Tragedy at Sinai. Lost flight: what is known about the causes of the crash of the A321 a year later

The terrifying disaster A321 over the Sinai Peninsula, which occurred in the fall of 2015, still excites the world community. A terrible tragedy befell the air transport, on board of which there were 224 passengers, belonging to the airline called "Kogalymavia".

The cause of the plane crash, which took the lives of everyone on board, according to one version, was marked as a terrorist attack. Let's try to recall how the investigation took place, as well as what facts the experts managed to confirm.

Air transport belonging to the airline "Kogalymavia", heading to St. Petersburg from Sharm el-Sheikh, suffered a terrible crash, having stayed in the air for only 20 minutes. The Kogalymavia disaster took place near the Sinai Peninsula. Most of the passengers were citizens of the Russian Federation.

Deviations from normal movement became noticeable even at an altitude of 9411 meters. At that time, the liner maintained a speed of 755 km / h. The plane crashed to the ground at 6:14 local time from an altitude of 8512 meters at a speed of 115 km / h. As a result of the impact, the plane was completely destroyed.

The remains of the airliner and the bodies of people on board were found in the center of the peninsula between El Kantala and El Laxima. The crash occurred 50 km from the city of Nehel.

The debris was scattered over an area of about 30 km.

Also on board the air transport flew three citizens of Ukraine and one Belarusian. As previously noted, no one managed to survive in the terrible tragedy, so the plane crash over Sinai was noted as the largest, taking place in the Russian and Soviet aviation.

As soon as it became known about the tragedy, the Russian Investigative Committee immediately initiated 2 criminal cases on the fact of the tragedy. Representatives of the Investigative Committee, conducting the initial investigation, noted 2 versions that could have caused the crash of the Airbus:

technical malfunction of the liner;
incorrect actions taken by the crew.

The cause of the tragedy

Responsibility for the tragic incident was almost immediately claimed by militants belonging to the terrorist organization of the Islamic State. However, this reason was considered both by representatives of Rosaviatsia and by the Ministry of Transport of Russia as unreliable.

The President of Russia made a commentary on the disaster that had occurred 55 hours later, offering his sincere condolences to the relatives of the victims and noting that the investigation of the crash would continue in full. The involvement of a terrorist organization was noted in a statement by Alexander Bortnikov, who served as head of the FSB.

Bortnikov noted that, quite possibly, the cause of the crash was the explosion of a bomb, which was unnoticed by terrorists. Soon one of the representatives of the Russian Ministry came up with a new version regarding the organization of the terrorist attack. The message noted that the militants could detonate a bomb on board because of revenge on the Russian side, which was actively involved in the fight against terrorist organizations.

About a month after the crash, IS representatives published photographs of a bomb that was used to detonate an airbus in one of the print media. The militants independently created a subversive mechanism from a tin can, equipping it with a metal cylinder and a remote control.

Egyptian military units were able to detain one of the IS leaders in the summer of 2016. Around the same time, another militant leader in Syria was eliminated. And the head of the terrorist group Al-Adnani, according to representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense, was eliminated during the air strike.

It should be noted that the Pentagon completely denies the involvement of the Russian side in the elimination of the terrorist commander.

Investigative findings

The plane crash over Sinai alarmed the entire world community, so representatives of many countries took part in the investigation of the causes of the crash:

Russian Federation;
Egypt;
France;
Ireland;
Germany.

According to the rules of investigation approved by the International Civil Aviation Association, the Egyptian side was supposed to be the leader in this matter. The version about the involvement of terrorists in the crash was recognized by the current President of Egypt only at the beginning of 2016. The full report on the investigation was published by representatives of the Ministry 2 months after the speech of the President of Egypt.

The report noted that during the investigation it was even possible to mark the place where the explosive device was planted. To clarify this issue, the expert commission had to analyze all the collected fragments of the destroyed airbus. The fragments were analyzed in a special spare hangar on the territory of the Cairo airline complex.

