Nowadays, close attention is paid to the results of processing black boxes. It is reported that both were found, but one, where the pilots' communications are located, is damaged; special care is required in the process of extracting data. Previously, unnamed sources reported that the pilots’ conversations did not indicate any emergency situation, say, technical malfunctions; however, some strange noises were mentioned, but there is no specific information on this yet.

Apparently, the search at the crash site is nearing completion. The wreckage of the plane and the remains of the bodies of the victims are scattered over a large area. More than 30 square kilometers have already been thoroughly examined, as stated, if necessary, the fall area will be checked down to the centimeter. By the end of today, the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Vladimir Puchkov, set the task of finishing the work as planned.

Alexander Agafonov, Director of the Department of Fire, Rescue and Special Forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation: “The main efforts today were focused on hard-to-reach areas, including the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle. In the morning after the departure of the IAC, an additional decision was made to further examine the large burnt wreckage of the aircraft.”

The British authorities, without waiting for the end of the investigation, made their hasty conclusions and took action. The version of an explosive device has been put forward among others from the very beginning of the investigation. The Egyptian and Russian authorities asked to wait until the end of the investigation. So far there has been no reliable evidence of sabotage.

The Egyptian authorities categorically claim that it is impossible to carry a bomb on board, they say, Sharm el-Sheikh airport is famous for its reliability. Egyptians were displeased with reports from the United States and Great Britain about inside the Islamic State (an organization banned in the Russian Federation), which indicate an explosive device.

Suspicion, as the media write, falls primarily on service personnel who could have been bribed or recruited. The British are already taking concrete measures in this regard. Immediately after the disaster, they for their airlines from Egypt to the UK. As a result of an urgent discussion, it was decided to stop flights from the UK to the Egyptian resort, and citizens of the country were advised not to travel there.

Philip Hammond, British Foreign Secretary: “At a meeting of the emergency committee chaired by the Prime Minister, we carefully studied the information about the crash of the Russian airliner in the Sinai and came to the conclusion that, with a high probability, the cause of the crash was explosive device on board, therefore we are canceling all flights of national carriers to Sharm el-Sheikh."

Every year 900 thousand Britons holiday in Egypt. At least 2,000 people from the United Kingdom are currently stuck in resorts, and it is not yet known how they are supposed to get home. How it conveys NTV columnist Vladimir Kondratyev, British specialists are checking Egyptian security measures on site. It is reported that the former director of the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh has been removed from his post. True, he stayed to help the new leader.

Egypt, in tourism industry which employs a lot of people, it is important to maintain its image. Russian media reports that investigators have not yet found any traces of a mine-explosive nature, so the explosion version remains only one of the versions.

To date, 58 victims of the crash have already been identified, including all crew members. . Genetic examinations will take a lot of time, perhaps the process will drag on for months.

Today in St. Petersburg the funeral of the victims, who have been 100% identified, begins. Authorities are handing over the identified bodies to loved ones. Also from today, cash payments to the families of the victims begin.

Current topic: Emergency

An explosion on board is the most likely cause of the A321 crash, Stratfor experts say

In their opinion, the explosive device was carried in hand luggage

Experts from the private American intelligence and analytical company Stratfor consider the most likely cause of the plane crash over Egypt to be the carrying of an explosive device on board the Airbus A321. This is stated in the organization's published report.

"Although we cannot completely rule out the possibility of an aircraft failure, such an explanation would be unusual given the circumstances of the crash," the report's authors said. According to them, most plane crashes that occur due to failure of aircraft equipment occur during takeoff and landing, when the mechanical stress on board increases. “An airplane rarely breaks down while flying at altitude,” experts note.

The report also states that in the event of an equipment failure, the pilots of the airliner would most likely have been able to maneuver, and the plane would have flown to the ground without any catastrophic consequences.

In addition, analysts consider it unlikely that the plane was shot down by Islamic State militants (a group banned in the Russian Federation) from the Sinai Peninsula. “Although militants in the area were able to use MANPADS to shoot down an Egyptian helicopter and fire rockets at an Israeli aircraft, Flight 9268 was outside the weapon's range,” the report said.

“Given the improbability of alternative scenarios, it appears that the most likely explanation for the plane crash is the presence of an explosive device on board,” the report’s authors conclude. In their opinion, the explosive device was carried in hand luggage.

Earlier, CBS News reported that an American satellite recorded in the infrared spectrum over the Sinai Peninsula at the time of the crash of the Russian A321 in Egypt.

On the morning of October 31, a Russian passenger plane Airbus A321 of Kogalymavia airlines crashed over the Sinai Peninsula during a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. All 224 people on board the plane were killed. On Saturday, the A321 flight recorders were found at the crash site, and on Sunday, experts in Egypt began deciphering them. The IAC reported that the airliner collapsed in the air.

According to experts, the reasons for the destruction passenger plane The Airbus A321 of Kogalymavia airlines in the air could have been damaged by a shock wave from the explosion of a small bomb, torn off engine parts or fatigue cracks that appeared in the supporting structures, the Kommersant newspaper writes on Monday, November 2.

