Metrojet Flight 9268

Kogalymavia Flight 9268

The aircraft seen with tail number EI-ETJ.
Accident
Date	31 October 2015 (2015-10-31)
Summary	Crashed, under investigation
Site	Near Hasna, North Sinai Governorate, Egypt 30.2755°N 33.4654°E / 30.2755; 33.4654
Aircraft type	Airbus A321-231
Operator	Kogalymavia
Registration	EI-ETJ
Flight origin	Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
Destination	Pulkovo Airport, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Passengers	217
Crew	7
Fatalities	224 (all)

Kogalymavia Flight 9268 (7K9268/KGL9268) was an international chartered passenger flight, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia (branded as Metrojet), which crashed in northern Sinai on 31 October 2015 at 04:13 UTC (06:13 EST) following departure from Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, Egypt, en route to Pulkovo Airport, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The aircraft, an Airbus A321-231, was carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members. Of those mostly tourists aboard, at least 3 were Ukrainian, one Belarusian, and the rest were Russian.

With its death toll of 224 people, the crash of Flight 9268 is the deadliest in Egyptian territory, supassing the crash of Flash Airlines Flight 604 in 2004, and has the highest number of Russian victims in an airliner crash. It is also the deadliest air crash involving an aircraft from the Airbus A320 family, surpassing TAM Airlines Flight 3054 in Brazil, and the deadliest air disaster involving Airbus A321, surpassing AirBlue Flight 202.

Aircraft

The aircraft in its first livery for Middle East Airlines.

The aircraft during its operation with Onur Air.

The aircraft that crashed was an 18-year-old Airbus A321-231, serial number 663. It was delivered to Middle East Airlines in May 1997 with the registry as F-OHMP. It later served for Onur Air and Saudi Arabian Airlines as TC-OAE, until October 2011. In April 2012 Kolavia acquired the plane with registry number EI-ETJ and transferred it to Kogalymavia in May. The aircraft was powered by two IAE V2533 engines and configured to carry 220 passengers in an economy configuration. At the time of the crash, it was owned by Amsterdam-based AerCap and leased to Kolavia. The aircraft had accumulated 56,000 flight hours on nearly 21,000 flights.

On 16 November 2001, while operating for Middle East Airlines as F-OHMP, the aircraft suffered a tailstrike landing in Cairo. It was repaired and went back into service with the airline in 2002.

Crash

The route of the aircraft. The black dot indicates the starting point of the flight; the red dot indicates the last position at which the aircraft was tracked.

Flight 9268 left Sharm el-Sheikh airport at 03:50 UTC (5:50 EST) for Pulkovo Airport in Saint Petersburg, Russia, with 217 passengers. The aircraft failed to make contact with Cyprus Air Traffic Control 23 minutes later. Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency confirmed the flight had disappeared from radar tracking. Initially, the head of Egypt's civil aviation accident body, Ayman al-Muqaddam, said: "The ... Russian airline had told us that the Russian plane we lost contact with is safe and that it has contacted Turkish air traffic control and is passing through Turkish skies now." Flightradar24 also posted on Twitter: "It's NOT confirmed that this flight has crashed. It descended 5,000 feet (1,500 metres) before Flightradar24 coverage was lost."

The captain of the flight had reportedly told air traffic control that there was a technical fault and had requested a route change, although there was no indication whether a change had occurred. Interfax reported that the aircraft requested an emergency landing at El Arish International Airport before disappearing. Other sources deny that any such requests or distress signals were received prior to the disappearance.

The Egyptian Civilian Aviation Ministry issued a statement that indicated the flight was at an altitude of 31,000 ft (9,400 m) when it disappeared from radar screens after a steep descent of 5,000 ft (1,500 m). Flightradar24 shows the aircraft climbing to 33,500 ft (10,200 m) at 404 kn (465 mph) before suddenly descending within one minute to 28,375 ft (8,649 m) at 62 kn (71 mph) approximately 50 km (31 mi) north east of Nekhel, after which its position was no longer tracked. It had disappeared in a mountainous area in central Sinai with poor weather conditions making it difficult for rescue crews to get to the scene. An unnamed security source said that any survivors and the bodies of those who died would be flown to Cairo. The descent of 5,000 ft (1,500 m) occurred in one minute shortly before it disappeared 50 km (31 mi) north east of Nekhel.

Reuters quoted an unnamed security officer as saying that the aircraft had been completely destroyed. Wreckage was said to be scattered over a wide area (some 20 square kilometres, or eight square miles) with the nose section found some five kilometres (three miles) from the tail, indicating that the aircraft had broken up during flight.

