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Debris
from the A321 Russian airliner at the site of the crash in Wadi
el-Zolomat, a mountainous area in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, on November
1, 2015. (AFP/Khaled Desouki)
Israel provided intelligence
regarding the Russian plane crash in the Sinai Peninsula, which
indicated that a bomb had detonated on board, CNN reported on Sunday.
An
unnamed US official and diplomatic source said that Jerusalem handed
over information about the blast to the US and UK. One US official told
the news outlet he was “99.9% certain” the plane had been bombed, while
another said it was “likely.”
Israeli officials declined to comment on the report.
Earlier,
a member of the Egyptian investigation team said they were nearly
certain explosives had brought the plane down, killing all 224
passengers on board.
“The indications and analysis so far of the
sound on the black box indicate it was a bomb,” an investigator — who
asked to not be identified — told Reuters. “We are 90 percent sure it
was a bomb.”
As for the slim chance of another explanation to the crash, the investigator only commented, “I can’t discuss this now.”
US
and British officials have cited intelligence reports indicating that
the October 31 flight from the Sinai resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to
St. Petersburg was brought down by a bomb on the plane.
Most of the passengers were from St. Petersburg and the surrounding region.
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"You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." Rahm Emanuel
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People
mourn as they lay flowers in memory of the plane crash victims at
Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg. (AP Photo/Dmitry
Lovetsky)
As
investigators search for the cause of a plane crash that killed 224
people over the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday and Russia suspends all
flights to Egypt, U.S. officials said they are taking unspecified
precautionary measures to enhance the security of flights from the
Middle East.
“While the facts and circumstances surrounding the
tragic October 31 crash of Metrojet Flight 9268 on the Sinai Peninsula
are still under investigation, Transportation Security Administrator
(TSA) Peter Neffenger and I, out of an abundance of caution, have
identified a series of interim, precautionary enhancements to aviation
security with respect to commercial flights bound for the United States
from certain foreign airports in the region,” Jeh C. Johnson, secretary
for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement.
Johnson
said the enhancements, also adopted by European aviation authorities,
“are designed to provide an additional layer of security for the
traveling public, and will be undertaken in consultation with relevant
foreign governments and relevant passenger and cargo airlines.” [Russia halts Eygpt flights amid widening probe into plane crash]
They include expanded screening and other “seen and unseen” security measures.
Israeli and foreign fighter jets fly in formation through cloudy skies over the Negev desert during the ‘Blue Flag’ exercise at Ovda Airfield near Eilat on October 27, 2015. (Israeli Air Force)
Air forces from around the world have gathered deep in the Arava desert in the south of Israel for the past week and a half to take part in the largest aerial exercise in the history of the Israeli Air Force.
The “Blue Flag” exercise, which is continuing through November 3, pits the Israeli Air Force, the United States Air Force, Greece’s Hellenic Air Force and the Polish Air Force against a fictional enemy state, the captain in charge of all IAF exercises told The Times of Israel Thursday night.
A number of other countries, including Germany, also sent pilots and officers to observe the exercise, but did not take part.
This joint drill is the second “Blue Flag” exercise; the first took place in 2013 and was the largest multi-lateral exercise the IAF had ever hosted.
The various air forces collaborated closely through every step of the current exercise, the IAF captain said, from planning to execution and finally to debriefing.
Though the exercise began on October 18, planning for it started nearly eight months ago, the Israeli official said, with an IAF representative contacting each participating country and initially asking, “What do you want to train for?”
Those requests came together to form the plan for “Blue Flag,” which sent Israeli and American F-15 squadrons, along with Israeli, Hellenic and Polish F-16 squadrons, flying through nearly all of Israel’s air space, firing simulated weapons against fictional enemy missile launchers, convoys and aircraft, he said.
Israel hosts largest-ever intl air force drill, pitting troops against fictional enemy
Israel is hosting its largest-ever international air force exercise. The two-week 'Blue Flag' drill features Israeli, American, Greek and Polish troops in a battle against a fictional enemy state.
