Plane crash over Sinai. Terrorist attack on board Kogalymavia: the main thing

The death of aircraft A-321, operating flight 9268 from Egyptian Sharm el-Sheikh to Pulkovo with 217 passengers and seven crew members on board, became the largest aviation disaster in the history of Russia and the USSR. In the Soviet Union, the worst air accident occurred in the Uchkuduk area on July 10, 1985. Then, as a result of the crash of a Tu-154 flying from Karshi to Leningrad, 191 passengers and nine crew members were killed.

From the very beginning, the death of flight 9268 of the Kogalymavia company (Metrojet) was accompanied not only by unverified information, but also by outright fabrications. In the first hours after the tragedy, Arab news agencies reported, citing some rescuers operating at the crash site, that the A-321 fell apart into two large parts and groans and requests for help were even heard from the tail. A little later, some representatives of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack on board a Russian plane. This statement was immediately picked up by foreign and some domestic media.

On the fateful day, Airbus A-321 took off from the Egyptian airport at 6:51 Moscow time (3.51 GMT), but already at 7.14 (4.14) it did not contact Larnaca airport, and a few seconds earlier the flight disappeared from radar screens.

As a result of the search and rescue operations that began, it was established that the wreckage of the plane, scattered over an area of 16 to 20 square kilometers, had characteristic signs that the Airbus had collapsed in the air. Let us recall that the wreckage of the Malaysian Boeing 777, which was traveling on flight MH-17 and died over the south-east of Ukraine, was spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometers. Already on November 1, the Federal Air Transport Agency and the Interstate Aviation Committee confirmed that the destruction of the A-321 occurred while still in the air.

At this moment, despite the fact that the flight recorders, also known as “black boxes,” were not only found by rescuers, but are already being decrypted, data on the flight parameters of the A-321 Kogalymavia is available only from the FlightRadar24 Internet service.

At 7.12 (4.12) the plane was at an altitude of 10,200 meters (33,500 feet), continuing to climb in order to reach the flight level to Pulkovo Airport. The flight speed was approximately 750 kilometers per hour (just over 400 knots), and the vertical speed was constant. But exactly at 7.13 (4.13) the flight speed dropped to 170 kilometers per hour (just over 20 knots) and, according to calculations by the aviation-safety.net resource (the diagram was obtained as a result of processing FR24 data), the vertical speed became equal to 6000 feet per minute or 30.48 meters per second (a negative reading means the plane is descending). This was no longer a decline or a dive, but actually a fall. At this point, the A-321, having lost 5,000 feet, was at an altitude of about 8,600 meters (28,375 feet).

And then something strange begins. In a matter of seconds (from 07.13.00 to 07.13.22), the vertical speed of the liner rose to 4000 feet per minute (20.3 m/s), then dropped again to 6000, but then sharply increased to 4000 feet per minute. The plane went up. But not having time to gain the lost hundreds of meters, the liner began to fall again at a vertical speed of 6,500 feet per minute (33 m/s). And again the fall gave way to a sharp climb. From 13/07/15 to 13/07/19 the vertical speed increased to 9000 feet per minute (45 m/s). The Airbus went into a sharp climb, which at 07.13.22 again ended in a fall, during which, most likely, the plane began to crumble.

To summarize, for 22 seconds the plane actually tried to stop its fall and begin to climb, stalling each time. But then its vertical speed increased to such levels that the vehicle reached maximum angles of attack and, accordingly, prohibitive overloads. Next - the fall and destruction of A-321.

Note that the given vertical speed indicators were obtained from processing data from the FlightRadar24 service and in reality could be lower.

There was a report in the media that the plane's crew allegedly turned to air traffic controllers for help. According to some sources, he reported some kind of malfunction, according to others, he requested permission to land. But both Egyptian and Russian authorities deny that such a conversation took place.

In the first hours after the tragedy, evidence emerged that the deceased A-321 had engine problems, which the pilots repeatedly reported to their management. True, on the evening of October 31, representatives of the carrier stated that there were no complaints, the airliner underwent all routine maintenance in a timely manner.

The Military-Industrial Courier observer was able to communicate with employees and personnel of companies operating similar passenger airliners, as well as representatives of Russian government bodies responsible for control in the aviation sector.