Upon completion of the study, experts were able to confirm that the bomb was planted by the militants in the tail of the airbus, more precisely, in the compartment used to transport oversized cargo. As soon as the terrorists activated the explosive device, a powerful explosion tore off the tail of the aircraft, which caused an uncontrolled dive.

According to data published in a Reuters source, several persons were detained, who were suspected of involvement in the tragedy. In particular, we are talking about 2 police officers, a mechanic and a loader of the luggage compartment. The agency also added that the brother of the mechanic suspected of the terrorist attack had arrived in Syria about 12 months before the tragedy to join the terrorist group.

Interesting information about the ill-fated flight

The plane Airbus A321-231, which crashed, had the number 663. It left the factory in 1997, and in the same period went on its maiden flight. First, the airliner received a temporary number DAVZK.

After successful tests, the aircraft was purchased by the International Leasing Finance Corporation (ILFC). The aircraft company MEA received a lease. The liner had 149 passenger seats, of which 31 were in business class and 118 in economy class. The aircraft was in operation for 6 years before being transferred back to the ILFC.

It is interesting that during this time the airliner became direct participant one of the incidents that also occurred in Egypt. On November 16, 2001, a dangerous landing was made in the city of Cairo. Through the pilots' fault, the aircraft raised its nose so high that the tail section hit the runway hard.
There were no casualties as a result of the incident. None of the passengers on the flight (81 people) and 7 crew members needed medical attention. Soon after the forced repairs, the ship returned to service for passenger flights.

Further history of the crashed plane

In 2003, the same liner under the TC-OAE number was leased to the carrier Onur Air (Turkey). Moreover, not only the onboard combination was subjected to changes, but also the interior. In the service of Onur Air, the aircraft began to accommodate 220 economy class seats; it was decided to remove the business salon.

Until 2012, the aircraft operated flights directly to Onur Air, the Saudi Arabian Airlines and the Syrian carrier Cham Wings Airlines (the latter used the aircraft under a sublease agreement with Onur Air). In the spring of 2012, the vessel returned to the ILFC for the last time.

The ship was transferred to the carrier "Kogalymavia" on March 30... The board number has been changed to EI-ETJ. The Russian carrier, like the previous partners of ILFC, also signed a leasing agreement. Exactly one month later, the plane was completely bought out by the Dutch company AerCap and re-commissioned by Kogalymavia, which at that time was already called Metrojet.

Despite such a long history of operation by various carriers, the aircraft was fully maintained in good condition. The liner was powered by two powerful V2533-A5 engines developed by International Aero Engines. The last operating company Metrojet (Kogalymavia) provided evidence that the frequency and quality of all technical inspections was strictly followed.

According to the documentation, the last technical inspection before the disaster took place on October 26, 2015. Scheduled maintenance was on schedule and is dated March 18, 2014. The safety level of the vessel corresponded to the coefficient 0.67 (maximum 2).

For all 18.5 years of active operation, the aircraft completed 21,590 takeoff and landing cycles. The total flight time was 57,413 hours and 11 minutes. Which corresponds to 48% of the total resource.

Who was on the plane

In total there were 224 people on board. a. Among the dead were a total of 218 citizens of Russia, 4 from Ukraine and 2 from Belarus.

The plane was flown by two pilots:

Aircraft commander V.Yu. Nemov (48 years old). Flight hours: over 12,000.
The second pilot S.S. Trukhachev (45 years old). Flight experience: 5 641 hours.

Five flight attendants worked with the passengers of the flight. Rosaviatsia provided data according to which 192 adults and 25 children were on board. The oldest passenger was 77 years old, and the youngest was only 10 months old at the time of the tragedy.

How did the authorities of the countries react to the tragedy?

Condolences were publicly expressed by the heads of a large number of countries:

Germany;
Egypt;
Bulgaria;
Latvia;
Lithuania;
The Netherlands;
Ukraine, etc.

Even Pope Francis was among the officials. There were simply no people indifferent to this tragedy and victims in the world, despite the ambiguous political and economic relations.