The Blue Flag drill consists of Israeli and American F-15 squadrons, as well as Israeli, Hellenic, and Polish F-16 squadrons flying through Israeli airspace while firing simulated weapons against fictional enemy missile launchers, convoys, and aircraft, the Israeli Air Force captain in charge of the exercise told the Times of Israel.
However, the captain said the exercise is designed to test the capabilities of the troops involved, rather than the military equipment itself.
“We wanted it to be challenging for the airmen, rather than for the machines,” said the IAF captain, who could not be named due to security reasons.
However,
the Egyptian government has rubbished that the plane was shot down by
missile. The Russian concluded that the Russian Airbus A321 that crashed
in the Sinai broke up in mid-air at 36,000-feet. The
plane had been heading from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to the
Russian city of St Petersburg before the crash.
MOSCOW
(Sputnik) — While covering the developments related to the Russian A321
plane crash in Egypt, media should rely exclusively on official
statements, while any "uncertain" sources should be avoided, the head
of the Egypt-led investigation committee said on Sunday.
On
Saturday, the Egypt-led investigation committee issued a statement,
according to which the reason for the Russian Kogalymavia plane crash
in Sinai is yet to be determined. The following day, Reuters reported,
citing a unidentified member of the inquiry, that investigators into the
plane crash in Egypt were "90 percent sure" the noise heard on the
final seconds of a cockpit recording was an explosion caused by a bomb.
Russian passenger jet crash: Black boxes analyzed, show no sign of system failure Live updates
The search and recovery operation continues in Egypt’s Sinai after a Russian passenger plane crashed there, killing all 224 people on board Saturday. Russian and Egyptian investigators are looking into the causes of the tragedy.
08 November 2015
13:13 GMT
13:12 GMT
Investigators of the jet crash are "90 percent sure" that the noise heard in the final moments of the cockpit recording was a bomb exploding, a member of the investigation team told Reuters.
09:32 GMT
Emirates Airlines expects the plane tragedy will result in demands for stringent aviation security across the globe, the airline’s president, Tim Clark said, as cited by Reuters.
09:27 GMT
The luggage of Russian tourists who arrive from Egypt is undergoing stricter than usual checks, said Igor Pedan, an official from UTG aviation services, which maintains Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport.
“The procedure was non-standard, I can say,” he said. “All luggage was sent to a special zone, [it] was checked by cynologists [dog-handlers] with [sniffer] dogs, the luggage was checked by special equipment and only then was transferred to a clear zone, for passengers to pick it up, ” he added.
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Unclear 'noise' recorded before A321 crash, its nature to be determined – Egypt’s investigators
The
Russian A321’s black box recorded an unclear noise before crashing in
Sinai, the head of Egypt’s investigation committee has confirmed.
However, spectral analysis is required to determine its nature.
The
head of the Investigations Committee, Captain Ayman Mokadem, said the
nature of debris scatter suggests an in-flight break up, but it is still
too early to draw conclusions on the causes of the crash. While both
flight data recorders have been found, the investigators are still
studying them.
Mokadem confirmed that some “noise” can be
heard on the recording right before the crash. He still said its nature
is unclear and a spectral analysis will be carried out to identify it.
An international team of investigators are at the scene still “collecting information,” he said.
Ayman el Mokadem says there are 47 investigators into Metrojet crash - 29 from egypt, 7 russia, France 6, Germany 2 - Ireland 3 #egyptcrash
According
to the flight data recorders, the incident occurred 23 minutes and 14
seconds after takeoff at an altitude of 30,888 feet in climbing mode, at
a speed of 281 knots-autopilot engaged, he said.
The
investigators have listened to the audio from the cockpit voice recorder
and are currently in the phase of writing the transcript, he added.
Access
to the crash site has been impeded by bad weather since Tuesday, he
said. An investigation team consisting of 58 experts plan to return to
the site as soon as weather conditions improve in the next few days.
