In October 2015, a Kogalymavia plane took off from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. A bomb planted on board exploded over the Sinai Peninsula, killing 224 people: seven crew members and 217 passengers, 25 of whom were children.
"Paper" I spoke with the families of the victims and found out how they live two years after the tragedy, why relatives of the victims are suing for compensation, and how in St. Petersburg they perpetuate the memory of the largest disaster in Russian aviation.
In 2015, Larisa and Anatoly Pulyanov were going on vacation to Abkhazia. Initially, their son Roman suggested going to Egypt. Larisa categorically refused: she did not want to fly on a plane and spend a lot on travel - at that time the room at the dacha was being redecorated for the wedding of Roman and his bride Tatyana Mokievskaya.
Roman and Tatyana, despite her mother’s protests, flew to Egypt on vacation. On October 31, they, along with 222 others on board flight A321, were killed in an explosion.
All these two years we have been thinking about the death of our son: you wake up with it and fall asleep, think about it throughout the day. We don't go crazy - we'll cry, sometimes. But I understand that this feeling is to the end and it will never let go,” says Anatoly Pulyanov.
Previously, every day for us began with a call from Roman and his question: “Parents, how are you there?”, and ended: “Parents, how was your day?” recalls Larisa. “My best friend died. Such relationships are rare between father and son, but this is exactly what we had,” shares Anatoly.
Roman and Tatiana
One day, Anatoly wandered into an unfinished firehouse, where it was dark, with fittings and sharp pieces of metal sticking out everywhere. However, the man was not injured. “We think Roman saved it. We try so hard to think so as not to die. After all, there are already relatives of the victims who died within two years,” explains Larisa. “Things constantly happen to us that confirm that there is a small connection, and a lot of them have accumulated over two years. I know that death is not the end. I feel it."
Even though the couple misses their son dearly, they are not alone. Roman's good friends constantly communicate with them - one friend, Maria, calls almost every day. The Pulyanovs also attend meetings of members of the Flight 9268 charitable foundation, which includes the families of the deceased passengers. When spouses communicate with them, they feel understood.
How does the fund created after the tragedy work?
The prototype of the fund was a closed group for relatives, which was created by St. Petersburg resident Alexander Voitenko in the first days after the tragedy. His 37-year-old sister Irina and 14-year-old niece Alisa died in the plane crash. Alexander and his sister lived in different cities, but constantly communicated.
For the first two months the bodies were not given to us. It was necessary to bring everyone together so that we could have a single information space, it’s easier that way. And ultimately, we decided that we needed to create our own fund: once a legal entity is registered, it is easier to communicate with the city administration or the Investigative Committee and provide financial and legal assistance.
Photo: group of the charitable foundation “Flight 9268” on VKontakte
The headmistress of the St. Petersburg school, Irina Zakharova, became the chairman of the foundation’s board; Her 28-year-old daughter, an employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Elvira Voskresenskaya, was flying in the plane that exploded. The first meeting of relatives, where it was decided to create a fund, took place in the assembly hall of the school headed by Zakharova.
All the remains were released to relatives only in May. Seven people, according to Voitenko, remained unidentified.
Now the fund group has almost 40 thousand subscribers from Ufa, Belgorod, Voronezh, Kaliningrad and other cities. Voitenko calls them a big family, where people always help each other. Among them are ordinary Russians who believe that this tragedy has affected them personally. Alexander himself believes that the disaster over Sinai affected everyone in one way or another.
A few days ago, the relatives of the victims were presented with a collection of poems, “Stepping into Eternity,” some of which were written by group member Arina Korol. Voitenko recalls that she began offering help to relatives from the first days and still writes poetry almost every day dedicated to the dead. And another participant, Irina Solya, helps the foundation organize events: concerts and holidays for children. So, recently the fund’s members planted trees together, and after that they organized a tea party. In the disaster over Sinai, Arina and Irina did not lose loved ones, but they still perceive the tragedy as personal.
The main goal of the foundation is to preserve the memory of all those who died. On October 28, at the Serafimovskoye cemetery, a monument “Folded Wings” was unveiled over the grave with the unidentified remains of victims of the disaster; it was created with money from the authorities of St. Petersburg. On the anniversary, October 31, the Garden of Memory memorial was opened on Rumbolovskaya Mountain.
