Head of Egypt’s Investigation Into A321 Crash Briefs Press in Cairo

The investigation committee into the Russian A321 crash in Sinai is considering all possible causes of the incident and calls for information exchange on it, head of the committee Ayman Muqaddam said Saturday.

Egyptian investigators have said that the cause of the Russian A321 crash is still unclear. The experts are now recovering black boxes data. The investigators also confirm that noise was heard during the last minutes of the flight. 

“A noise was heard on the last second of the FDR [Flight Data Recorder] recording,” the investigators said. 

Wreckage of A321, which is scattered over a wide area, shows that the plane broke up in midair, head of the investigative committee into the crash Ayman Muqaddam said Saturday. 

"Debris [of A321] are scattered over the wide area… Some parts of the wreckage are missing," Muqaddam noted.

The official investigation is being led by the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority in coordination with Russian authorities.

According to recent reports, Egyptian authorities also statred to check video footage at Sharm al-Sheikh airport for any suspicious activity linked to the Russian plane crash in Sinai.  

On October 31, an Airbus A321 operated by the Russian airline Kogalymavia (Metrojet) crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. All 224 people on board were killed. The crash has become the largest civil aviation disaster in Russian and Soviet history.