Terrifying
final moments of doomed Russian jet: Flight data reveals plane lurched
up and down then passengers were sucked out in their seats - as US
satellite detects heat flash suggesting a bomb
Doomed Russian holiday jet lurched up and down before plunging 31,000ft after being blown apart, bosses claim
Travellers still strapped in seats sucked from stricken Airbus A321 through hole at back of jet when the tail blew off
Plane crashed into Sinai peninsula killing all 224 passengers and crew just 23 minutes after leaving Sharm El Sheikh
PM said security officials are ‘looking very carefully’ at whether there is a safety risk to Britons travelling to Egypt
Published: 18:52 EST, 2 November 2015 | Updated: 23:26 EST, 2 November 2015
A
doomed Russian passenger jet lurched up and down before plunging 31,000
feet after being blown apart by an ‘external impact’, airline bosses
have revealed.
Travellers still
strapped in their seats were sucked from the stricken Airbus A321
through a hole at the back of the jet when the tail blew off 23 minutes
after leaving the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, it was
claimed.
The plane twice abruptly
climbed nearly 3,000 feet in three seconds before falling 3,000 feet
moments later in the final minutes before disappearing from radar,
crashing in the Sinai peninsula with the loss of all 224 passengers and
crew.
The news comes as US officials
claim an American infra-red satellite detected a heat flash on the route
the aircraft was taking seconds before the plane fell from the sky,
suggesting there was some sort of explosion on board.
Egyptian
military approach a plane's tail at the wreckage of a passenger jet
bound for St Petersburg in Russia that crashed in Hassana
WILL YOUR FLIGHT BE CROSSING A TERRORIST DANGER ZONE? GRAPHIC REVEALS NO FLYING ZONES IN PLACE
Passenger jets leaving Britain routinely fly over areas of the world where conflict on the ground could put them at risk.
The
risk was brought into tragic focus in July last year when a Malaysia
Airlines passenger flight was shot down in eastern Ukraine by a missile
launcher allegedly operated by pro-Russian separatists. All 298 people
aboard Flight MH17 were killed.
Since then, with the exception of direct flights into Kiev, most airlines have avoided Ukrainian airspace.
However,
MH17 is thought to have been destroyed by a sophisticated long-range
missile – not the shoulder-launched devices obtained by IS gunmen and
other rebel groups. These normally have maximum vertical range of 15,000
to 20,000ft, much less than the cruising height of commercial
airliners.
Aviation
authorities issue ‘Notices to Airman’ that place restrictions on
commercial flights operated by carriers crossing hazardous airspace. For
the world’s most dangerous areas – including Syria and Libya – all
flights are banned.
But
in others restrictions only apply to flights below a certain altitude,
usually around 26,000ft, depending on the perceived range of
anti-aircraft weapons available to gunmen in those countries. Warnings
issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration cover global hotspots
including Libya, Iraq, Yemen and parts of the Sinai Peninsular in Egypt.
They are regarded as an international standard.
The
Department for Transport’s list of flying restrictions for nine
countries issued to British carriers is almost the same but also
includes Pakistan.
Planes
flying over such areas are warned not to go beneath 26,000ft because of
the risk from terrorist or rebel fighters. In many cases – such as the
Ukrainian capital Kiev – the no-fly rule does not include direct flights
in and out.
Many
terror groups around the world have access to the shoulder-launched
surface-to-air missiles, known as MANPADS – or Man-portable air-defence
systems. They were developed by the US and Russia in the Cold War.
They
are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters, and it is
possible they could be used to attack an aircraft taking off or landing.
In
February 2003, then Prime Minister Tony Blair sent armoured vehicles to
Heathrow in response to intelligence warning of an ‘extremely probable’
terrorist attack. While it did not happen, it is likely that such an
attack could have involved the use of MANPADS.
The
data does not show the heat flash travelling at any time, as would be
the case had a ground-to-air missile been launched in the plane's
direction.
Instead, the satellite evidence illustrates that there was just a single burst of ferocious heat on the jet's path.
That
has now opened up the possibility that a bomb on board, or an explosion
in a fuel tank or engine as the result of a mechanical failure, caused
the plane to come down.