How the city supports the families of the victims and what it does to preserve memory
When everything first happened, the psychologists of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, high-level professionals, helped us a lot: they brought people out of the state of shock. Then psychologists from district social protection services picked up the baton: social psychologists were assigned to all those in need. After a year and a half, we realized that connections with specialists had weakened, and time does not heal, we still need social support,” says co-founder of the foundation, HSE professor Valery Gordin.
According to him, after the program was announced, under which the foundation was ready to pay for anonymous consultations with psychologists, several dozen people applied for them. Psychologists, according to Gordin, say that relatives of the victims experience phantom pain.
Valery’s son, 28-year-old Leonid, died in a plane crash along with his fiancee Alexandra Illarionova. Lenya loved animals very much and was, as his father recalls, a spontaneous animal activist. Once, when Gordin was about to get a cat, he persuaded him not to buy a pet, but to adopt it from a shelter. And when Leonid himself lost his cat Kysya, he looked for the pet together with volunteers.
Then the father treated Leonid’s beliefs with irony and did not follow the advice. After the death of the young man, he decided to organize the Lenkin Cat Foundation, which helps animals.
Lenkin Cat Foundation at the Night of Museums
Gordin still runs Lenka's Cat, and his attitude towards animal protection has changed. The man says he takes a pragmatic approach to the matter and details how the fund has changed. He plans to open a second center for the rental of veterinary equipment, so that it is more convenient for veterinary clinics and those wishing to help, and a school for animal volunteers who will help homeless cats.
Valery believes that after the tragedy the city authorities behaved with dignity and always responded to the requests of relatives. Now the deputies, together with Vice-Governor Albin, are helping to build a temple in the Baltic Pearl area. They plan to set up an educational center at the temple, where they will also provide social assistance.
“Not only to the relatives of the victims, but also to the residents of the area. In my opinion, this is very important and symbolic,” notes Gordin.
A year ago, local residents opposed the construction of the temple, claiming that it had nothing to do with the “Baltic Pearl,” and the issue of construction was decided without consulting them.
Gordin says that opponents “to some extent” remained:
Some people like the idea of preserving memory, others think it should be pushed further into a drawer. We met and explained our position. I really hope that the temple will be built in the near future,” Gordin explained.
Petersburgers feared that the construction of the temple would delay the creation of schools and clinics. According to KP, the dissatisfied addressed Vladimir Putin in a letter.
What kind of support do relatives of the crew receive in Moscow and what is known about payments to them?
What they do in St. Petersburg to perpetuate it is all the great merit of the foundation. This is of great importance to us. If they also build us a spiritual and educational center, this will be another place where we can come and bow to the memory of our family and friends,” says the father of 25-year-old flight attendant Alexei Filimonov, Muscovite Andrei Filimonov.
Andrey says that over the past two years he has been regularly calling and texting relatives of the crew. Almost all of them live in Moscow and the Moscow region, and try to meet more often and support each other. Sometimes they come to fund meetings in St. Petersburg.
25-year-old Alexey, according to his father, got on board at the last moment: he was not supposed to work on this flight: on the way to the airport, his car broke down on the Moscow Ring Road, as a result, the young man missed his flight and ended up in reserve. He was called 12 hours before departure to replace another flight attendant.
The crew’s relatives have their own separate VKontakte group, and they have been supported by subscribers all these two years. The families of the victims now know some of them personally and meet regularly. Andrey is given icons and poems about his son, and souvenirs are sent from St. Petersburg.
Andrey and Alexey Filimonov
Previously, our disasters were mainly due to the fault of the crew. But in this case, our loved ones found themselves in the same situation as the passengers. It was terrorism. There was no chance of salvation. The main thing is that we are not forgotten.
According to Filimonov, Kogalymavia never paid compensation to any of the relatives of the deceased crew members. About this in the charity fund group
The A321 plane crash over Sinai, which occurred on October 31, 2015, became the worst disaster in Egypt and the largest tragedy in aircraft crashes. The Airbus A321-231 aircraft, owned by the Kogalymavia company, was used by the tour operator Briscoe and carried tourists on flight 9268 Sharm al-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. 224 people died in the crash
Flight details
Airplane
Airbus A321-231 was produced in 1997. The vessel was then handed over to the owner, the leasing corporation ILFC, which leased it to MEA (Lebanon). The airliner was assigned the number F-0HMP, its capacity was 149 people. In Lebanon it was used for 6 years and was returned to ILFC in 2003.