Most of the interlocutors unequivocally stated that they would not draw conclusions at least until the transcripts of the flight recorders were announced, but agreed to provide explanations on the already existing facts.

But a mechanical failure of the rudders or stabilizer could only lead to the plane crashing. Kit

Judging by aviation-safety.net, although there was a sharp decrease in speed, one can hardly talk about problems or failure of one of the IAE V2500 engines. In this case, the plane could not climb several times before falling. According to one of the representatives of the airline - operator of the A-321, this at least indicates that not only power plants they retained traction, but the automatic propulsion system also worked.

We can say that for 22 seconds the autopilot of the airliner tried to fend off something that, according to one of the interlocutors, “was almost impossible to fend off.” But then, instead of stabilizing the airliner, the automation, unable to cope, sent the plane into a sharp climb, which led to prohibitive overloads, reaching critical angles of attack, stalling (possibly a spin) and structural destruction.

The causes of the impact that led to the death of the Airbus could be: mechanical problems with elevators or stabilizer, and failure of the automation itself, also known as EDSU (electronic remote control system). It is possible that the pilots, faced with a malfunction in the control system, tried to hold the plane on their own, countering the impact.

heights in this case are unrealistic. And even a partial failure of the control system causes the occurrence of so-called self-oscillations, to which the above data on vertical speed are very similar.

True, almost all those interviewed questioned the possibility of a failure of the EMDS, pointing out that this had not happened during the operation of the A-321, and that the Airbus control system itself was very reliable and its most important elements were duplicated.

Industry representatives were also quite skeptical about the possible destruction of the aircraft by anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as the detonation of a device placed on board by terrorists. A missile hit, as shown by the example of the Malaysian Boeing 777, would lead to instant destruction of the structure and the fall of the remains of the aircraft over a sufficiently large area, the same can be said about the use of IEDs.

The tragedy of flight 9268 is still awaiting investigation. While the data from the flight recorders has not been published, debris is being collected. The remains of the A-321 are laid out ahead, but now not only experts of varying degrees of awareness, but even various officials are drawing attention to the fact that the crashed airliner outlived four owners and the car is already 18 years old - there is no place for such things in the fleets of Russian carriers, the domestic aviation industry must be raised .

The A-321 is the largest aircraft of the A-320 family, which is considered the record holder for the number of aircraft produced and in operation. "Three hundred and twenty-first" is capable of transporting from 170 to 220 passengers over a distance of up to 5,600 kilometers. At the same time, the Superjet carries from 98 to 108 passengers with a range of just over three thousand kilometers (or 4,500 in the Long Range version). Theoretically, the newest Russian MS-21, the first flight of which has not yet taken place, should have close indicators to the “three hundred and twenty-first” put into operation in 1994. Tu-204/214, also capable of carrying over 200 passengers over a distance of six to seven thousand kilometers (depending on the model), are operated by only a few airlines (the largest fleet is at SLO Rossiya and Red Wings - 12 and 8 aircraft respectively).

Alas, one thing is already clear: the tragedy of flight 9268 will be used for all sorts of loud statements for a long time, and the rise of the domestic aviation industry requires painstaking, hard work.

On the morning of October 31 at 05:50 local time (06:50 Moscow time), the plane, flying flight 7K-9268 of the Russian airline Kogalymavia, took off from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. 23 minutes after takeoff, when the plane reached an altitude of 9.4 thousand meters, an explosive device went off in the tail section. The plane split in two, the cabin depressurized and the systems completely shut down - the airliner rushed down. Two minutes after the explosion, the plane crashed to the ground at high speed in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula. All 224 people on board, including 25 children, were killed. Three hours after the crash, the local affiliate of the Islamic State* claimed responsibility for the attack.

Airplane wreckage
Reuters

« The magical land took them for itself"

Irina Barinova lost three loved ones in the disaster: her cousin Lyubov Mozgina with her one-year-old daughter Alisa and mother Galina Zamolotova were returning from vacation to St. Petersburg.

“Lyuba dreamed of showing Alice the country that she herself was madly in love with,” says Irina. “She and her mother were so happy that Alice would see a magical land where there was the Red Sea, the sun, and the pyramids. But the magical land took them for itself.”

According to Irina, Lyubov was not used to counting on anyone other than herself in life: she worked hard, bought a car and an apartment in St. Petersburg.