However, there was still one incident. Although France officially expressed condolences and support, the notorious Charlie Hebdo magazine immediately published 3 cartoons based on the plane crash. The Russian government and the public were outraged. Official Paris spoke out in support of journalists, saying that the magazine has the right to "express its own opinion about everything without restrictions," even if it contradicts the government's position.

In contact with

The worst casualty 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 flew from rest as families. 27 children among the dead. The Egyptian prime minister said that 129 bodies have been found so far. Experts are working on a "black box".

This is the first evidence of a plane crash in Sinai - photographs published by an Egyptian TV channel. The first - for the whole day. Before that there was not a single photo, not a single video recording, even the shortest one. Towards evening, the first military helicopters, carrying the remains of the victims of the disaster from Sinai, landed at the Cabrit airbase of the Egyptian Air Force, a little over a hundred kilometers from Cairo. Ambulances - a long line of cars with flashing lights - transport them from the airbase to the Cairo morgue. Before dark, the bodies of almost all the dead were brought 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 only 23 minutes. Much longer - several hours after he disappeared from the radar - conflicting information about the fate of the liner came. It was not immediately possible to compose a more or less clear picture of what happened in the sky over Sinai.

Sharm el-Sheikh airport, 5 hours 51 minutes local time (6.51 Moscow time). Airbus Kogalymavia - a charter airline also known under the Metrojet brand - took off and is heading for St. Petersburg. There were almost no empty seats. An experienced crew commander - 12 thousand flight hours, a third of them - just on the "Airbus-321". Almost immediately after takeoff, he discovered some kind of malfunction on board, contacted the ground, reported malfunctions, and asked for permission to land at the nearest airfield. At this point the session ended, and the "Airbus" did not get in touch anymore. By 7 hours 14 minutes Moscow time, the liner lost radars.

"At 7.14, I was supposed to go into a communication session with Larnaca, Republic of Cyprus. Radio communication did not take place with the aircraft, it was lost. The aircraft's mark from the dispatch services' radars also disappeared. There were 217 passengers and 7 crew members on board, mostly citizens. Russia ", - said the press secretary of the Federal Air Transport Agency Sergei Izvolsky.

Of the 217 passengers, 27 are children. Families were returning from vacation in Sharm.

Judging by the data of the Internet resource "Flytradar", the last thing the earth recorded was that a minute before disappearing from the screens, the plane dropped about two kilometers in height. 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 that the transponder transmitted, and these numbers are beyond critical. A large liner at such a low speed simply cannot stay in the air. Moreover, according to witnesses who watched the fall of the "Airbus", his engine seemed to be on fire.

The plane had already crashed - it crashed in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, 35 kilometers from the city of El Arish, and the press and news agencies continued to pour conflicting messages. Someone declared the plane crashed on the move. Then data came that he allegedly got in touch again. Then there were all the confusing references to Egyptian dispatchers, who allegedly claimed to have handed over the "Airbus" to Turkish colleagues. But this information was not confirmed either.

Closer to noon, it became clear that the plane did not leave the airspace of Egypt. The prime minister of this country canceled all trips, called an emergency meeting and announced that the plane did crash. An emergency regime was introduced in Sinai. And finally, in the afternoon, it was officially announced: the wreckage had been found.

"We sent a working group of the Ministry of Civil Aviation to the crash site. It will conduct an investigation, this is a standard procedure. Of course, we maintain constant contact with the Russian ambassador," Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said.

Those who first saw the crash site with their own eyes conveyed the 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 wreckage. The search work was complicated by the difficult mountainous terrain and the fact that the fallen liner literally scattered around the area.

An Egyptian security officer described a horrifying picture to Reuters: “I am witnessing a tragic scene. There are many bodies of the dead on the ground, many of them wearing seat belts in their seats. The plane is split in two. - 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 victims, our officers packed them into a sack. "

The crashed "Airbus-321" was in operation for about 19 years - this is quite acceptable in civil aviation, another question is how the aircraft was serviced. This particular plane has served for several years in the airlines of the countries of the Middle East region: in Lebanon, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria. Russian Kogalymavia acquired it in 2012.

