Someone Other Than Pilot Might Have Wilfully Crashed A321

Someone might have taken control over the Russian Airbus A321 passenger plane and intentionally crashed it, a former chairman of the International Federation of Airline Pilots Association (IFALPA) Accident Analysis Committee told Sputnik on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Saturday, a Russian airliner carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members crashed in the Sinai Peninsula en route from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. Everyone on board, including 25 children, perished in the incident.

"The report that the aircraft was alternatively climbing and descending rapidly might indicate that there were severe control problems with the aircraft, or that someone other than the pilot had taken over and was trying to crash the aircraft," Dale Leppard said.

Leppard, who has been involved in aircraft accident investigations for over 45 years, and has acted as a consultant in such matters for over 40 years, added that, "it does appear that the aircraft was coming apart well before it struck the ground, as they found bodies and wreckage as far away as three miles from the crash site," meaning the scenario of an explosive device having been planted on the plane should not be ruled out.

A report based on the flight data recorders recovered from the crashed Russian Kogalymavia A321 could take from between one and four weeks to prepare, spokesman for the Egyptian government Hossam Kawish said Tuesday.

The tragedy has become the largest civilian aircraft disaster in Russian and Soviet history.