Monday 02 Nov 2015 - 22:56 Makkah mean time-20-1-1437
Washington (IINA) - James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, says he cannot rule out the possibility of the Russian passenger plane, which crashed in the Sinai, being brought down by Islamic State extremists.
Clapper told reporters in Washington that "we don't have any direct evidence of any terrorist involvement yet" in the crash on Saturday that killed all 224 people on the Metrojet, according to media reports. But he noted that the Islamic State group, which has claimed responsibility, has a significant presence in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Asked if Islamic State extremists had the capabilities to bring down a passenger jet, he said, "It's unlikely, but I wouldn't rule it out." The United States, Germany and Britain all had overflight warnings in place for Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, where a Russian passenger plane went down killing all 224 people on board.
Germany's warning, filed with the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization on October 5 remains in place until 2016, as do the British and American warnings. In a response dated October 15, Egypt's civil aviation authority replied that "all necessary measures for safeguarding the airspace are already taken from our side." The warnings advised airlines to avoid flying over the Sinai Peninsula below 26,000 feet and to avoid the Sharm el-Sheik airport due to extremist violence and, notably, the use of anti-aircraft weapons with what the US Federal Aviation Administration described as having the potential to reach high altitudes.
Robert Galan, a French aviation expert, says comments by a Metrojet executive that an "external impact" brought down its plane in the Sinai point to two possibilities: a bomb or sabotage. Galan, who has written a history of airline disasters, says he was not familiar with security at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport where the plane took off Saturday before crashing 23 minutes later. But Galan said that any plane on a tarmac can be surrounded by more than a dozen mechanics or other technicians.
Sabotage would require familiarity with the electrical or fuel systems of the A320-200, but he said hiding a bomb would need less knowledge. Galan said analysis of the black box will not confirm either a bomb or sabotage, as it records only the pilots' communications and technical readings. But he said investigators could know within 48 hours whether a bomb downed the jet, because the debris would show traces of explosives. The Irish Aviation Authority says the plane that crashed in Egypt's Sinai desert was registered in Ireland, and regulators there found its safety documentation in order earlier this year.
The Airbus A321 was owned by Irish firm Willmington Trust SP Services (Dublin) Ltd and leased to Russian airline Metrojet. The aviation authority says that because the plane was Irish-registered, "in April/May 2015, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) conducted an annual review of the aircraft certifications in support of its annual Certificate of Airworthiness renewal process and all certifications were satisfactory at that point in time."
A Metrojet official earlier on Monday identified "external impact" as the only probable cause of the crash, brushing aside the possibility of a technical fault or a pilot error. Metrojet officials say something outside the plane flying to St. Petersburg caused it to crash in the Sinai desert and that made the plane's crew incapable of responding. Viktor Yung, a director general of Metrojet, said on Monday "from the moment since the events took a tragic turn, the crew became incapacitated." He says "that's why there was not "a single attempt to get in touch (with air traffic control) and report the situation on board."
Another top official at Metrojet says its plane dropped 300 kph in speed and 1.5 kilometers (about 5,000 feet) in altitude one minute before it crashed into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Alexander Smirnov, the deputy general director of Metrojet, also told reporters Monday in Moscow that no technical fault could have caused the Airbus A320-200 to break up in the air. He says the cause of Saturday's crash "could only have been a mechanical impact on the plane" in the air. Russian investigators say the plane broke up at high altitude over the Sinai Peninsula but have so far refrained from naming possible causes.
A Cairo official who had earlier reported a distress call by the pilot was not answering calls Monday seeking clarification. A Metrojet official says its plane crew did not send a distress call and did not contact Egyptian traffic controllers before the plane crashed into the Sinai. Viktor Yung, a deputy director general at the Russian airline, spoke at a news conference in Moscow. His comments directly contradict those of Egyptian officials, who say the doomed plane's pilot had reported a technical problem to air traffic controllers and wanted to make an emergency landing at the nearest airport. However, one expert does not think the ISIS extremists could do that.
British military analyst Paul Beaver said he was certain IS does not possess a missile system, capable of hitting a plane at an altitude of 31,000 feet. He said "that's a very serious piece of equipment, and I don't think they have that sophistication." Beaver said such a system "requires a bunch of well-trained people, an integrated air-defense network around them. You can't just drive up in a vehicle and fire a missile." Beaver also said the Sinai desert was well-scrutinized by intelligence agencies, so a missile would have been noticed. A Russian minister says search teams in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula have finished combing a 20-square kilometer (7.7-square mile) area where the jet crashed for bodies. Emergency situations minister Vladimir Puchkov told Russian news agencies on Monday that the search in that area has been complete and that a government plane in the evening will take more remains of plane victims to St. Petersburg.
Puchkov said search teams are now examining a 30-square kilometer (11.6 square mile) area around the crash site and promised they will not stop until all the bodies have been recovered.
Meanwhile, the head of the Russian Federal Aviation Agency has chided the owner of the plane that crashed in Egypt on Saturday for pointing to one cause of the crash, saying investigators simply do not have enough data to reach any conclusion. Aviation agency chief Alexander Neradko said in televised remarks in Cairo on Monday that it was premature of Metrojet to comment on the possible cause and said the conclusions can be drawn only after the fragments and the contents of the black boxes have been studied.
Neradko also mentioned that Egyptian authorities will not begin studying the black boxes until representatives of all the involved parties arrive. This includes not only Russia and Egypt but also France, Germany and Ireland, Neradko said. Russia's Investigative Committee says 130 bodies and 40 body parts from the Metrojet plane crash in the Sinai have arrived in St. Petersburg. The remains were flown in early Monday on a Russian government plane and were sent to a crematorium. Work identifying the victims began immediately and investigators say the families of the victims have given DNA samples to help that process.
Another plane with more crash victims' remains is expected in St. Petersburg late Monday night. Russian President Vladimir Putin described the crash as an "enormous tragedy" and said his thoughts are with the families of the victims. Putin spoke on Monday in his first public appearance since the Metrojet plane crashed on Saturday.
HA/IINA
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