Fact. During its use at MEA, one failure occurred - when landing in Egypt, the pilots raised the nose of the aircraft too high, and the tail touched the runway. After this, the aircraft was repaired.
In 2003, the aircraft was again leased to Onur Air Corporation (Türkiye). The ship's board was modernized, its capacity increased to 220 people. In 2007, the airliner was subleasing to Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudi Arabia), and in 2010 to Cham Wings (Syria). In 2012, the airliner was leased to Kogalymavia LLC.
According to the leasing company, the aircraft was maintained at a level that complied with the standards, and technical control and inspections were carried out on time. On October 26, 2015, a weekly technical inspection was carried out, and on March 18, 2014, the aircraft underwent factory control. Over all the years of use, the airliner has exhausted 46-48% of its nominal life of scheduled flights.
Crew and passengers
The ship was staffed by a Russian crew, including:
- 2 experienced pilots,
- 5 flight attendants.
Among the passengers who were on board the plane at the time of the disaster were 192 people. adults and 25 children. The oldest of them was 77 years old, the youngest girl was 10 months old. All people died in the crash. Photos of the dead were posted on several official websites.
List of passengers killed over Sinai
Most of the victims of the disaster lived in the northwestern regions of the Russian Federation; there were also 4 citizens of Ukraine and 2 from Belarus on the plane.
The list of those killed in the plane crash included:
- A. Kopylov – deputy head of the Pskov city administration,
- D. Gromova (10 months), whose photo became a symbol of the plane crash.
Chronology of events
Preceding circumstances
On October 30, 2015, Airbus A321-231 made 2 normal flights on the planned routes: Sharm al-Sheikh-Samara-Sharm al-Sheikh. The final disembarkation of passengers at the airport was completed at 15:30, and representatives of the crew who carried it out had no complaints about the condition of the equipment. The vessel underwent scheduled maintenance, and on the morning of October 31, 2015, a new crew took over (V. Nemov and S. Trukhachev), and preparations began for subsequent voyages - Sharm al-Sheikh-St. Petersburg-Sharm al-Sheikh.
The Kogalymavia company was a member of the international united holding company specializing in tourism - TH&C, which also included the Brisco company, which ordered a flight from Egypt to the Northern capital.
Catastrophe
At 5:50 local time in Egypt (6:50 Moscow time), the plane took off from Sharm al-Sheikh airport, headed north along the shore of the bay and gradually rose to 6.4 km. After 12 minutes of flight, the plane turned left to bypass the Sinai Peninsula and reach the Mediterranean, the pilots intended to gain an altitude of 9.75 km.
In the 23rd minute of the flight, the airliner picked up a speed of 755 km/h and climbed 9.4 km when the situation left the normal mode. The ship began to fall at a speed of 1.8 km/min. At 04:13 GES, the flight recorder recording was interrupted due to extraneous noise. After 24 minutes of flight, the plane crashed in Sinai and was instantly destroyed.
Search services found the remains of the disaster among the mountain ranges of the peninsula 50 km from the city of Nekhel. The wreckage of the plane and fragments of the bodies of the dead were scattered over a radius of 13 km, over a total area of 30 km.
Reaction
President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin expressed words of condolences to the loved ones and relatives of the victims of the tragedy. To the Head of Government D.A. Medvedev was charged with creating a commission to investigate the causes of the plane crash. V. Putin called for finding and eliminating the terrorists responsible for the tragedy.
Condolences were expressed to the loved ones and relatives of the victims, as well as to all Russians:
- presidents and prime ministers of more than 50 countries,
- Pope,
- general secretaries,
- heads of religious communities of the Russian Federation.
“Hotlines” were opened for relatives of the deceased passengers: by telephone one could find out all the information about the injured loved ones.
The scandalous French magazine Charlie Hebdo published three cartoons on its pages illustrating the plane crash, which caused sharp negative criticism from the Russian leadership and the public. The illustrations were called "blasphemous", "cruel" and "mocking towards the victims of the tragedy."
Fact. Representatives of the French Foreign Ministry responded that all journalists have the right to freely express personal opinions, but they do not always coincide with the position of the country's official leaders.
On November 20, 2015, the UN Security Council issued a statement condemning the terrorist attacks, including the disaster over Sinai.
Mourning
November 1, 2015 became a day of mourning for Russians. Three days of mourning took place in the Northern capital, and four days in the Leningrad region.