“Lyuba is from the Novgorod region, she graduated from school there and in 1993 came to go to college in St. Petersburg. A simple girl from the village, she studied and worked seven days a week. She spent days and nights preparing, always drawing something. In the morning it’s college, and in the evening and on weekends it’s work. She tried to achieve everything herself and really wanted to help her parents.”

Relatives of the deceased passengers
Reuters

After graduating from the institute, Lyubov got a job at a construction company as an estimator, but most of all she wanted to work at Lenenergo. “She sent her resume there and did not expect to receive an invitation to an interview, but her dream came true! Last years Lyuba worked at Lenenergo in her life and was in good standing with management,” recalls Irina.

RT’s interlocutor told how in 2013 she and Lyubov managed to relax in Lazarevskoye: “We walked together, swam in the sea, and then Lyuba said that she would soon become a mother. It was such a joy - beyond words! Lyuba knew from the first day that it would be a girl, and from the first day she called her by name - Alisa. All the pain in my soul cannot be expressed in words. I still can't believe it. All we can do is love them and miss them."

Boarding pass found at the crash site Airbus aircraft A321
RIA News

“Who would have thought that this was the last time I would see them?”

The tragedy over Sinai took away Galina Panchenko’s only daughter, 23-year-old Vlada, and her husband Ilya Sakerin. “They met in 2010, when Vlada graduated from school, and since then they have never been apart. We organized our own wedding and were truly happy. The three of us lived, and even with three cats - Vlada and Ilya loved animals very much. They were fond of fishing, often traveled to Karelia and even brought me fish. We rode bicycles from St. Petersburg to Lomonosov - and this is quite a distance. They were so happy about life, dreamed of buying an apartment, and planned to have children.”

Reuters

This trip to Egypt was the third for the young Sakerin family. They went on vacation for only a week - they were in a hurry to get back in time for Vlada’s father’s birthday. Galina then accompanied the children to the airport. “Who would have thought that I would see them for the last time,” she laments.

Galina could not stay in her homeland after what happened - everything reminded her of the dead children. The decision to move to the United States permanently was not easy.

“I was left completely alone. I still can't come to terms with this. Unbearable pain. Every day I wake up and go to sleep thinking about them.”

Airbus A321 wreckage
RIA News

Experience the pain together

Irina Zakharova and her husband lost their only daughter in the disaster. Elvira Voskresenskaya was 28 years old.

“I can’t say about my daughter that she was. For me, she is my daughter. She was a long-awaited beloved child. The father, being a career military man, dreamed all his life about his son as the continuer of his path. When his daughter was born, at first he was somewhat disappointed, but then, already in adulthood, he was inspired and realized that his daughter became the continuer of his whole life and all his endeavors. She chose a university associated with military service and put on shoulder straps. This year she was supposed to receive the rank of major. For my father and me, she was the center of the universe. We lived by her interests, and she — ours", — Irina says, holding back tears with difficulty.

A year ago, relatives and friends of those killed in a plane crash over Sinai united in a group on a social network in which they exchanged information about the progress of the investigation and supported each other. The organizer of the group was Alexander Voitenko. On board the Airbus 321 was his older sister Irina and her daughter Alisa.

“I realized that I cannot remain silent about what happened, I cannot keep it to myself and suffer within myself. I decided to tell everyone about how I feel, what is happening around this disaster. It was possible to unite not only relatives, but also sympathizers. We created a group on the social network, which currently has more than 36 thousand people. This is already a big family, a whole movement.”

Reuters

The group of united relatives eventually grew into the Flight 9268 charitable foundation.

“After all the funerals were over, we met for the first time in January. I remember there were about 30 of us, — recalls Alexander Voitenko, who became the executive director of the Flight 9268 Foundation. — We immediately decided that we needed our own charitable foundation to resolve legal issues related to donations. It was necessary to structure the needs.”

Irina Zakharova became chairman of the foundation's board. When asked why she decided to engage in charitable activities, Irina, the director of a school in St. Petersburg, replies:

“It’s very difficult to understand why I was doing this because I felt like I wouldn’t survive. But it turned out that I not only survived, but also became involved in the activities of the foundation. It means that I haven’t accomplished something in my life yet, since I got this.”

Irina talks about how difficult it is to come to terms with the loss of loved ones: “I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, whether I will be alive. Over the past year, six people, relatives of the victims, have died, mostly due to heart attacks.”