Response

Shortly after the aircraft's disappearance, Eurocontrol's Air Flow Traffic Management (NMOC) issued a notice to all operators along the route that because of technical problems all flights would be tactically re-routed. The notice was withdrawn shortly after being issued.

Unnamed Egyptian authorities indicated that the first parts of the wreckage had been located. Fifty ambulances were sent to the crash site near Housna, 300 kilometres (190 mi) from Sharm el-Sheikh. Unnamed Egyptian officials reported that the aircraft "split in two" and most bodies were found strapped to their seats. As of 1 November, 163 bodies have been recovered from the crash site, with 120 of them examined and ready to be repatriated to Russia. The remaining sixty-one bodies were yet to be recovered by Egyptian authorities. Initial reports indicated that voices of trapped passengers could be heard in a section of the crashed aircraft, suggesting some survivors. At least 100 bodies were initially found, including at least five children. All 224 passengers and crew died. The Association of Tour Operators of Russia released the passenger manifest of all those thought to have been on the flight.

Passengers and crew

Passengers by nationality

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Russia	213	7	220
Ukraine	3	0	3
Belarus	1	0	1
Total	217	7	224

The Association of Tour Operators of Russia released the passenger manifest of all those thought to have been on the flight.

Flight 9268 was carrying 217 passengers, including 17 children, and seven crew members. Most of the passengers were Russian, but at least three were Ukrainian and one Belarusian. Most of the passengers were tourists returning to Russia from holidays at Egypt’s Red Sea resorts.

According to Kogalymavia, the flight's captain had over 12,000 hours of flight time, including 3,800 hours of this aircraft type.

Investigation

Ayman al-Muqaddam was appointed to investigate the cause of the crash. In a statement, he indicated that the pilot had made contact with the civil aviation authorities and asked to land at the nearest airport. He suggested the aircraft may have been attempting an emergency landing at Al-Arish airport in north Sinai. It crashed 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of the coastal city. Though the Sinai insurgency has been ongoing, there were no reports the plane had been shot down, according to Egyptian security sources. However Egyptian authorities disputed that claim. Air traffic control recordings don't show any distress calls, Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamel said. According to CNN correspondent Richard Quest, it was "unusual" for an aircraft to go down after around 20 minutes in flight. He said "At this point, a plane is on autopilot. It's reaching its initial cruising altitude, and there is little that can or should go wrong," President of Egypt Abdul Fatteh al-Sisi, told in a news conference that cause probe of the crash would take months.

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations was sending three of its aircraft to the crash site. The Investigative Committee also started a legal case against Kogalymavia under an article regulating "violation of rules of flights and preparations." Kogalymavia's employees were also questioned, along with those of the Brisco tour agency that had chartered the flight. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry promised to work closely with Russian officials and investigators to find the cause of the accident. The aircraft had successfully undergone technical checks before taking-off. Investigators would also view the security camera footage. Soon after the crash, the Russian Investigative Committee announced that it would be conducting tests on fuel samples taken from the aircraft at its last fuel uplift in the Russian city of Samara.

The aviation accident investigation agencies BEA (France) and BFU (Germany) will also participate in the investigation as representatives for the state of the aircraft's design and manufacture, respectively. The BEA will send two investigators, accompanied by six representatives from Airbus, to Egypt on 1 November. According to the BEA, they will join two investigators from the BFU and four investigators from the Interstate Aviation Committee, their Russian counterpart, representing the state of the aircraft's operator.

Natalya Trukhacheva, the wife of co-pilot Sergei Trukhachev, said in an interview with NTV that her husband had complained about the aircraft's technical state. She said that their daughter "called him up before he flew out. He complained before the flight that the technical condition of the aircraft left much to be desired."

Both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder were recovered from the crash site on 1 November. The Russian transport minister and a team of specialist investigators arrived in Cairo to assist the Egyptian authorities in determining the cause of the crash. Later that day, Russia's regional transport prosecutors determined that the quality of fuel on the crashed jet met required standards, a Russian news agency reported. Russian and Egyptian investigators began examining the black boxes of the crashed jet on that day. The examination will likely take place at the civil aviation ministry in Cairo.

As the recovery of the victims began, Egyptian search and rescue team had only found 163 bodies with the remaining remains missing. As the search area widen to 5.8 miles, Egyptian authorities found a body of a child around 8 km from the wreckage, indicating that the plane broke up in mid-flight. Russian official, Viktor Sorochenko, told media and confirmed that the plane did break up in mid-flight. An unnamed aviation security specialists said Sharm el-Sheikh has measures as tight as most airports, but did not discount the possibility of a bomb. A slew of unverified reports from Egypt have left the picture confused, but according to one official quoted by Reuters, the tail section appeared to have separated from the main body of the plane and was burning, which could indicate an explosion.