Investigation into the causes of the Sinai tragedy
The investigation into the plane crash was carried out jointly by several countries, including Egypt and the Russian Federation, as well as representatives of Airbus and IASA.
On November 1, 2015, the investigation began: analysis of the information contained in the on-board recording devices, which practically survived, and examination of the remains of the victims. In Russia, a case was initiated under articles 263 and 238 of the Criminal Code of Russia.
The fact that the remains of the airliner were found in a large area of about 30 km led to the conclusion that the tragedy occurred at a high altitude.
On November 7, 2015, the official leadership of Egypt spoke about the results of the decoding, from which it followed that extraneous loud sounds were heard at the end of the recording. At the end of the flight, an altitude of 9.415 km and a speed of about 520 km/h were recorded; the ship was moving under the guidance of an automatic pilot, who needed to gain altitude.
At that time, several versions of the causes of the plane crash were voiced:
- wear and tear of aircraft equipment;
- fuel tank ignition;
- damage to the aircraft's lithium battery.
On November 16, 2015, information was received that the plane crashed due to a terrorist act - an IED located at the rear of the airbus with a total capacity of 1 kg of TNT went off. This conclusion was made after residues of explosive substances not made in Russia were found on fragments of the plane, personal belongings and bodies of the victims.
Fact. On November 17, 2015, a public announcement was posted that a cash reward of $50 million would be paid for assistance in capturing the terrorists responsible for the plane crash.
Analysis of the remains of the aircraft showed that the IED went off in the rear of the ship, in rows 30-32.
On December 14, 2015, a special commission organized by the Egyptian leadership announced the completion of the investigation into the plane crash and the readiness of the report on it. It indicated that in the process of analyzing the causes of the tragedy, nothing was found indicating a terrorist attack. This is explained by the fact that in the opposite case, the indirect cause of the disaster would have been a flaw in the Egyptian airport security service.
At the beginning of 2016, the current head of Egypt admitted that the airliner crashed as a result of a terrorist attack.
Cause of the disaster
On November 3, 2015, it became known from sources in the US defense department that an American satellite noticed a bright flash corresponding to the location and time of the Airbus A321 accident. No evidence of being hit by the missile was recorded, as a temperature trace would have been observed. Ignition in the air indicated that the tragedy could not have occurred during landing.
A few days after the plane crash, one of the terrorist groups within ISIS announced its involvement in the incident. However, the official leadership of Egypt cited equipment malfunction as the alleged cause of the tragedy.
A number of media representatives, Russian and Egyptian heads of transport departments rejected the explosion hypothesis, calling it propaganda.
On November 5, 2015, the intelligence services of the United States and Great Britain supported the unofficial version of a terrorist attack based on information intercepted from ISIS militants about a bomb being planted on an airplane.
According to the assumptions of foreign intelligence services, expressed by various media, the IED was installed by terrorists subordinate to ISIS in the luggage compartment just before departure.
11/16/2015 at the Council of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin's version of the explosion of a homemade device was confirmed by the head of the Russian FSB A. Bortnikov.
On September 13, 2016, a special commission determined exactly where the bomb was located: in the oversized baggage section at the tail of the plane. To install the IED, the militants used the help of an employee of the Sharm al-Sheikh airport: just before the flight, a package with an explosive was planted, after which it was covered with strollers and suitcases.
Consequences of the disaster
After the tragedy, many aviation companies, including Kogalymavia, stopped flying over Sinai until the exact causes of the crash were clarified.
From 4 to 6 November 2015, the Governments of Great Britain, Ireland, Russia, Germany and other European countries suspended regular air services over the Sinai Peninsula.
11/16/2015 V.V. Putin announced that Russia will continue to look for the causes of the disaster; it is necessary to join forces and punish those responsible for the tragedy.
Fact. After the disaster in Egypt, an order was issued to intensify air strikes against the terrorist organization ISIS.
Conclusion
The plane crash over the Sinai Peninsula became the largest in the history of Russian passenger aviation. On October 23, 2017, a monument to those who died over the Sinai was erected in St. Petersburg. On October 31, 2017, a memorial to the victims was laid in Vsevolozhsk.
On the morning of October 31, a Russian airliner Airbus-321 of the Kogalymavia airline crashed over the north of the Sinai Peninsula, carrying seven crew members and 217 passengers, including 17 children. In the first minutes, information about the plane crash was extremely contradictory. There were even reports that the plane was intact.