RIA News

Flight 9268 cooperates with other organizations - for example, with the Interrupted Flight Foundation, which was organized 10 years ago in memory of those killed in the crash of the airliner on the Anapa-St. Petersburg flight on August 22, 2006.

“We are planning to conduct a mass burial of remains that cannot be identified. Now they are in the city crematorium,” says Irina. “The examination confirmed that among these remains there is a piece of each passenger on the plane, but they are so mixed that it is almost impossible to separate. We collect signatures from loved ones agreeing to the burial. It will be very difficult to go through a second funeral.”

Figures of cranes at a rally in memory of the victims of the plane crash over the Sinai in the Peter and Paul Fortress
RIA News

Irina and Alexander said that the foundation plans to build a temple in St. Petersburg, inside of which there will be an atrium with photographs of the victims of the plane crash.

Kristina Oleneva, Yulia Gureeva, Maria Bukharova

Anniversary of the Sinai tragedy: relatives of the dead passengers remember their loved ones

* “Islamic State” is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

On October 31, 2015, a Russian aircraft Airbus A321 of Kogalymavia Airlines (Metrojet), operating flight 9268 Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg, .

On instructions from the President, the Russian government in connection with the disaster, headed by Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov. The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) was under the leadership of the executive director of the committee, Viktor Sorochenko.

Cairo immediately after the disaster about the opportunity to take part in the investigation of the tragedy. A special commission of investigation was created, including: Russia, Egypt, France (the state of the aircraft’s developer), Germany (the state of the airliner’s manufacturer) and Ireland (the state of registration). Ayman al-Muqaddam was appointed head of the commission to investigate the disaster.

On November 1, 2015, Egyptian Prosecutor General Nabil Ahmed Sadek invited Russian specialists to participate in the investigation into the causes of the crash of a Russian plane in the Sinai Peninsula.

A group of investigators and criminologists from the central office of the Investigative Committee of Russia, in agreement with the competent authorities and together with representatives of the Republic of Egypt, in accordance with the norms of national and international law, participated in the inspection of the scene of the plane crash in Egypt.

On November 17, 2015, the head of the FSB of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bortnikov, during a meeting in the Kremlin on the results of the investigation into the causes of the crash of a Russian plane, that as a result of an examination of personal belongings, luggage and parts of the plane that crashed in Egypt, traces of foreign-made explosives were identified. He .

In turn, the Egyptian authorities urged not to rush to conclusions. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that as part of a criminal investigation.

In March 2016, the International Commission of Inquiry into the crash of the Russian A321 aircraft announced that it had received an official report from the Investigative Committee of Russia and transferred it to the Egyptian Prosecutor General's Office to complete legal procedures. The commission itself, despite the transfer of the case to the investigative authorities of the country's state security, continued the technical examination of the wreckage of the airliner.

In mid-April, Egypt's Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek announced the transfer of the case of the Russian plane crash to the country's High State Security Prosecutor's Office. The decision of the head of the supervisory agency, as noted in the text of the statement, was made on the basis of data from the report of the Investigative Committee of Russia, “which indicates a suspicion of the presence of a criminal trail.”

In June, CIA Director John Brennan, speaking in the Senate of the US Congress, said that American intelligence has information about the involvement of the Egyptian group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which swore allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist movement banned in many countries, in the explosion on the Russian passenger plane A321. (an organization banned in the Russian Federation), and on August 4, the Egyptian Ministry of Defense announced the elimination of the leader of this terrorist group.

At the insistence of the Investigative Committee of Russia, an international commission to investigate the aviation accident. As a result of the work carried out, the fact of the influence of high-energy elements on the skin of the aircraft in the “inside-out” direction and “explosive decompression” in flight was established.

In October 2016, an investigation commission formed by the Egyptian Prosecutor General's Office sent twelve pieces of the aircraft to a scientific alloys laboratory for a detailed study.

Work to determine the causes of the crash. To date, the parties have no understanding of what happened to the plane, how the explosive device got on board the plane, or who carried it. There are also no identified suspects or their accomplices from among the airport employees.

On October 31, 2015, the Russian airliner A321 crashed as a result of a terrorist attack in Egypt.