Experts are examining the causes of the tragedy, and photographs are left of the people. Pictures of those who flew from Egypt, returned from vacation on flight 9268 and before takeoff managed to leave publications in social networks with the following, for example, the inscription: "Hello, Peter, goodbye, Egypt. We are flying home."

Exactly two years ago, on October 31, 2015, there was the most massive plane crash in terms of the number of fatalities in the entire history of Russia. On this day, the airliner Airbus A321-231 of the Russian airline took off from the Egyptian Sharm el-Sheikh and headed for St. Petersburg. The crew of the liner performed a charter flight and took Russian tourists home after their rest.

The plane quietly climbed along the Gulf of Aqaba, and soon had to cross the Sinai Peninsula to enter European airspace. However, at the 23rd minute of the flight, the connection of the ground services with the aircraft was interrupted. It soon became clear that the Airbus A321-231 crashed to the ground in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula and completely collapsed. The wreckage of the aircraft was scattered over 13 km. All 224 people on board the aircraft were killed.

At the time of the death of the airliner, there were seven crew members, as well as 217 passengers. Of these, there were four Ukrainians, one Belarusian, and the rest were citizens of Russia. Among them was the deputy head of Pskov and a deputy of the local legislative assembly. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the oldest passenger was 77 years old, and

the smallest victim of the tragedy was a 10-month-old.

Shortly before the tragic incident, her mother Tatyana published a photo of the child on her page on the social network VKontakte. The picture shows the girl standing on the windowsill of the airport window with her back to the viewer. She looks at the planes on the ground. I made the caption under the picture: "The most important passenger."

This photograph was later replicated by many Russian and international media and became a symbol of the Sinai catastrophe. Diana's mother and father were also killed in a ship crash.

Condolences to the victims were expressed by the Russian President, as well as leaders of many countries in Europe and the world. The day after the crash of the liner, mourning was declared in Russia. However, the French published three cartoons on the topic of the disaster, which caused a negative reaction from the Russian Federation and. In response, the French Foreign Ministry said that "in France, journalists freely express their opinion," while "it does not always coincide with the official position of the French authorities."

"There were no questions to the car"

Soon after the incident, various versions of what had happened began to be put forward. Almost immediately, the hypothesis was swept aside, according to which the plane fell due to a pilot error. The crashed Airbus was operated by experienced pilots, and the commander of the crew, 48-year-old Valery Nemov, flew over 12 thousand hours, of which more than 3860 - on the Airbus A321.

However, the details of the operation of the aircraft soon became known, and it turned out that it was far from new.

It was released in the spring of 1997 and made its maiden flight on May 9. After that, the plane was handed over to the American company International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), which by May 27 leased it to the Lebanese airline Middle East Airlines (MEA), which had been in possession of it for six years. On June 2, 2003, already under the tail number TC-OAE, the airliner was leased to the Turkish airline Onur Air. This structure later subleased the liner to Saudi Arabian Airlines, and from July 30 to September 29, 2010 - to Syrian Cham Wings Airlines. By the spring of 2012, the TC-OAE board returned to the ILFC, and by March 30, 2012 it was leased by the Russian Kogalymavia.

On April 30 of the same 2012, the Dutch airline AerCap bought it from ILFC and re-handed it over to the Russian Kogalymavia. The Russian airline, in turn, has been operating under the Metrojet trademark since May 1, 2012.

During the long service of the aircraft, an unpleasant incident from the point of view of safety occurred with it. On November 16, 2001, he flew passenger flight ME 306 on the Beirut-Cairo route and, when approaching at the airport of the Egyptian capital, the pilots raised his nose too high, as a result of which the tail dropped so low that it hit the ground. None of the 88 people on board (81 passengers and 7 crew members) were injured then, and the liner itself returned to passenger routes after being repaired. This information was confirmed by representatives of "Kogalymavia", assuring that the plane passed all the necessary checks and technical tests on time.