Apparently, that’s why at the St. Petersburg Pulkovo airport, when a “SP” correspondent called about the arrival time of flight 7K 9268 from Sharm El-Sheikh, a polite female voice answered affably: “According to preliminary information, this flight is somewhat delayed.” After which short beeps were heard on the telephone receiver. It was 11:27 on the clock.
By this time it had already become clear that the plane, alas, had crashed.
Information about the tragedy with the liner instantly spread across the Internet. About ten minutes later, the alleged area of the Airbus-321 crash became known - the central region of Sinai.
We dialed the Pulkovo helpline number again. “If you don’t mind specifying, is the plane from Sharm El-Sheikh much late?” The voice on the phone, which seemed less friendly, rather tense, said this time briefly: “The information is being clarified.” And - again beeps, beeps...
Soon the information about the plane's arrival disappeared from the display...
The plane, operating flight 9268 from Sharm El-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, took off from the Egyptian airfield at 6.21 Moscow time and disappeared from radar screens 23 minutes later. Egyptian military aircraft were scrambled to search for the Russian vessel.
At about 11 o'clock Moscow time, Egyptian authorities confirmed the crash of the Russian airliner. The crash site was cordoned off, Egyptian Prime Minister Sheriff Ismail convened a crisis committee.
According to media reports, citing their sources, after takeoff, the pilot informed the controller on the ground about technical problems, and 18 minutes after the start of the flight, the plane requested an emergency landing in Cairo. Sharm el-Sheikh airport reported that the crew of the plane had complained about engine problems several times over the past week. According to media reports, the aircraft was in operation for 18 years. Aircraft of the A320 family have two CFMI CFM56−5B, Pratt & Whitney PW6000A or IAE V2500-A5 engines.
As it became known from reports from the Egyptian authorities, the crashed plane was completely destroyed. All on board are presumed to have died. However, the Egyptian security service said that there were no signs that the plane was shot down.
A headquarters has been created at Pulkovo Airport to help relatives of the ship's passengers. Two Il-76 and one Be-200 aircraft of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations are ready to fly to Egypt with rescuers on board. Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova reported that employees of the Russian Embassy in Egypt are finding out the details of the tragedy.
The probable cause of the crash of a Russian passenger plane in the Sinai Peninsula was a technical malfunction, said Ayman al-Mukadam, heading a committee formed in Egypt to monitor the consequences of the disaster.
According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, the expert noted that he believed that there were “technical problems.”
Read all the news about the Russian plane crash in Egypt
A year has passed since the terrible plane crash over Sinai, which claimed the lives of 224 people. This period became a very difficult test for the relatives of the victims. New photographs from the scene of the plane crash appeared in the media every now and then, and on social networks scammers tried to profit from the grief of others by posing as family members of the victims of the terrorist attack. After the death of their relatives, some went deep into themselves, others began to divide their children and living space, and still others still cannot bury their loved ones, because the bodies of six people have still not been identified. AiF.ru found out how the relatives of those killed over the Sinai live a year after the tragedy.
Those greeting us hoped until the very end that the plane would land in St. Petersburg. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova
“The last wish is to find the culprits”
A year after the Airbus A321 crashed over Sinai, the investigation into the deaths of 224 people continues. Those who planted the bomb on the plane have not yet been found, but recently experts were able to identify the specific place where the explosives were located: the terrorists hid TNT between baby carriages at the rear of the plane. New information about the progress of the investigation appears in the media almost every day, but most of the relatives of the victims do not follow this news: anyway, their loved ones cannot be brought back, and constant reminders of the tragedy only open up still fresh wounds.
Emergency Situations Ministry employees provided psychological assistance to the relatives of the flight passengers. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova
Petersburg woman Natalya Zavgorodnyaya, who lost her parents on October 31, 2015, devotes all her free time to helping abandoned animals. “Natasha threw herself into her work,” the girl’s friends say. “It helps take your mind off grief.” Natasha helps animals, looking for a new home for them. All publications and stories cause her even more pain.” Mother Alexey Gromov, who died along with his wife Tatiana and 10 month old daughter Darina, on the contrary, is closely monitoring the progress of the investigation. According to the woman, her life is over, but one last wish remains: that those responsible for the death of her children and granddaughter, “the most important passenger” of flight No. 9268, be punished.