Exactly a year ago, October 31, 2015, over the Sinai Peninsula. The disaster, which became the largest in the history of Soviet and Russian aviation, claimed the lives of 224 people.

Most of them are residents of St. Petersburg and Leningrad region. A year after the tragedy, not all the relatives of the victims were able to bury their loved ones. Until now, St. Petersburg residents are waiting for official and final results of the investigation into the disaster from the Egyptian side. And they literally learn to live again.

On October 30, Airbus 321-231 of Kogalymavia airlines safely completed two flights on the route Sharm el-Sheikh - Samara - Sharm el-Sheikh.

The handing over crew, PIC Dmitry Zhigalkovich, and co-pilot Yuri Yushkoinne do not make any comments about the aircraft.

Already in the early morning of October 31, the plane will have two more regular flights: Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg - Sharm el-Sheikh. The following crew is already on board: experienced 48-year-old Valery Nemov, who has flown over 12,000 hours, and 45-year-old co-pilot Sergei Trukhachev, a former military pilot who served in the Chechen campaign.

217 passengers will be waiting for them on board, most of them are St. Petersburg residents, many returning home with their entire families from a long-awaited vacation in Egypt.

At 03:50:06 local time (06:50 Moscow time), flight 7K-9268 takes off from Sharm el-Sheikh, after which, following the air corridor along the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, it begins to climb.

The plane, bypassing the Sinai Peninsula, will have to arrive in St. Petersburg at 12:10 local time, on a regular Saturday afternoon in October, among dozens of other domestic and international flights listed on the Pulkovo board. But neither then, nor after several delays that were displayed on the board, the long-awaited flight 9268 never returned to its homeland.

A few days after the disaster in the skies over Egypt, Flightradar will release data on the last flight of the A321 over the Sinai. According to the report published on the website, the plane took off safely and began to gain altitude, moving parallel to the coast.

A few minutes after the liner turned deeper into the peninsula, its altitude began to drop sharply by 6,000 feet. Communication with the plane is lost.

The first media reports that the Kogalymavia Airbus plane disappeared from radar began to appear only at 10:18 Moscow time.

Short news reports vary significantly: according to the information they contain, there were from 207 to 224 people on board.

Some reports say the plane went missing near Larnaca in Cyprus.

“Flight 9268 Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg, operated by Airbus 321 Kogalymavia, took off at 6:21 Moscow time and disappeared from radar screens after 23 minutes, there were 217 passengers and seven crew members on board,” the report said. Rosaviatsia.

Moments count - two minutes later news appears from Arab media, reporting that a Russian plane crashed in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula.

But the data is still scarce and not supported by official confirmation. Hope remains. At 10:42 Reuters and Sky News publish the first reports refuting the plane crash. Publication sources claim that the crew of the missing plane made contact in Turkey. Flightradar does not confirm the fall, specifying that the airliner sharply decreased in altitude before disappearing from the radar.

The Federal Air Transport Agency reports that they are trying to contact the flight that disappeared from radar. At 11:44 on the Pulkovo online board there is still information that the flight’s arrival from Sharm el-Sheikh is delayed (from 12:10 to 12:20).

In Pulkovo, where by that time the information about the arrival had disappeared from the display, the emergency headquarters began operational work, and the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations was preparing two aircraft to be sent to Egypt. Later, the department decides to send five special aircraft to Egypt.

Search teams discovered the crash site among the mountains of the Sinai Peninsula. The wreckage of the airliner was scattered over 13 kilometers.

The search operation took place in difficult conditions: North Sinai is a closed zone, and for a year now the Egyptian army has been conducting a large-scale operation there against militants of an extremist group associated with ISIS. It was the Egyptian military, patrolling the territory, who were the first to discover the wreckage of the airliner.

The plane crashed in the En-Nahal mountain range, a deserted, waterless and deserted place. According to clarified and officially confirmed information, there were 224 people on board the plane, including seven crew members.

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, among the passengers on the plane there were 192 adults and 25 children. They all died.

“Dear Amalia, 28 years ago you gave the world a wonderful boy. Every mother dreams of such a son and a girl dreams of such a reliable and loving man nearby. A year ago they published photographs of all the dead, I immediately remembered Armen’s face, it attracts the eye with its kind and pure smile, this is the face of a purposeful and very decent young man. I didn’t know him, but I am incredibly sorry for Armen. Such boys were obliged to live and give the world beautiful children, but, unfortunately, another world, black and evil, took his life. Strength and health to you. Thank you for such a son. I’m incredibly sorry... In loving memory of Armen and happy birthday (Tatyana Svetlova, St. Petersburg),” the relatives of those killed in the terrible plane crash continue to receive such letters a year after the tragedy. Sinai.