On the eve of departure, the ill-fated flight underwent maintenance, and the receiving crew had no questions about the car.

Interrupted message

The investigation into the causes of the tragedy began at once by several large structures of the countries of the world, since Egypt is a very popular tourist destination among citizens of many states. The proceedings began to be conducted by the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Russian Ministry of Civil Aviation Security Investigation and Analysis of France, the German Federal Bureau of Accident Investigation, the Irish Air Accident Investigation Department, and the US National Transportation Safety Board.

At the same time, in accordance with the norms of international law, the general leadership was carried out by Egyptian investigators, since the incident took place in the airspace of this country. Already on November 1, the previously found "black boxes" from the deceased liner were deciphered. In the meantime, he opened criminal cases under Articles 263 and 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of traffic safety rules and operation of railway, air, sea and inland waterway transport and services that do not meet safety requirements ").

The United Kingdom and German airlines also interrupted flights with the Egyptian state, and France, the Netherlands and Belgium warned their citizens about the undesirability of flights to Sharm el-Sheikh. In addition, she announced the cancellation of night flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.

Customers not installed

Meanwhile, the victims of the disaster filed a class action lawsuit against the tour operator, Kogalymavia airline and insurance companies for a total of about € 1.4 billion. This is the first example of a class action lawsuit for such a serious amount in Russian history.

And although the involvement of Kogalymavia employees in the incident over Sinai is not confirmed by the facts, in the spring of 2016 it banned domestic and international flights of this airline.

According to the most frequently voiced version, the Sinai subdivision of the terrorist "" is behind the attack (both organizations are banned in Russia). Its members claimed responsibility for the crime shortly after the incident.

However, there are other points of view. A number of experts believe that the prokartar organization Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (a cell of the IS banned in Russia) could be behind the attack. The United States also announced its trace in the tragedy.

Be that as it may, after the death of the plane, Russian aviation began to carry out more intensive air strikes against the targets of various Islamist organizations in Syria. For the first time, Russian strategic aviation was involved in raids on the targets of IS and other extremists.

However, it has not yet been possible to establish the names of the specific perpetrators of the terrorist act.

And on October 28, 2017, a monument to the victims of the disaster was unveiled at the Serafimovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg. In addition, among the Petersburgers there is an idea to erect a monument to 10-month-old Darina Gromova, who has already promised to make a famous sculptor free of charge.

The plane Airbus A321 of flight 9268 of the airline "Kogalymavia" (Metrojet brand) crashed, disappearing from radar on the morning of Saturday, October 31. There were 224 people on board - passengers, children, 7 crew members, all of them were Russians. The liner performed a "tourist" flight between Sharm El Sheikh and St. Petersburg.

The latest data on the disaster can also be read on Twitter using the hashtag #KogalymAvia and # 7k9268 .

The Egyptian authorities officially confirmed the plane crash and began searching for the wreckage by the army, while the Turkish aviation authorities announced the entry of the liner into their airspace. At the same time, the media previously stated that the liner continued its flight, but the official press of Cairo declares that the plane crash did take place, the wreckage of the liner is in Sinai.

The most eloquent is the illustration of the Flightradar system, which allows you to track any civilian aircraft in the world on which special transponders are located. According to Flightradar it is seen that the plane was "descending at approximately 6,000 feet per minute (110 km / h) before the signal was lost" 23 minutes after takeoff.

The press also reports that the crew of the liner reported malfunctions, some journalists say that the PIC and the co-pilot requested an emergency landing - but this information has not yet been confirmed.

Note that many pilots and aviation experts, speaking of plane crashes, recalled that an engine failure (without destroying the engine or aircraft) does not lead to the crash of the airliners - they can even glide with all engines turned off to the nearest airfield (this has also happened in the history of aviation - media remember both the emergency landing of the Tu-204, and the "Gimli's glider").

"The plane crashed in a closed military zone. Counter-terrorist operations are being carried out there," the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company reported.

