US Has Right to Probe A321 Crash as US Company Built Plane Engine - Cairo

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry confirmed Wednesday that the regulations covering the investigation into the crash of the Russian Airbus A321 aircraft in Egypt permitted the United States to take part in the Cairo-led international probe.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Washington offered assistance in the investigation on Monday. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told CNN in an interview on Tuesday that his country had accepted the US offer to participate in the investigation, as the aircraft engines were produced in the United States.

"[Ministry] spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid clarified that the regulations governing the work of the Technical Investigation Commission… allow for the participation of the countries where the plane and its engine were manufactured, the country where the plane is registered, the country where the incident took place, and the countries of nationality of the victims," the ministry said in a statement obtained by RIA Novosti commenting on the Shoukry's interview to CNN.

According to the spokesman, Egypt immediately notified all parties involved after the tragedy occurred, including the US National Transportation Safety Board.

On October 31, an Airbus A321 operated by the Russian airline Kogalymavia crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. All 224 people on board were killed. The crash is the largest civil aviation disaster in Russian  history.