Relatives of the plane's passengers tried to find information about the flight. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova
Compensation for the death of relatives
Currently, all families of the victims have received monetary compensation. The relatives were paid a million rubles each by the St. Petersburg authorities, and another million by the insurance company. True, to receive this money, some people had to spend a lot of time and nerves. It turned out that compensation is provided only for immediate relatives - children and parents. Compensation for the dead grandchildren, grandmothers or grandfathers had to be sought in court. I encountered this problem Shein family, who lost in a plane crash not only her adult children, but also three grandchildren. Now all financial issues have finally been settled.
About 70 families with whom I worked lawyer Igor Trunov, will receive an additional million dollars from the American leasing company International Lease Finance Corporation, the owner of the crashed Airbus. The matter did not come to court proceedings: the company has already confirmed its readiness to make payments. Most families did not turn to a well-known lawyer: for many, the three million rubles they had already received were enough. Besides, as we know, money cannot relieve grief.
After the terrible news, information about the flight was removed from Pulkovo electronic displays. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova
Return of the Prodigal Father
It was money relations that became a bone of contention in many families of the victims. So, after the disaster, the father of the deceased Alisa Vitalieva, who had not communicated with his daughter for many years, immediately appeared on the horizon. The girl's mother and his ex-wife Irina also died in the plane crash. When Denis and Irina Vitaliev divorced, the woman raised her daughter alone, and the ex-husband did not participate in the girl’s life in any way and did not pay alimony: he had a new family. However, Irina was calm about the girl’s future, because Alice was supposed to inherit the apartment of her grandmother, Irina’s mother. When the tragedy occurred, the girl’s father immediately rushed to St. Petersburg, received compensation in the amount of 3 million rubles for her death and told his ex-mother-in-law, Elena Stepanovna Voitenko that now, by law, he claims half of her apartment, since Alice will no longer inherit.
The 63-year-old pensioner was outraged by such impudence, but then she had no time to sort things out: the pain of losing her beloved daughter and granddaughter was too great. Meanwhile, Denis Vitaliev, realizing that the law was on his side, wrote an application for inheritance. Currently, the conflict between the former relatives remains open: they have to go through many trials. “He did not raise his daughter and did not help financially,” says Alisa’s grandmother. “And now I’ve written an application for inheritance, although I promised not to lay claim to my home.” He decided to take the last thing away from me!”
On October 31, 2015, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and an ambulance were on duty near the airport. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova
6 people are still not buried
Brother of Irina Vitalieva Alexander, unlike his careless son-in-law, did not try to take away anyone’s property, but organized a charitable foundation to help the relatives of those killed in the Flight 9268 disaster over Sinai. A St. Petersburg resident who lost his sister and niece found the strength to support other people. Alexander organizes memorial events in the city and is actively working to approve a monument to the victims of the terrorist attack.
According to the foundation, several families still cannot bury their loved ones: six of the dead have not yet been identified. Their remains are kept in the St. Petersburg crematorium all year, but are not subject to examination to establish their identity. People are patiently waiting for the newly discovered remains in Egypt, after being studied, to be transferred to St. Petersburg so that relatives can identify and bury their dead loved ones. If the identification procedure does not take place, the remains of six people will be buried in a mass grave.
Exactly one year after the tragedy, at 7:14 a.m. on October 31, a memorial service for the dead passengers of flight 9268 will be held in the Trinity Cathedral of St. Petersburg. On this day, their relatives will gather together again to remember those who can no longer be returned.
In memory of the victims of the Sinai disaster, 224 flying cranes were created in St. Petersburg. Photo: Charitable Foundation "Flight 9268"
The biggest disaster in the history of our civil aviation occurred this morning. 224 people - passengers and crew of the flight Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg - crashed in Egypt, on the Sinai Peninsula. People were flying back from vacation with their families. 27 children among the dead. The Egyptian Prime Minister said that 129 bodies have been found so far. Experts are working on the "black box".
This is the first evidence of a plane crash in Sinai - photographs published by an Egyptian television channel. The first - for the whole day. Before this, there was not a single photograph, not a single video recording, even the shortest one. Towards evening, the first military helicopters carrying the remains of disaster victims from Sinai landed at the Egyptian Air Force Kabrit air base, a little over a hundred kilometers from Cairo. Ambulances - a long line of cars with lights flashing - transport them from the airbase to the Cairo morgue. Before nightfall, the bodies of almost all the dead were delivered to the Egyptian capital. From there they will be sent to Russia, to St. Petersburg.