An emergency regime was introduced in the northern sinai in Egypt in connection with the crash of a Russian plane, the Egyptian Prime Minister, rescuers and the military went to the crash site.

Reuters reports that perhaps at the crash site, "the screams of the surviving passengers can be heard."

"THE CREW OF THE CROWN RUSSIAN AIRLINER SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK COMPLAINED ABOUT ENGINE PROBLEMS," news agencies report.

"Egyptian emergency services have begun removing the bodies of those killed in the crash of the Russian A-321 in the Sinai Peninsula," - informs AFP. The crash site is cordoned off and guarded from marauders.

"Found the bodies of five children, a Russian plane that fell in Sinai fell apart in two," AFP said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his deepest condolences to the relatives of those killed in the Kogalymavia plane crash, ordering to send rescuers to the scene of the tragedy.

"The total flight time of the 48-year-old commander of the plane crashed in Egypt was 3682 hours. Of these, as the commander of the aircraft, Valery Nemov flew 1100 hours," Lifenews.ru said.

"As it became known, before flying on an A-321 aircraft, Valery Nemov was flying a TU-154. The pilot was retrained at the AmurAir training center located in Turkey," the press adds, calling the PIC a professional pilot.

It became known that at least one of the passengers on the flight posted a photo of the plane and her husband and daughter before takeoff, writing " we are flying home ".

"According to the Egyptian side, the plane tried to land at the El-Arish airfield," the Russian embassy said.

"As it became known, from under the wreckage of a Russian liner that crashed 100 kilometers from El Arish in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, about a hundred bodies of passengers were pulled out," Egypt Independet reports.

"Eyewitnesses say that the plane that crashed in Egypt was burning in the air," Kommersant FM said.

The media reported that rescuers found one of the flight recorders - black boxes - at the scene of the tragedy.

President Vladimir Putin declared mourning on November 1 in connection with the crash of a Russian liner in Egypt,

The bodies of all 17 children were found at the crash site of A-321 in Egypt. RIA Novosti reports with reference to a civil aviation representative.

As Gazeta.Ru found out, the Brisco travel company, whose clients flew on the crashed plane, and the Kogalymavia airline are owned by the same persons.

"Either a fire in the central / tail section, or an engine fire with its spread throughout the nacelle with the subsequent thermal destruction of the wing," they write on the professional forum of pilots.

The local tribe of Bedouin "Al Tayakha" saw how the Russian airliner of the airline "Kogalymavia" crashed in the Sinai Peninsula. According to the nomads, the Airbus A321 flared up in the air, in particular, they saw one of the aircraft's engines burning.

"Many died while wearing seat belts," Egyptian intelligence official / Reuters

Searches are underway in the office of the owner of the Kogalymavia airline in Stoleshnikov Lane in Moscow. Law enforcement officers seize documents and electronic media from the office, according to media reports.

The aviation authorities of Egypt do not exclude that the catastrophe with the airliner of the Russian airline "Kogalymavia" in Egypt was due to a terrorist attack, reports CBS Extra. "This version is unlikely, since the terrorists in the region do not have the appropriate weapons - anti-aircraft missile systems, because the plane was at an altitude of more than 6 thousand meters," experts say.

"From Sinai, a couple of months ago, they fired rockets at the territory of Israel. In Syria and Libya, the Islamists seized dozens of C125 and C200 complexes. In Yemen, shootouts are taking place with the use of U-Points, and the Saudis have deployed Patriots along the entire border," they write in social networks.

"According to the representative of the Egyptian Committee for the Investigation of Aviation Incidents Ayman al-Mugadem, the pilot warned the ground controllers that there was a" technical problem "on the plane and he needed to land as soon as possible," Izvestia reports.

Egyptian authorities said no one survived the Russian plane crash, Reuters reported.

Before leaving Sharm el-Sheikh, the crashed plane passed the necessary technical check and no malfunctions were identified, said the head of the Egyptian airport companies Adel Mahgub. "A technical inspection of the aircraft was carried out and its airworthiness was confirmed," he stressed.

