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| Africa North |
| Russian plane black boxes point to 'attack' |
| 2015-11-07 |
| An analysis of black boxes from the Russian plane that crashed in Egypt point to a bomb attack, sources close to the probe said on Friday, as Moscow halted flights to the country. The flight data and voice recorders showed "everything was normal" until both failed at 24 minutes after takeoff, pointing to "a very sudden explosive decompression," one source said. The data "strongly favours" the theory a bomb on board had brought down the plane, he added. Another source said the plane had gone down suddenly and violently. One of the black boxes recovered from the crash site showed that the plane suffered "a violent, sudden" end, a source close to the case in Paris told AFP. The flight data recorder showed that "everything was normal during the flight, absolutely normal, and suddenly there was nothing". President Vladimir Putin ordered flights halted on the recommendation from his security chief, the Kremlin said, although Moscow had previously downplayed reports that a bomb caused the crash. At an emergency meeting, the head of Russia's FSB security service, Alexander Bortnikov, said it would be prudent to halt flights for now. "Until we have determined the true reasons for what happened, I consider it expedient to stop flights by Russian aviation to Egypt," he said. With international concerns mounting, European airlines prepared to bring home thousands of tourists from the Red Sea resort, which has been a jewel in Egypt's tourism crown. A first flight landed at London's Gatwick airport on Friday afternoon, after a lengthy delay to its departure. Another plane was also headed for Britain. There were angry scenes at the airport as thousands of anxious Britons, who had also hoped to fly home, were sent back to their hotels after Egypt blocked several other repatriation flights. Egyptian Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal said only eight of 29 flights would take off because the airport could not cope with all the luggage left behind. In a sign of mounting fears about the security of baggage handling in Egypt, Dutch carrier KLM announced that it had banned check-in luggage on an early flight from Cairo, mirroring moves taken by several European airlines. The Daesh group has claimed responsibility for the disaster, in which all 224 on board the Saint Petersburg were killed, most of them Russian tourists. Cairo has sought to downplay any suggestion of an attack. But US President Barack Obama said: "I think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board and we are taking that very seriously," while emphasising it was too early to say for sure. In London, where David Cameron hosted Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi on Thursday, the British prime minister told reporters it was "more likely than not that it was a terrorist bomb" that caused the crash. And The Times newspaper reported Friday that electronic communications intercepted by British and US intelligence suggested a bomb may have been carried onto the plane. Satellites uncovered chatter between militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Syria, it said. "The tone and content of the messages convinced analysts that a bomb had been carried on board by a passenger or a member of the airport ground staff," the newspaper reported, without giving a source. Egypt has beefed up security at airports to "give confidence to the British government, but that does not mean we concur with any scenario," foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 I am surprised Egypt had any tourism left. Now they'll have less. People are gonna starve. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2015-11-07 18:14 |
| #8 Egypt's most dangerous terrorist group IS-affiliated Wilayat Sinai Wilayat Sinai is our old friend Ansar Bayt al Maqdis, which was affiliated with Al Qaeda until ISIS looked to be the stronger horse. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2015-11-07 15:08 |
| #7 Doubt it BC. Too tricky, too sticky. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-11-07 14:06 |
| #6 And the Russians don't have those pesky restrictive ROEs like we do. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2015-11-07 14:02 |
| #5 Egypt's most dangerous terrorist group IS-affiliated Wilayat Sinai, has been named as the key suspect behind the downing of Metrojet Flight 9268. |
| Posted by: Sven the pelter 2015-11-07 13:56 |
| #4 Putin already has boots on the ground in the Sinai. The Russians have known for days it was a bomb, this is just Kabuki dance pantomime to give cover to the operatives on the ground shaking down the locals and looking for the group responsible. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2015-11-07 12:49 |
| #3 ....until both failed at 24 minutes after takeoff, pointing to "a very sudden explosive decompression," The explosion took place at or near altitude. Was the cargo hold pressurized? This might have prevented a barometric pressure firing device. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-11-07 08:30 |
| #2 They can do no other. Putin's gotta kick ass or loose face. Perhaps he will level T Raqqa and Aleppo instead. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-11-07 02:45 |
| #1 I guess we're going to see Russians in Sinai. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-11-07 02:13 |