On October 26, a few days before the plane crash, Armen Vishnev, a native of the city of Pushkin, who served in the Federal Customs Service, turned 27 years old. Armen flew to Egypt to rest, in one of his last messages he asked his mother not to be bored, because the separation would not be long, he promised to bring a magnet or, as a joke, even a whole camel.

A year after the tragedy, Amalia carefully preserves all the photographs and messages of her son. Concerned residents of other regions of Russia and dozens of other loved ones of the victims of the plane crash help her to honor the memory and overcome the grief of loss. The tragedy united more than 36 thousand people online. Through the efforts of St. Petersburg residents, the Flight 9268 charitable foundation was created, which now provides support to people who lost loved ones in the disaster over Sinai.

“The main goal for which we have united is to perpetuate the memory of our relatives in those things that we are able to accomplish: creating a memorial and temple, preserving the memories of our loved ones, helping the families of the victims who need financial, legal and psychological support Our foundation is not just an attempt to unite around a common cause, it is a protest against terrorism, murder, cruelty and injustice. The tragedy was divided into before and after the disaster,” the foundation says.

The foundation’s group on social networks has long become a kind of spontaneous book of memory, where you can find out the latest information about the progress of the investigation into the tragedy, again see photos of all those who did not return home from the ill-fated flight, and also provide all possible assistance to family and friends.

And it’s not just about money: any support is valuable, because even after a year, practice shows: time does not heal, and a long investigation and difficult bureaucratic procedures associated with the payment of compensation only aggravate the already ongoing pain of loss.

The tragedy cut short the lives of entire families: Olga and Yuri Shein and three of their children died in the disaster. The whole country from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok was shocked to the core by the love story of Alexandra Chernova and Evgeny Yavsin who were on board the A321: Evgeny specially saved money to take Sasha to Egypt and propose to her there. And dozens of other life-long stories that were so unfairly and suddenly ended on that ill-fated October morning.

Most of the passengers of the crashed A321 were residents of the North-West of Russia, mainly from St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Novgorod and Pskov regions. Also on board were four citizens of Ukraine and one citizen of Belarus. The youngest passenger, Darina Gromova, was only 10 months old; her photograph, posted by her mother on social networks shortly before the disaster and subsequently published by many world publications, became an unspoken symbol of the tragedy.

A year after the plane crash, not all the relatives of the victims of the A321 crash were able to bury their relatives: six of those killed in the crash over Sinai have still not been identified. According to the chairman of the board of the Flight 9268 charitable foundation, Irina Zakharova, the remains, which are currently stored in the crematorium on Shafirovsky Prospekt, are not subject to examination. However, families still have hope of receiving fragments of the bodies of their dead relatives: in Egypt, after the completion of the main stage of the investigation, new remains were discovered, they are now being studied.

The report of the international commission investigating the crash of the Russian A321 over the Sinai has not yet been made public: on the preliminary results of its work (and this is a year after the investigation), according to a source in the Ministry civil aviation Egypt, experts will tell you “within 60 days.”

“Certain technical analyzes are currently being carried out, after which a preliminary report will be made public,” a representative of the Egyptian Ministry of Aviation told the media on October 26.

Let us remind you that representatives from six countries are taking part in the investigation into the causes of the disaster: Egypt, Russia, as well as specialists from France, Germany, Ireland and the USA. Its progress in accordance with the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is supervised by the Egyptian aviation authorities.

One of the first versions of the disaster was the assumption that the Russian plane could have been shot down by a missile fired by militants operating in the North Sinai region. However, this assumption was almost immediately refuted by experts as untenable. For a long time, experts worked on another probable cause of the crash of the Kogalymavia airliner - a version of technical problems. This was announced on the day of the crash by the operational services of Egypt following a preliminary inspection of the wreckage of the plane. At the initial stage of the investigation, Russian experts were also inclined towards this version.