Experts call one of the versions of the plane crash a bomb explosion in the luggage compartment, which could lead to explosive depressurization of the plane due to a sharp pressure drop. A similar situation occurred with a Pan American Boeing 747 that crashed in December 1988. Then experts for a long time could not understand what caused the crash of the airliner, but after all the found wreckage of the plane was collected, in one of the sheets of the fuselage skin they saw a hole with curved edges the size of a watermelon. Experts determined that a plasticite-based bomb was placed in a small transistor and it exploded in the suitcase of one of the passengers in the luggage compartment. This passenger, who did not board the plane himself, was then a terrorist from Libya.

The source told the publication that there is also a version that the integrity of the airliner could have been damaged by a fatigue crack, which probably appeared in the fuselage frame. In 2001, an Airbus A321, which did not yet belong to Kogalymavia, hit the runway with its tail when landing at Cairo airport. This incident, which is called a “fellow touch” in aviation, led to a violation of the structural geometry and flight characteristics of the aircraft. A specialist interviewed by the publication believes that after an unsuccessful landing, the plane was checked using non-destructive testing and put into operation only after all defects were corrected.

“The accident-free flight statistics for aircraft like Airbus 321 are about 11-12 million hours. If an accident does occur, it means that something was overlooked during maintenance or repair,” the expert explained to Kommersant.

Another cause of depressurization could be a faulty engine. In case of non-localized destruction of the turbine, the blades that come off it, as experts say, fly out at great speed and, moving in one plane, cut the wing and fuselage of the airliner like a saw blade.

The newspaper's interlocutors note that the exact cause of the A321 crash will not be easy to establish. Readings from the black boxes will show how all the aircraft's systems functioned, as well as what measures the crew took. Probably, the cause of the plane crash will be suggested to experts by the last conversations of the crew members, if they managed to understand and discuss the cause of the plane crash. However, for a full investigation it is necessary to collect all the wreckage of the plane and reconstruct from it the outline of the crashed airliner.

It was established that the A321, when falling from a height, turned over and “literally fell on its back,” Interfax reported on Monday, citing an informed source in Cairo. The agency's interlocutor also said that the crew did not inform ground services about problems on board, did not send distress signals and did not request an emergency landing. At the same time, the source emphasized that it is premature to build any versions about the causes of the plane crash.

On the morning of October 31, Russian passenger Airbus A321 of Kogalymavia airlines crashed over the Sinai Peninsula during a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. There were 224 people on board the plane, all of them died. The causes of the disaster are being established. The A321 black boxes were discovered on Saturday at the crash site, and specialists in Egypt deciphered them on Sunday. The IAC stated that the airliner is in the air.

Late in the evening in the Kremlin, the President arranged a meeting with the participation of the ministers of defense and foreign affairs, the chief of the General Staff, the directors of the FSB and the Foreign Intelligence Service. The results of the investigation into the plane crash in Egypt were reported. The head of the FSB confirmed: it was a terrorist attack. On board Russian plane the bomb went off.

“Investigations were carried out into the personal belongings of the luggage and parts of the plane that crashed in Egypt on the 31st. As a result of the examinations, traces of foreign-made explosives were identified on all the items that I mentioned. According to our experts, a homemade device exploded on board the aircraft during the flight "An explosive device with a power of up to one kilogram of TNT. As a result, the plane, so to speak, fell apart in the air. This explains the large scatter of parts of the plane's fuselage at such a distance. We can definitely say that this is a terrorist act," said the head of the FSB of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bortnikov.

“This is not the first time Russia has faced barbaric terrorist crimes. Most often, without any apparent reasons, external or internal. Just as it happened with the explosion at the Volgograd station at the end of 2013. We have not forgotten anyone or anything. The murder of our people in Sinai in among the bloodiest in terms of the number of crime victims. And we will not wipe away the tears from our soul and heart. This will remain with us forever. But this will not stop us from finding and punishing the criminals. We must do this without a statute of limitations, know them all by name. We We will look for them wherever they are hiding, we will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them," said Vladimir Putin. "At the same time, we must rely on people who share our moral and ethical values ​​that underlie our policy, in "In this case, foreign policy and security policy, counter-terrorism policy. Our work, the combat work of aviation in Syria must not only be continued, it must be strengthened in such a way that the criminals understand that retribution is inevitable."

The President asked the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff to submit relevant proposals and said that he would check how the work was progressing.

"I ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Russian Federation contact all our partners. In the course of this work, including finding and punishing criminals, we count on all our friends. We will act in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which provides for the right of states to self-defense. Anyone who tries to assist criminals should know that the consequences of attempts at such concealment will rest entirely on their shoulders. I ask all our special services to focus on this work,” the President said.

The Russian FSB is already taking measures to search for those involved in the terrorist attack on board the Airbus A-321 and is announcing a reward of 50 million dollars for information that will help apprehend the criminals.

The Kogalymavia plane crashed on the Sinai Peninsula on October 31. 217 passengers were returning home to St. Petersburg from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. All of them, as well as the crew of seven people, were killed.