“Since this tragic incident, our countries have been working in close contact. The President and the government of Egypt expressed condolences in this regard and offered to do everything possible to, firstly, conduct a joint investigation, and secondly, help in transporting the bodies of our citizens to their homeland ", said the Russian Ambassador to Egypt Sergei Kirpichenko.
Airbus Flight 9268 flew for only 23 minutes. Much longer - several hours after it disappeared from radar - conflicting information came about the fate of the liner. It was not immediately possible to create a more or less clear picture of what happened in the skies over Sinai.
Sharm el-Sheikh airport, 5 hours 51 minutes local time (6.51 Moscow time). The Kogalymavia airbus, a charter airline also known under the Metrojet brand, has taken off and is heading for St. Petersburg. There were almost no empty seats left. An experienced crew commander - 12 thousand flight hours, a third of which were on an Airbus 321. Almost immediately after takeoff, he discovered some problems on board, contacted the ground, reported the malfunctions, and asked for permission to land at the nearest airfield. At this point the session ended, and the Airbus did not make contact again. By 7:14 am Moscow time, the plane was lost by radar.
“At 7.14 I was supposed to establish a communication session with Larnaca, the Republic of Cyprus. Radio communication did not take place with the plane, it was lost. The aircraft’s mark also disappeared from the radio radars of the dispatch services. There were 217 passengers and 7 crew members on board the plane, mostly citizens Russia," said Sergei Izvolsky, press secretary of the Federal Air Transport Agency.
Of the 217 passengers, 27 were children. Families were returning from a holiday in Sharm.
Judging by data from the Internet resource Flytradar, the last thing the earth recorded was that the plane dropped about two kilometers in altitude a minute before disappearing from the screens. The speed also dropped sharply: from almost 750 kilometers per hour, first to 350, and then to 170 kilometers per hour! This is the last thing the transponder transmitted, and these numbers are beyond critical. A large airliner simply cannot stay in the air at such a low speed. Moreover, according to witnesses who observed the crash of the Airbus, its engine seemed to be on fire.
The plane had already crashed - it fell in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, 35 kilometers from the city of El-Arish, and the press and news agencies continued to pour out contradictory messages. Someone immediately declared the plane crashed. Then information came that he allegedly got in touch again. Then all the confusing references to Egyptian dispatchers appeared, who allegedly claimed that they had handed over the Airbus to their Turkish colleagues. But this information was not confirmed either.
Closer to noon, it became clear that the plane did not leave Egyptian airspace. The prime minister of this country canceled all trips, called an emergency meeting and announced that the plane had crashed after all. A state of emergency has been declared in Sinai. And finally, in the afternoon, it was officially announced: the wreckage had been found.
“We have sent a working group of the Ministry of Civil Aviation to the scene of the crash. It will conduct an investigation, this is a standard procedure. Of course, we are in constant contact with the Russian ambassador,” said Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail.
Those who were the first to see the crash site with their own eyes conveyed news that finally buried hope: the liner was completely destroyed, there was no chance of finding survivors. After another half hour, rescuers began to remove the bodies of the dead from the rubble. Search efforts were complicated by the difficult mountainous terrain and the fact that the fallen airliner was literally scattered around the area.
An Egyptian security officer described a terrible scene to Reuters: "I am witnessing a tragic scene. There are many dead bodies lying on the ground, many of them fastened with seat belts in their seats. The plane is split into two parts. The first - a small tail part - is burned, the second - the large front part crashed into the rock. We have already recovered 100 bodies, the rest are still under the rubble. We heard dozens of phones ringing that belonged to the dead, our officers collected them in a bag."
The crashed Airbus 321 was in operation for about 19 years - this is quite acceptable in civil aviation; another question is how the plane was maintained. This particular aircraft served for several years in airlines in the countries of the Middle East region: Lebanon, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria. The Russian Kogalymavia acquired it in 2012.
Experts are looking into the causes of the tragedy, but photographs of the people remain. Photos of those who flew from Egypt, returned from vacation on flight 9268 and, before takeoff, managed to leave publications on social networks with the following caption, for example: “Hello, Peter, goodbye, Egypt. We are flying home.”