Exactly four years ago, an Airbus A320 plane crashed over the Sinai Peninsula, which was carrying Russian tourists from Egypt to their homeland. All passengers and crew members died before reaching their home. Among the dead were 25 children, including a small resident of Gatchina Darina Gromova, which the Russians called the Main Passenger. The authorities of several countries are still trying to find out the reasons for the crash of the liner. In terms of the number of victims, the disaster is the largest in the Russian aviation. But already nothing can return innocent people. the site recalls the victims of the disaster and the chronology of events over the Sinai Peninsula

Development of events

The plane of the Russian airline "Kogalymavia" flew to Sharm el-Sheikh on the eve of the tragedy. On October 30, he performed two passenger flights on the Sharm El Sheikh - Samara - Sharm El Sheikh route. The aircraft commander Dmitry Zhigalkovich and the co-pilot Yuri Yushko later said that the flight took place in a normal mode, and there were no problems in the air. On October 31, the liner came under the control of 48-year-old commander Valery Nemov and 45-year-old co-pilot Sergei Trukhachev. Nemov had over 12 thousand hours of flight practice under his belt, almost 4 thousand of which were at the helm of the Airbus A321. The plane passed technical control at Sharm el-Sheikh airport and took off safely.

Photo: flight trajectory of flight 7K-9268 / flightradar24.com

Charter flight 7K-9268 of the Sharm el Sheikh - St. Petersburg route was supposed to arrive in the northern capital at 12:10, a little more than five hours later. At 06:50 Moscow time, the aircraft 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 Flightradar24 website, at 06:13 the Airbus A320 began to lose altitude at a speed of 30 m / s. At about 07:14, flight 7K-9268 crashed in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula. The wreckage of the plane was scattered within a radius of 13 km. The total area of searches for the bodies of the dead and the remains of the liner was 30 km. All 224 passengers were killed.

The first reports about the loss of the liner from radars appeared in the Russian media at about 10:20 Moscow time. Communications were initially reported to have been cut off near the Cypriot city of Larnaca. International publications Reuters and Sky News, citing their own sources, reported that the flight had crashed. At this time, the relatives of the passengers begin to notify about the loss of the liner. People, hoping for a miracle, leave for Pulkovo to meet a delayed flight. Charter 7K-9268 was still listed on the information board, which reported a delay of ten minutes.

“That day I was just at the airport and found people who were waiting for this plane. I then flew to study, and I had problems with baggage claim. I flew in, but that flight did not. I remember the number of this aircraft on the scoreboard with the red inscription “delayed”. I had just left the airport when literally 15 minutes later the crash was announced. A few hours later, photos from the airport began to appear on the network. I look, and there are all these people, many of whom I saw at the entrance, or in Starbucks, or somewhere else. People who came to wait for their relatives "

Soon the hopes of the relatives were dashed: the Egyptian authorities reported that the wreckage of the plane had been found 50 km from Nehel, in the province of North Sinai. The airport management, together with the Federal Air Transport Agency, smashed the mobile medical headquarters. Psychological assistance was provided to people. The headquarters for emergency situations began work. Rescuers constantly informed the relatives. But the latter were already beginning to understand that their relatives could not be returned.

Photo: wreckage of flight 7K-9268 / life.ru

Investigation

When the information about the crash was confirmed, the Ministry of Emergency Situations sent five special aircraft to Egypt to deliver the bodies of the dead to their homeland. Black boxes, which were practically not damaged, were found on the day of the tragedy. The Egyptian side was involved in decoding. The investigation involved representatives of six countries: Russia, Egypt, USA, Germany, France and Ireland. The commission also includes consultants of the Airbus company.

