Pilot totally lost control
AFP, Moscow :
The pilots of the Russian passenger jet that crashed in Egypt ‘totally’ lost control of the plane and did not try to make any radio contact before it crashed, an airline official said today.
“The crew totally lost control and for that reason there was not one attempt to get in contact,” Alexander Smirnov, a senior official at Kogalymavia told a press conference, adding that the plane was in “excellent technical condition”.
Meanwhie, Russia’s emergency situations minister has examined the black boxes from Saturday’s crash of a Russian plane in Egypt and says they are in a good condition.
Russian news agencies on Monday quoted Vladimir Puchkov as saying that Russian officials were shown the black boxes found at the site of the crash in the Sinai Peninsula.
Investigators have so far refrained from naming the cause of the crash but Metrojet, the Russian company operating the plane, on Monday ruled out technical faults or pilot error as a cause of the crash.
A top official at Metrojet says its plane dropped 300 kph (186 mph) in speed and 1.5 kilometers (about 5,000 feet) in altitude one minute before it crashed into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Alexander Smirnov, the deputy general director of Metrojet, also told reporters Monday in Moscow that no technical fault could have caused the Airbus A320-200 to break up in the air. He says the cause of Saturday’s crash “could only have been a mechanical impact on the plane” in the air.
Russian investigators say the plane broke up at high altitude over the Sinai Peninsula but have so far refrained from naming possible causes. All 224 people aboard were killed.
A top official at Metrojet, the Russian airline company whose charter flight crashed Saturday in Egypt, says the plane lost speed right before the crash.
Alexander Smirnov, the deputy general director of Metrojet, also told reporters Monday in Moscow that no technical fault could have caused the Airbus A320-200 to break up in the air. He says the cause of the crash “could only have been a mechanical impact on the plane” in the air.
Russian investigators say the plane broke up at high altitude over the Sinai Peninsula but have so far refrained from naming possible causes. All 224 people aboard were killed.
The bodies of 164 people are flown to Saint Petersburg as investigators say the crashed airplane disintegrated mid-air.
A plane carrying the remains of 164 people killed when a Russian airliner crashed in Egypt landed in Saint Petersburg.
The emergency Russian plane, the first to bring back the bodies of those who died when the A-321 plummeted from the sky above the Sinai Peninsula, arrived in the Pulkovo airport of Russia’s second-largest city early on Monday.
Investigators from several countries have joined an Egypt-led probe to determine what brought down Russian airline Kogalymavia’s flight 9268 on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board, en route from Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg.
They have recovered the “black box” flight recorders of the Airbus, and the head of an Irish mission that will join the Egypt-led probe into the disaster said the results from the recorders should be ready in a few days.
Russian official: Jet broke apart in mid-air
The head of the Russian air transport agency Alexander Neradko on Sunday said it appeared the aircraft disintegrated while flying at high altitude.
“All signs prove that the structure of the plane disintegrated in the air at a high altitude,” he told Russian state television.
The bodies of those sent back to Saint Petersburg were due to be taken in a motorcade to a crematorium for identification, which will begin later on Monday, according to Russia’s emergency ministry.
Russian officials confirmed that 164 bodies were on board the plane which landed at Saint Petersburg.
Egypt had earlier said the remains of 162 people would be flown back, out of 214 Russian passengers said to have been on the flight, along with three Ukrainians and seven crew.
Family members have been providing DNA samples at a crisis centre set up close to the Russian airport, now the site of an impromptu memorial where people have brought flowers and cuddly toys to commemorate the victims, many of them children.
Flags flew at half-mast in Russia on Sunday on a national day of mourning for the victims.
Thousands gathered in Saint Petersburg’s Palace Square to observe a minute’s silence and release doves and balloons into the darkening sky.
The pilots of the Russian passenger jet that crashed in Egypt ‘totally’ lost control of the plane and did not try to make any radio contact before it crashed, an airline official said today.
“The crew totally lost control and for that reason there was not one attempt to get in contact,” Alexander Smirnov, a senior official at Kogalymavia told a press conference, adding that the plane was in “excellent technical condition”.
Meanwhie, Russia’s emergency situations minister has examined the black boxes from Saturday’s crash of a Russian plane in Egypt and says they are in a good condition.
Russian news agencies on Monday quoted Vladimir Puchkov as saying that Russian officials were shown the black boxes found at the site of the crash in the Sinai Peninsula.
Investigators have so far refrained from naming the cause of the crash but Metrojet, the Russian company operating the plane, on Monday ruled out technical faults or pilot error as a cause of the crash.
A top official at Metrojet says its plane dropped 300 kph (186 mph) in speed and 1.5 kilometers (about 5,000 feet) in altitude one minute before it crashed into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Alexander Smirnov, the deputy general director of Metrojet, also told reporters Monday in Moscow that no technical fault could have caused the Airbus A320-200 to break up in the air. He says the cause of Saturday’s crash “could only have been a mechanical impact on the plane” in the air.
Russian investigators say the plane broke up at high altitude over the Sinai Peninsula but have so far refrained from naming possible causes. All 224 people aboard were killed.
A top official at Metrojet, the Russian airline company whose charter flight crashed Saturday in Egypt, says the plane lost speed right before the crash.
Alexander Smirnov, the deputy general director of Metrojet, also told reporters Monday in Moscow that no technical fault could have caused the Airbus A320-200 to break up in the air. He says the cause of the crash “could only have been a mechanical impact on the plane” in the air.
Russian investigators say the plane broke up at high altitude over the Sinai Peninsula but have so far refrained from naming possible causes. All 224 people aboard were killed.
The bodies of 164 people are flown to Saint Petersburg as investigators say the crashed airplane disintegrated mid-air.
A plane carrying the remains of 164 people killed when a Russian airliner crashed in Egypt landed in Saint Petersburg.
The emergency Russian plane, the first to bring back the bodies of those who died when the A-321 plummeted from the sky above the Sinai Peninsula, arrived in the Pulkovo airport of Russia’s second-largest city early on Monday.
Investigators from several countries have joined an Egypt-led probe to determine what brought down Russian airline Kogalymavia’s flight 9268 on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board, en route from Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint Petersburg.
They have recovered the “black box” flight recorders of the Airbus, and the head of an Irish mission that will join the Egypt-led probe into the disaster said the results from the recorders should be ready in a few days.
Russian official: Jet broke apart in mid-air
The head of the Russian air transport agency Alexander Neradko on Sunday said it appeared the aircraft disintegrated while flying at high altitude.
“All signs prove that the structure of the plane disintegrated in the air at a high altitude,” he told Russian state television.
The bodies of those sent back to Saint Petersburg were due to be taken in a motorcade to a crematorium for identification, which will begin later on Monday, according to Russia’s emergency ministry.
Russian officials confirmed that 164 bodies were on board the plane which landed at Saint Petersburg.
Egypt had earlier said the remains of 162 people would be flown back, out of 214 Russian passengers said to have been on the flight, along with three Ukrainians and seven crew.
Family members have been providing DNA samples at a crisis centre set up close to the Russian airport, now the site of an impromptu memorial where people have brought flowers and cuddly toys to commemorate the victims, many of them children.
Flags flew at half-mast in Russia on Sunday on a national day of mourning for the victims.
Thousands gathered in Saint Petersburg’s Palace Square to observe a minute’s silence and release doves and balloons into the darkening sky.