Tony Cable, a former senior investigator at the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch, said that the plane’s history would “certainly be of interest” when looking into causes of a crash. “Tailstrike damage tends to be around the region of the rear pressure bulkhead. The cabin might be pressurised at around six pounds per square inch above outside pressure. But the fuselage directly behind that is at outside pressure. So any weakness or fatigue would be bad news.”

Claims by Islamic State

Shortly after the crash, Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the incident, which occurred around an area of fighting between government forces and an IS affiliate, Sinai Province. Islamic State claimed this was in revenge for Russian air strikes against militants in Syria, where IS controls territories, along with contiguous Iraqi territories. Some analytics, however, claim "At least one SA-6 Gainful surface-to-air missile carrier vehicle is known to have fallen into the hands of ISIS."

Mohamed Samir, a spokesman for the Egyptian Army, rebutted the claims, stating, "The Army sees no authenticity ... They can put out whatever statements they want but there is no proof at this point that terrorists were responsible for this plane crash. We will know the true reasons when the Civil Aviation Authority, in coordination with Russian authorities, completes its investigation." Similarly, Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov summarily dismissed the claims as "fabrications" due to a lack of evidence from Egyptian civil aviation and security officials and air traffic data.

Aftermath

On 1 November, Russia grounded Airbus A321 jets flown by Kogalymavia. Interfax said the Russian transport regulator, Rostransnadzor, had told Kogalymavia to stop flying its A321 aircraft until the causes of the crash were known. These reports were contradicted by Kogalymavia representative as saying that the airline had not received the order from Rostransnadzor.

Lufthansa, Emirates, and Air France–KLM announced they would avoid overflying the Sinai peninsula until the cause of the accident has been determined. The United States' Federal Aviation Administration had previously told carriers under its jurisdiction to operate above FL260 while flying over Sinai. Germany's Luftfahrt-Bundesamt had told its airlines the same thing. Air Arabia and flyDubai also stopped their flights over the Sinai Peninsula in response to the crash. British Airways also stopped their flights in response to the crash. They later stated that they planned to continue flights over the Peninsula and had no plans to change its routes in the wake of the incident. EasyJet stated that they would not halt their flights over the Sinai Peninsula, but will actively review them.

Reactions

Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail confirmed that the aircraft had crashed, and cancelled his meetings upon hearing the news. He was on his way to the crash site along with other ministers on a private jet, according to the Tourism Ministry.

Russian Foreign Minister Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that the Russian embassy was following the events. President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and an official investigation. Putin also declared 1 November a national day of mourning in Russia. Israel, which borders the Sinai peninsula, offered its assistance to Russia and Egypt with surveillance and search efforts.

Airbus posted a note on Twitter that read: "We are aware of the media reports. Efforts are now going towards assessing the situation. We'll provide more information as soon as available." They also released a statement on their website confirming the aircraft's MSN and engine configuration.

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a message of condolences on 1 November to President Vladimir Putin. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sent a message of condolences to Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also extended condolences to Russia and offered to provide U.S. assistance. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Canada's newly elected Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau and Czech President Miloš Zeman all sent condolences to the Russian people and expressed support for affected families.

See also

• Accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A320 family
• List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
• List of aircraft accidents and incidents resulting in at least 50 fatalities
• China Airlines Flight 611, a Boeing 747-209B which disintegrated in mid-air while on cruising altitude over the Taiwan Strait, killing all 225 people onboard. The mid-air break up was attributed to improper repairs following a tailstrike incident 22 years earlier.
• Japan Airlines Flight 123, the plane, a Boeing 747, carrying 524 people were flying over Japan when part of the rudder separated from the plane, causing catastrophic hydraulic failure. The pilots lost control over the plane and crashed to mountainside, killing 520 people in the deadliest single plane crash. The cause of the separation was also attributed to improper repairs following a tailstrike, five years prior.
• UTA Flight 772, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 was flying over Niger when it exploded into pieces, killing 170 people onboard in the worst air disaster in Niger's history. The cause of the explosion was caused by a bomb located on the cargo compartment which was initiated by the Libyan Government.
• Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed onto a field near Hrabove, Ukraine. Killing all 298 people onboard. Dutch investigators later blamed the Russian-made BUK missile that shot down the Boeing 777 in the worst downing incident in history.
• TWA Flight 800, while flying over near New York, the Boeing 747 suddenly exploded while in mid-air, 12 minutes after take-off, killing all 230 people onboard. The cause of the crash was determined as an explosion in the fuel tank caused by a short circuit, even though conspiracy theories still among the crash.

External links

• Crisis – Airbus page about the incident
• Accident in the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt) – BEA
• Aircraft info and flight history – Flightradar24