Representatives of Kogalymavia (Metrojet trademark) were the first to refute it: already on November 2, the airline’s press secretary, Alexander Smirnov, ruled out a technical malfunction and pilot error as the causes of the disaster and announced an “external influence” on the airliner. He stressed that the aircraft, which the airline owned under lease, was 100% ready to fly and that its crew was “very experienced.” The company representative supported his speech with certificates received by the airline at the beginning of 2015. He also stated that the plane's engine was checked on October 26, five days before the crash.

On November 7, the IAC reported that until the recording on the recorders stopped, the flight took place in normal mode, no information about failures of aircraft systems and components was recorded.

At a meeting in the Kremlin on November 16, the head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, officially announced for the first time that the cause of the crash was a terrorist attack. Versions about third-party interference with links to various sources were previously published in foreign and Russian media.

“We can definitely say that this is a terrorist act. According to our experts, an improvised explosive device with a capacity of up to 1 kg in TNT equivalent went off on board the aircraft in flight, which resulted in the aircraft falling apart in the air, which explains the scattering of parts of the aircraft fuselage over a large distance," Bortnikov said, adding that traces of foreign-made explosives were found on the debris and things.

Bortnikov explained that the conclusions were made by specialists after a thorough examination of personal belongings, luggage of passengers and parts of the crashed airliner.

It was initially believed that the explosive device was planted under the passenger seat of 30A or 31A. However, in September 2016, data from the commission were made public, according to which the explosion occurred in the tail section, in the compartment for oversized luggage. A timed bomb was hidden among the baby strollers. Experts came to this conclusion after analyzing the layout of the collected fragments of the A321 in the hangar at Cairo airport. Due to the explosion, the plane lost its tail section, after which it went into an uncontrolled dive.

The investigation into the tragedy is progressing very slowly, and all the circumstances of what happened are still unknown.

The Egyptian cell of the Islamic State group banned in Russia almost immediately took responsibility for the crash of the Russian plane. Airport employees could have carried the explosive device on board - numerous evidence of the weak level of security in the air harbor immediately after the tragedy flooded the Internet: many tourists said that for a small bribe they calmly carried bags with things through all the security cordons, and no one inspected them.

However, the Egyptian side for a long time insisted on the version of a technical malfunction, refusing to acknowledge the possibility of a terrorist attack on board the liner.

In December 2015, the Technical Investigation Committee issued a statement saying that Cairo had found no indications of terrorist involvement in the Airbus 321 crash.

It was only in February 2016 that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi admitted for the first time that the cause of the crash of a Russian plane in the skies over Sinai was a terrorist attack. The head of state stated this at the presentation of a report on the country’s development until 2030.

On August 30, 2016, it was announced that Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani, who was allegedly the organizer of the terrorist attack, had been killed in Aleppo, Syria.

Air traffic with Egypt, which was stopped immediately after the A321 crash, has not yet been restored. In accordance with the official commentary of the Russian Ministry of Transport, the situation will not change until all concerns in the field of aviation security are eliminated.

“Making a decision on the resumption of air traffic between Russia and Egypt is possible only after all the problems in the field of aviation and transport security have been eliminated. It is worth noting that the Egyptian side has made significant progress in resolving these issues and the interaction between the two countries is quite constructive,” the department noted 25 October.

In just a year, the “Garden of Memory” memorial, which will be located on Rumbolovskaya Mountain in Vsevolozhsk, will be completed and fresh flowers will bloom here. A corridor of slabs on which, in accordance with the design of the monument, will be the names of all those killed in the A321 plane crash, as well as metal structures in the form of pipes on which the wind will play, will be seen by anyone driving along the Road of Life.

On Monday, October 31, a memorial service for the victims of the A321 crash in the skies over the Sinai Peninsula will be held at St. Isaac's Cathedral. In memory of those who never returned home to their family and friends, the cathedral bell will ring 224 times.

On October 31, 2015, a Russian aircraft Airbus A321 of Kogalymavia Airlines (Metrojet), operating flight 9268 Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg, .

In turn, the Egyptian authorities urged not to rush to conclusions. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that as part of a criminal investigation.

In October 2016, an investigation commission formed by the Egyptian Prosecutor General's Office sent twelve pieces of the aircraft to a scientific alloys laboratory for a detailed study.

All about car tuning

Plane crash over Sinai. Terrorist attack on board Kogalymavia: the main thing