting to wonder how safe air travel is in that region of the world, mind you 18 is getting pretty old for an aircraft.

[Lynn49]

So terribly sad.......

[GoJays]

I hate to be the only vocal cynic in the crowd, but I can't possibly be the only one who's thinking "technical failure... riiiiiight...."

[Patty Smyth]

Apparently those isis morons are claiming it was them.

Sources say though that they do not possess the capability to shoot down a plane at that height.

So if it is those morons, Putin will probably go in an blown them to bits, step up his campaign. Don't poke the bear.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...Peninsula.html

[Patty Smyth]

I hate to be the only vocal cynic in the crowd, but I can't possibly be the only one who's thinking "technical failure... riiiiiight...."

Oh I think we all "go there" now right away. Can't help it.

[Lynn49]

Apparently those isis morons are claiming it was them.

Sources say though that they do not possess the capability to shoot down a plane at that height.

So if it is those morons, Putin will probably go in an blown them to bits, step up his campaign. Don't poke the bear.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...Peninsula.html

It's a shame it takes something like this to move russia's focus off anti-Assad rebel groups and onto isis; this is one time I hope their attacks are successful and merciless.

[Darth Penguin]

I hate to be the only vocal cynic in the crowd, but I can't possibly be the only one who's thinking "technical failure... riiiiiight...."

Oh I think we all "go there" now right away. Can't help it.

Statistics are in favour of mechanical failure or human error. It doesn't always follow that an external attack can be ruled out.

MAny airlines are now avoiding the area

A number of major airlines - Emirates, Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, and Qatar Airways - have decided not to fly over the Sinai Peninsula until more information is available. Two smaller carriers, flydubai and Air Arabia, also said they would re-route flights, while Etihad Airways said it would avoid only "certain areas of airspace" over Sinai.
Germany's transport ministry has told German airlines not to follow the same route taken by the Russian plane.
British Airways said it regularly assessed the safety of its routes. BA said it would not confirm flight routes, but that it "would never fly a route unless it was safe to do so".

[Natalka]

I always check Ukr/Rus media through the day - and on the Rus. side, there's always propaganda/disinformation.

This one is gross - Today was their day of mourning, and Russian media posted this photo to show all the people gathered for a moment of silence for the Egypt crash victims.




HOWEVER, the photo is from a 2013 concert

[Lynn49]

That's russia for you, Natalka. True to its bloody history!

[Patty Smyth]

That's russia for you, Natalka. True to its bloody history!

Let's not pretend the "good guys" are any better. But that is for another thread.

People in the plane didn't deserve to die.

[Darth Penguin]

The conspiracy theories are starting...