- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

West Not Waiting on Investigation Before Declaring Bomb Caused A321 Crash

© REUTERS / Mohamed Abd El GhanyAn Egyptian army soldier stands guard near debris from a Russian airliner at its crash siteat the Hassana area in Arish city, north Egypt, November 1, 2015
An Egyptian army soldier stands guard near debris from a Russian airliner at its crash siteat the Hassana area in Arish city, north Egypt, November 1, 2015 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
With the official cause of the A321 plane yet to announced, many firmly believe that the aircraft was destroyed by a bomb blast on board; the Russian news website Lenta.ru explains why.

Military investigators from Russia check debris from a Russian airliner at its crash site at the Hassana area in Arish city, north Egypt, November 1, 2015 - Sputnik International
World
Explosives Testing on A321 Crash Debris Will Take Two Weeks
The Russian news website Lenta.ru has conducted an investigation into why more and more Western countries are coming to the idea that a bomb brought down the Russian passenger plane that crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula en route from Sharm el-Sheikh to St.Petersburg on October 31, killing all 224 people on board.

Even though there is no proof yet that an explosive device went off on board the A321 aircraft, a number of countries have suspended flights to Egypt, and are in the process of a controlled evacuation of their citizens. In addition, there is ongoing media pressure on Cairo in relation to security gaps at Egypt's airports.

1. What the Investigators Have Said

The crashed plane's flight recorders has already been analyzed and there have so far been two official statements released on them.

Firstly, Egypt's lead investigator Ayman al-Muqaddam said on November 7 that a "noise" was registered in the last second of the cockpit voice recorder, something that he said demands further investigation.

© Press-service of Russian Emergency Situations Ministry / Go to the mediabankRussian Airbus A321 passenger airliner crash site in Egypt
Russian Airbus A321 passenger airliner crash site in Egypt - Sputnik International
Russian Airbus A321 passenger airliner crash site in Egypt

Secondly, the Interstate Aviation Committee officially announced on November 8 that until the parametric recorder abruptly stopped working, the plane was flying at a normal altitude of 9,400 meters and everything seemed fine. 

The investigators seem to confirm the initial theory that something happened very suddenly on board the plane, leading to the crash. It is a significant step toward recognizing a terrorist attack as the official cause of the crash, Lenta.ru claims.

2. Meanwhile…

While the investigators are busy with their task, some serious organizational and financial measures were adopted by a number of countries last week.

It looks like a terrorist attack was recognized as the de facto recognized cause of the A321 crash long before the investigators began to gently point to this version of events, according to Lenta.ru.

On October 31, some of Europe's largest air carriers, including Lufthansa and AirFrance-KLM) suspended flights over the Sinai Peninsula.

© Photo : Press-service of Russian Emergency Situations Ministry / Go to the mediabankFlight recorders of Russian A321 plane that crashed in Sinai
Flight recorders of Russian A321 plane that crashed in Sinai - Sputnik International
Flight recorders of Russian A321 plane that crashed in Sinai

Following suit on November 3-4 were a spate of other air carriers, such as Etihad Airways, Air Arabia, Qatar Airways, Jazeera Airways, Gulf Air, German AirBerlin, as well as a number of Russian companies, including Red Wings, Ural Airlines, Orenburg Airlines, Nordwind Airlines and Kogalymavia, the company which owned the crashed aircraft.

On November 4, the British Foreign Office cited convincing reasons to believe that the A321 plane crash was caused by a bomb on board. This prompted British airlines to cancel flights to Sharm el-Sheikh in a move that was followed by Ireland and the Netherlands.

© Sputnik / Stringer / Go to the mediabankA woman lays flowers at the Russian Embassy in Kiev to mourn the victims of Kogalymavia's Airbus A321 passenger airliner
A woman lays flowers at the Russian Embassy in Kiev to mourn the victims of Kogalymavia's Airbus A321 passenger airliner - Sputnik International
A woman lays flowers at the Russian Embassy in Kiev to mourn the victims of Kogalymavia's Airbus A321 passenger airliner

On November 5, the French Foreign Ministry recommended that the country's citizens should avoid visiting Sharm El Sheikh "without a compelling reason." The ministry also warned French citizens against visiting the Sinai Peninsula. On the same day, Ukraine suspended flights to the area.

Russian authorities first warned against jumping to conclusions and instead focused on conducting a thorough investigation into the plane crash.

But on November 6, Russian Federal Security chief Alexander Bortnikov recommended that Russian air carriers should stop all flights to Egypt pending the investigation, a measure swiftly endorsed Russian President Vladimir Putin. Shortly after, the Russian Transport Ministry ordered the Federal Air Transport Agency to suspend flights to Egypt.

3. Further Scares Uncovered
On November 6, the British media quoted eyewitnesses as saying that there was no security as such at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh. For example, anyone checking in later for their flight could easily jump on a plane without getting their luggage checked.

British tabloid the Daily Mail published a story about a Thomson Airways jet liner being allegedly targeted by an anti-air craft system during a landing at Sharm el-Sheikh airport. According to the newspaper, the missile passed by at a distance of 1,000 feet (300 meters) from the plane.

© Press-service of Russian Emergency Situations Ministry / Go to the mediabankA view from a drone at the Russian Emergencies Ministry camp by the crash site of the Russian Airbus A321 (owned by Kogalymavia) that performed flight 9268 from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg
A view from a drone at the Russian Emergencies Ministry camp by the crash site of the Russian Airbus A321 (owned by Kogalymavia) that performed flight 9268 from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg - Sputnik International
A view from a drone at the Russian Emergencies Ministry camp by the crash site of the Russian Airbus A321 (owned by Kogalymavia) that performed flight 9268 from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg

The Egyptian authorities responded by saying that the passengers allegedly saw a missile launched by the military as part of a drill, a rather original way to alleviate the public's concerns, according to the Lenta.ru.

On November 7, the Associated Press added fuel to the fire by quoting Sharm el-Sheikh airport security officials as revealing a whole array of security gaps at the airport, such as the malfunctioning of a key baggage scanning device.

Airbus A321 crash site in Egypt - Sputnik International
World
A321 Crash Investigators Call on Media to Stop Using Anonymous Sources
Additionally, all the airport security officials pointed to the malfunctioning 10-year-old CTX scanner in the sorting area for checked-in bags. One of them attributed the breakdowns to "human stupidity," rather than technical faults. I have seen people unplug it to save power," the official was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

4. The Silent Verdict
The media frenzy over the lax security at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport may have looked like some kind of hysteria were it not for the fact that a number of major countries have taken the expensive and difficult decision to evacuate their citizens from the country. The governments which have taken these measures seem to have done so after information received between November 4 and November 5, Lenta.ru said.

The lenta.ru article concludes by noting that none of the countries bringing their citizens home have made any official announcements pending the investigation. At the same time, they behave as if they already had a solid confirmation of the terrorist attack on the Russian plane or at least obtained enough information on systemic flaws in the Sharm el-Sheikh airport security.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала