Exactly four years ago, an Airbus A320 plane crashed over the Sinai Peninsula, carrying Russian tourists from Egypt to their homeland. All passengers and crew members died before reaching home. Among the dead were 25 children, including a small resident of Gatchina Darina Gromova, which the Russians called the Main Passenger. Authorities in several countries are still investigating the causes of the plane crash. In terms of the number of victims, the disaster is the largest in Russian aviation. But nothing can bring back innocent people. the site remembers the victims of the disaster and the chronology of events over the Sinai Peninsula
Developments
The plane of the Russian airline Kogalymavia arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh on the eve of the tragedy. On October 30, he performed two passenger flights on the route Sharm el-Sheikh - Samara - Sharm el-Sheikh. The commander of the aircraft, Dmitry Zhigalkovich, and co-pilot Yuri Yushko later said that the flight took place as usual, and no problems arose in the air. On October 31, the airliner came under the control of 48-year-old commander Valery Nemov and 45-year-old co-pilot Sergei Trukhachev. Nemov had more than 12 thousand hours of flight practice under his belt, almost 4 thousand of which were at the controls of an Airbus A321. The plane passed technical control at Sharm el-Sheikh airport and took off safely.
Photo: flight path of flight 7K-9268 / flightradar24.com
Charter flight 7K-9268 route Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg was supposed to arrive in the Northern capital at 12:10, a little more than five hours into the flight. At 06:50 Moscow time, the plane took off from the Egyptian airport and headed along the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. After 12 minutes, the aircraft turned left on a course of 340° to cross the Sinai Peninsula. When the board rose to a height of 9411 meters, its speed began to drop sharply. According to the website Flightradar24, at 06:13 the Airbus A320 began to lose altitude at a speed of 30 m/s. At approximately 07:14, flight 7K-9268 crashed in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula. The wreckage of the plane was scattered over a radius of 13 km. The total search area for the bodies of the dead and the remains of the airliner was 30 km. All 224 passengers died.
The first reports about the disappearance of the airliner from radars appeared in the Russian media at about 10:20 Moscow time. Initially it was reported that communication was interrupted near the Cypriot city of Larnaca. International publications Reuters and Sky News, citing their own sources, reported that the flight crashed. At this time, relatives of passengers begin to be notified about the loss of the airliner. People, hoping for a miracle, go to Pulkovo to meet a delayed flight. Charter 7K-9268 was still listed on the information board, which reported a ten minute delay.
“I was just at the airport that day and found people waiting for the plane. I was flying to study then, and I had problems getting my luggage. I arrived, but that flight did not. I remember the number of this plane on the board with the red inscription “detained”. I had just left the airport when literally 15 minutes later the crash was announced. A few hours later, photographs from the airport began to appear online. I look, and there are all these people, many of whom I saw at the entrance, or at Starbucks, or somewhere else. People who came to wait for their relatives"
Soon the hopes of the relatives were dashed: Egyptian authorities reported that the wreckage of the plane was found 50 km from Nehel, in the province of North Sinai. The airport management, together with the Federal Air Transport Agency, set up mobile medical headquarters. People were provided with psychological assistance. The emergency headquarters began work. Rescuers constantly informed relatives. But the latter were already beginning to understand that their relatives could no longer be returned.
Photo: wreckage of flight 7K-9268 / life.ru Investigation
When information about the crash was confirmed, the Ministry of Emergency Situations sent five special aircraft to Egypt to deliver the bodies of the victims to their homeland. The black boxes, which were practically undamaged, were found on the day of the tragedy. The decryption was carried out by the Egyptian side. Representatives from six countries took part in the investigation: Russia, Egypt, the USA, Germany, France and Ireland. The commission also included consultants from Airbus.
The wreckage found 13 km from the crash site gave rise to claims that the plane was destroyed in the air. In this regard, versions began to appear about a possible explosion of the plane. Moreover, the possibility of both a bomb explosion in the cabin and a missile strike from the ground could not be ruled out. However, Egypt called any versions premature and unsupported by facts. On November 16, the head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, said that the plane exploded as a result of a terrorist attack. On the bodies of the passengers, security forces found remains of explosives not produced in Russia. The Egyptian authorities assured that they would take the FSB study into account, but did not draw any conclusions. One of the groups controlled by ISIS (an organization banned in Russia) took responsibility for the terrorist attack. An examination of the wreckage of the airliner showed that the bomb exploded within rows 30-31. Presumably it was laid at site 31A. However, in September 2016, experts said that the bomb was hidden in the tail of the plane among baby strollers.
Photo: wreckage of flight 7K9268 / vebus.ru Until now, the authorities of the African country have not opened a case under the article “Terrorism”. In July 2017, a source close to Russian-Egyptian negotiations on aviation security told RIA-Novosti that Egypt does not want to investigate the case under the article “Terrorism” in order not to pay compensation to the relatives of the victims. In this case, it will become clear that the disaster occurred due to shortcomings of the local security services.
Victims
224 people died from the explosion, burns and falling from a great height. On board were mainly Russian citizens - 219 people. Also, four citizens of Ukraine and one citizen of Belarus were flying back from vacation. The oldest victim was 77 years old, the youngest was only 10 months old. 48 people who did not return home were from the Leningrad region. On November 1, 2015, mourning was declared in Russia, which lasted three days. In the Leningrad region, all entertainment events have been canceled until November 4.
Among the dead were children, grandchildren, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. Many of the passengers posted photos online before the flight. Some flew to Egypt with their family, some to celebrate their wedding anniversary, and some to propose to their girlfriend. There were also those who went on vacation abroad for the first time. But no one was destined to return to their home.
The most famous publication is a photograph of the daughter of the Gromov couple. Little Darina flew with her parents to warm Egypt for the first time. The girl’s mother, Tatyana Gromova, captioned the photo “Main Passenger.” Under this name, the recording spread throughout the world and became a symbol of the tragedy. Darina was the smallest passenger on the plane. Her body was found 35 km from the crash site.
Spouses Olga and Yuri Shein flew to Egypt to celebrate ten years of marriage. They took three children with them: 11-year-old Zhenya, 10-year-old Lena and 3-year-old Nastya. A few minutes before landing, Olga posted a photo of her husband and her youngest daughter on her VKontakte page. The caption to the photo reads: "We're flying home." Sheina will never see her home.
Photo: personal archive of Olga Sheina Armen Vishnev flew to Egypt to celebrate his birthday. A few days before the tragedy, on October 26, he turned 27 years old. He worked in the Federal Customs Service near St. Petersburg, in Pushkin. Armen’s mother told reporters that in one of his last messages he urged her not to get bored. Armen promised to bring a souvenir with him.
Volkhov resident Dmitry Bogdanov took his children, 10-year-old Anton, 22-year-old Nastya and 24-year-old Lera, to the sea for a vacation. The mother of a large family died of cancer several years earlier. The children wrote on their pages on the social network “Goodbye, Russia!”, “Goodbye, cold Russia” and “Rainy St. Petersburg, good-bye.” They will never see their homeland again.
The young couple Alexandra Chernovaya and Evgeny Yavsin went on their first joint trip abroad. A surprise awaited Alexandra on vacation: Evgeniy specifically saved money for trips to propose to his beloved at sea.
Photo: personal archive of Alexandra Chernova Evgenia Murashova from Pskov died in the disaster. She flew to Egypt with her mother Irina Pikaleva. Evgenia has an 8-year-old daughter at home. A few days before her tragic death, she posted an audio recording on her page entitled “I know I won’t come back.”
Photo: screenshot from Ekaterina Murashova’s page Along with all these innocent people, hundreds of others died. Hundreds, if not thousands, of relatives were left with broken hearts. Many of them still have not been able to identify their loved ones, which means they keep a grain of hope in their hearts. The unidentified remains of victims of the Sinai disaster were buried in a mass grave at one of the memorial cemeteries in St. Petersburg.
Memory
On Rumbolova Mountain in Vsevolozhsk on the second anniversary of the “Garden of Memory” tragedy. The project was financed from the regional budget and the budget of Vsevolozhsk. The names of all the dead passengers of flight 7K-9268 are immortalized on a granite slab. Also on this day, all the bells of the churches of St. Petersburg will strike 224 times, in honor of each person who died.
Photo: “Memory Garden” On October 28, the monument “Folded Wings” was unveiled in St. Petersburg. The memorial was erected at the burial site of unidentified Airbus passengers. 25 white balloons were launched into the sky, symbolizing the children who died in the disaster.
Photo: “Folded Wings” / Administration of St. Petersburg Every year, events in memory of the victims of the Sinai disaster are held throughout the country.
After the tragedy, activists created the Flight 9268 charitable foundation. The fund is supported by the administration of the Leningrad region, the administration of St. Petersburg, the Russian Union of Rescuers and the Kuznetsov Guild. In February 2016, with the assistance of the foundation, more than 80% of the families of relatives of the victims wrote in support of the idea of building a temple and monument in memory of the dead passengers and crew of flight 9268. The Church of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica will be built in the Baltic Pearl multifunctional complex.
Photo: Draft design of the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica in the Baltic Pearl multifunctional complex / flight9268.ru 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 the 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 board now accepts the following crew: 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. Rosaviation.
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 either, 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: according to a source in the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, experts will talk about the preliminary results of their work (and this is a year after the investigation) “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 was proceeding as normal; no information about failures of the aircraft’s 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 Airbus A321 of Kogalymavia Airlines (Metrojet), operating flight 9268 Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg, on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
There were 224 people on board the plane, including 217 passengers (58 men, 134 women and 25 children - of which 212 were citizens of the Russian Federation, four citizens of Ukraine, one citizen of Belarus) and seven crew members.
Most of the people on the plane were residents of St. Petersburg. Residents of neighboring regions also returned to Russia - the Leningrad region, Novgorod, Pskov, Karelia, and several people from other subjects of the Federation. Everyone on board died. The disaster was the largest in the history of Russian and Soviet aviation.
The Airbus-A321 aircraft of the Kogalymavia airline (Metrojet), in which the tour operator Brisco, took off from Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt) to St. Petersburg on October 31 at 06.51 Moscow time and disappeared from the radar screens after 23 minutes. According to the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority, the airliner was flying at an altitude of 9.4 kilometers, then sharply decreased by 1.5 kilometers, after which it disappeared from radar.
There was no word on the fate of the plane for quite some time. The airliner disappeared from radar screens in the Cyprus region, so for half an hour they could not determine the exact location of the possible crash.
Egyptian military aviation was present to search for the Russian plane. The Israel Defense Forces sent a reconnaissance aircraft to Egypt to participate in the search operation.
The wreckage of A321 was discovered in the center of the Sinai Peninsula in the mountains between the areas of Al-Kantala and Al-Laksim near the city of Al-Hasna. To identify the aircraft, Egyptian emergency services were sent to the discovery site, where a large-scale search and rescue operation was carried out.
In agreement with Cairo, a group of forces and assets of the Russian Unified State System for the Prevention and Elimination of Emergency Situations (RSChS) in the amount of more than one thousand people and 250 units of equipment was involved in eliminating the consequences of the airliner crash, of which more than 660 people and 100 units were from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations technicians, as well as psychologists from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Search operations were organized on site using unmanned aerial vehicles and space monitoring data, and more than 40 square kilometers of territory were examined.
On the day of the plane crash, two A321 flight emergency recorders were found in Cairo - voice and parametric.
In connection with the crash of a Russian plane in Egypt, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared mourning in the country on November 1, 2015. The authorities of St. Petersburg until November 3, and the Leningrad region until November 4.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation on the fact of the plane crash of a Russian plane in Egypt was first under the article “Violation of flight rules and preparation for them,” then another under the article “Performance of work or provision of services that do not meet safety requirements.” Later they were in the same production.
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, all interested countries offered the opportunity to take part in the investigation of the tragedy. A special team was created, which included specialists from five countries: Russia, Egypt, France (the state that developed the aircraft), Germany (the state that manufactured the airliner) 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 investigated the causes of the crash of a Russian plane in the Sinai Peninsula. According to the Russian Ambassador in Cairo, Sergei Kirpichenko, Russia and Egypt have an agreement, according to which Russian specialists have access to almost everywhere they want to go as part of the investigation into the A321 crash.
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.
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 the Russian plane, said 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. It happened like a terrorist attack.
In turn, the Egyptian authorities. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that this criminal case is considering the terrorist attack as one of the versions.
In March 2016, the International Commission of Inquiry into the crash of the Russian A321 aircraft announced that it was 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, will continue the technical examination of the wreckage of the airliner.
In mid-April, Egypt's Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek reported the crash of a Russian plane to the country's Supreme 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 US Senate, said that American intelligence implicated the Egyptian group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist movement banned in many countries, in the explosion on the Russian A321 passenger plane. (IS), and on August 4, the Egyptian Ministry of Defense announced the elimination of the leader of this terrorist group.
On August 28, the commission investigating the disaster began “laying out” fragments of the aircraft’s structure in an aircraft hangar in the city of Cairo, where they were delivered from the crash site. after its completion, the point from which the destruction of the airliner’s hull began was determined.
According to media reports, when analyzing the layout of the collected fragments of the A321 in the hangar of Cairo airport, experts said that the terrorists placed an explosive device in the tail of the ship, the explosion caused the separation of the tail section and an uncontrolled dive. According to them, Russia has almost completed a report on the causes of the disaster, clearly indicating a terrorist trail: a powerful explosive device with a clock mechanism was used, which provoked a strong blast wave and fire.
The investigation into the crash of the Russian A321 over the Sinai Peninsula. On October 24, it became known that an investigation commission formed by the Egyptian Prosecutor General's Office sent twelve fragments of the airliner to a scientific alloy laboratory for a detailed study.
After the disaster, there were flights to Egypt from the Russian Federation and there was a flow of tourists. Russia stated the need to ensure security at Egyptian airports in order to resume air traffic between the countries. A number of European airlines have also suspended flights to this country. The Egyptian authorities are making great efforts to improve security measures in resort areas and airports, wanting to restore tourist flow. In the months since the tragedy, many foreign expert delegations have visited Egyptian airport security inspections in Cairo, Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
A motley crowd of tourists, a vibrant underwater world that attracts divers from all over the world - all this attracts travelers. Russians were eager to go there as if they were going to a second dacha: at least a week to rest from work and bask in the sun. Whole families flew until the plane crash in Egypt on October 31, 2015 forced the entire country to shudder.
Tragic incident
A tourist group from the Brisco company was returning on a charter flight from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. Despite the early morning (departure at 5.50 local time), the passengers were in excellent spirits. They posted pictures of their successful vacation on social networks. It was Saturday, and on Monday many had to plunge into work; some had work, others had to study.
The Airbus A321-231 EI-ETJ airliner, which arrived from Samara, took 217 passengers on board. They and seven crew members had to be in the Northern capital by 12 noon, where many had relatives and friends waiting at the airport. Having reached a given altitude of 9400 meters in 23 minutes, at a speed of 520 km/h the aircraft suddenly disappeared from the radar. At 6.15 (7.15 Moscow) the plane crashed in the Sinai Peninsula near El-Arish airport - the hottest spot in Egypt, where government troops were confronted by Al-Qaeda Islamists.
Versions of the tragedy
Those meeting flight 9268 at Pulkovo Airport anxiously watched the board, which displayed the information: “Arrival delayed.” And by evening, the whole country knew that the wreckage of the aircraft that had disappeared from radar had been discovered by the Egyptian authorities. Scattered over a length of 13 kilometers, with the tail section torn off, they were shown on television, which gave rise to many versions of experts about the possible causes of the disaster. Three were considered the most reliable:
- Technical problems associated either with engine failure or metal fatigue. In the tail section, traces of skin repairs were found after the aircraft touched the asphalt with its tail while landing at Cairo airport in 2001. The resulting microcrack could cause the destruction of the aircraft as it climbed.
- The plane crash in Egypt was caused by the crew's mistakes.
- Terrorist act.
The IAC commission, headed by Egyptian representative Ayman al-Mukkadam, began working at the site of the tragedy. It included representatives of Russia, France, Germany, the USA and Ireland. After studying the evidence and decoding, the first two versions were found unfounded.
Aircraft
The A321 crash over the Sinai Peninsula was the largest in the history of Egypt and modern Russia. The airbus belonged to the Kogalymavia company, which underwent a thorough inspection. It was found that after the 2001 emergency, the aircraft was repaired in France at the manufacturer's plant, after which all the necessary tests were carried out. Over 18 years of operation, the airliner flew less than 50% of its service life (57,428 hours) and was in good condition. This is evidenced by weekly technical checks, the last of which was carried out on October 26, 2015. The flight recorders did not detect any system malfunction. Until the 23rd minute, the flight proceeded quite normally.
Crew
Forty-eight-year-old crew commander Valery Nemov is a graduate of SVAAULSH (Stavropol Military School). He is one of the few who, in the difficult 90s, retrained to fly on Airbuses since 2008, having 12 thousand flight hours, which testifies to his enormous experience. The second pilot also came from military aviation, being a veteran of the Chechen campaign. After retiring, Sergei Trukhachev retrained on the A321, having undergone training in the Czech Republic. I flew them for more than 2 years. The total flight time was 6 thousand hours. Both pilots were in good standing with their airline. Nemov was even called back from vacation prematurely to be sent on the infamous flight 9268.
Official version
Two weeks after the tragedy, the version of the terrorist attack was officially voiced by the head of the FSB during a meeting with the President of the Russian Federation. To support his words, he provided the following evidence:
- American satellites recorded a thermal flash over Sinai during the disaster, which indicates an explosion occurred on board the plane.
- The fuselage fragment has a hole with a diameter of about one meter. Its edges are curved outward. This indicates that the source of the explosion was inside.
- When decoding the recorder recording the negotiations, before the recording is interrupted, extraneous noise is heard, the nature of which can be attributed to a blast wave.
- The plane crash in Egypt caused great public outcry. After a while, they not only admitted responsibility for the terrorist attack, but also posted a photo of an improvised explosive device (IED) on the pages of Dabig magazine.
- Some of the victims had injuries indicating death from the consequences of the explosion (burns, tissue ruptures).
- Traces of explosives - TNT molecules - were found in fragments of shrapnel, luggage and on the bodies of the victims.
The power of the explosion was estimated at 1 kilogram. The estimated location of the IED is the tail of the aircraft. For the blast wave moved forward, but the fracture of the fuselage prevented its further advancement.
Plane crash in Egypt: who is to blame?
After the Russian version appeared, it became known that 17 employees were detained at the Egyptian airport. The main question was one: “How did the IED get on board the airliner?” The FSB began studying the biographies of 34 passengers (11 men and 23 women) who had TNT molecules on their bodies. But official Egypt soon stated that there was no evidence for a clear statement about a terrorist attack on board the plane. None of the employees were actually arrested. Russian authorities have announced a $50 million reward for any information about the terrorists.
Only in February 2016 did the Egyptian President officially acknowledge the terrorist attack. It was discovered that the bomb was made from plasticite, which is used to create military projectiles. It is powered by a clock mechanism. The plane crash in Egypt on October 31, 2015 showed that the airport security system does not meet international standards. The IED could have come on board the food supply company, through employees with access to the runway, or through carry-on luggage during baggage checks. The latest data is such that it was in the cabin in the immediate vicinity of place 31A. All these facts led to a ban on the sale of holiday tours in Egypt.
Flight passengers
EI-ETJ - the last digits of the Airbus number. According to them, the aviators called the board “Juliet” among themselves, affectionately “Dzhulka”. On that tragic morning, she broke up three aviation marriages and killed a young steward who replaced a colleague who had quit due to a bad dream. It also took the lives of 217 passengers, 25 of whom were children. Those killed in a plane crash in Egypt are entire families, dozens of destroyed love stories, babies who will never grow up. Ten-month-old Darina Gromova was on this flight with her parents. Her mother posted her photo on a social network before the flight. A girl stands at the airport facing the runway, and below is the signature: “Main Passenger.” This picture became a symbol of the tragic flight from which no one was able to return.
Almost all passengers are Russians, 4 people are citizens of Ukraine, 1 is from Belarus. The majority are residents of St. Petersburg, although there are also representatives of other regions: Pskov, Novgorod, Ulyanovsk. Those killed in the plane crash in Egypt are people of various professions. Even while relatives were busy identifying the bodies, caring people were forming a collective portrait of the passengers, collecting information about them bit by bit. A wonderful gallery was created, where many good words were found about everyone.
Almost a year later
On July 31, Moscow and St. Petersburg held a rally in memory of those killed over the Sinai. Nine months passed: many relatives received compensation, identified and buried their loved ones, but the pain did not subside. On August 5, 2016, a message was received that forty-five militants led by Abu Dua al-Ansari, through whose fault the plane crash occurred in Egypt, were killed during a military operation near El-Arish. I really want to believe that something like this will never happen again!