The wreckage found 13 km from the crash site gave rise to asserting the destruction of the aircraft in the air. In this regard, versions began to appear about a possible undermining of the aircraft. Moreover, a version of both a bomb explosion in the cabin and a missile strike from the ground was not ruled out. However, Egypt called any versions premature and unsubstantiated facts. On November 16, the head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, announced that the plane had exploded as a result of a terrorist attack. On the bodies of passengers, security officials found the remains of explosives not produced in Russia. The Egyptian authorities gave assurances that they would take the FSB study into account, but did not draw any conclusions. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by one of the groups controlled by ISIS (an organization banned in Russia). Examination of the wreckage of the liner showed that the bomb exploded within 30-31 rows. Presumably, it was planted at site 31A. However, in September 2016, experts said that the bomb was hidden in the rear of the plane among the prams.

Photo: wreck 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 the Russian-Egyptian talks on aviation security told RIA-Novosti that Egypt does not want to investigate the case under the "Terrorism" article so as not to pay compensation to the relatives of the victims. In this case, it will become clear that the disaster occurred due to a flaw in the local security services.

Victims

The explosion, burns and a fall from a great height killed 224 people. On board were mainly Russian citizens - 219 people. Also, four citizens of Ukraine and one citizen of Belarus flew from rest. The oldest victim was 77 years old, the youngest - only 10 months. 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 were canceled until November 4.

Among the dead were children, grandchildren, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. Many of the passengers posted pre-flight photos online. Someone flew to Egypt with their family, someone to celebrate their wedding anniversary, and someone to propose to their girlfriend. There were also those who first flew on vacation abroad. 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 signed the photo "The main passenger". Under this name, the recording spread throughout the world and became a symbol of 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 the tenth anniversary of their marriage. They took three children with them: 11-year-old Zhenya, 10-year-old Lena and 3-year-old Nastya. Olga, a few minutes before landing, posted a photograph of her husband with her youngest daughter on her Vkontakte page. The caption to the photo reads: "We are flying home." Sheina's home will never be seen.

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 be bored. Armen promised to bring a memento with him.

A resident of Volkhov, Dmitry Bogdanov, took his children to the sea to rest - 10-year-old Anton, 22-year-old Nastya and 24-year-old Leru. The mother of a large family had died of cancer a few years earlier. Children wrote on their pages in the social network "Goodbye, Russia!" They will never see their homeland again.

A young couple, Alexandra Chernovaya and Yevgeny Yavsin, went on their first joint trip abroad. A surprise awaited Alexander on vacation: Eugene specially saved money for trips in order to make his beloved an offer at sea.

Photo: personal archive of Alexandra Chernova

Evgenia Murashova from Pskov died in the crash. She flew to Egypt with her mother Irina Pikaleva. At home, Evgenia has an 8-year-old daughter. A few days before her tragic death, she posted an audio recording on her page titled "I know that I will not be back."

Photo: screenshot from the page of Ekaterina Murashova

Along with all these innocent people, hundreds of others died. Hundreds or even 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 the victims of the Sinai disaster were buried in a mass grave at one of the memorial cemeteries in St. Petersburg.

Memory

On Rumbolova Hill in Vsevolozhsk on the second anniversary of the tragedy "Garden of Memory". The project was financed from the regional budget and the budget of Vsevolozhsk. The names of all the passengers killed on flight 7K-9268 are immortalized on a granite slab. Also, on this day, all the bells of the churches of St. Petersburg will sound 224 blows, in honor of every person who has died.

Photo: "Garden of Memory"

On October 28, the Folded Wings monument was unveiled in St. Petersburg. The memorial was erected at the burial site of unidentified passengers of the "Airbus". 25 white balloons were launched into the sky, symbolizing the children killed in the accident.

Photo: "Folded Wings" / Administration of St. Petersburg

Every year throughout the country, events are held in memory of the victims of the Sinai disaster.

After the tragedy, activists created the Flight 9268 charity 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 fund, more than 80% of families of relatives of the victims in writing supported the idea of building a temple and a monument in memory of the dead passengers and the crew of Flight 9268. The Church of the Great Martyr Dimitri of Thessaloniki will be built at the Baltic Pearl MFC.