The plane crash in Egypt on October 31, 2015 made not only Russia, whose citizens died in it, shudder, but the whole world. What are its reasons, who is to blame - there are still no unambiguous answers to these questions.
Russians like to call Egypt a Christmas tree - in this country both in winter and in summer there is a turquoise sea, where there are no restrictions for divers, a huge number of beaches and hotels where you can comfortably relax for both single couples and families with children. The country has always attracted travelers from Russia, and from other countries of the world, until a terrible incident cooled interest in it.
Details of the plane crash over Egypt on October 31, 2015
The crash of the Airbus-321 aircraft belonging to the Russian airline "Kogalymavia" occurred over the central part of the Sinai Peninsula of the state of Egypt. The tragic accident happened on October 31, 2015 at 7:14 Moscow time, 23 minutes after the aircraft took off. At the time of the crash, there were 7 crew members and 217 passengers on board, most of whom were Russian citizens.
Before the fall, according to the data of the issuing airport, the flight altitude of the aircraft dropped immediately by 1.5 km, and then the radars stopped recording the aircraft. In addition, it has been documented that the first pilot of the ship, immediately before the fall, requested permission for an emergency landing at the nearest airport - in Cairo.
When the crash site was found and rescuers arrived there, it turned out that the aircraft literally fell into two parts, and there were simply no survivors. Until recently, the relatives of the passengers and crew members of the airliner hoped that their relatives would survive, but, unfortunately, their hopes were not justified.
Information about the aircraft and crew members of the Airbus-321 aircraft
The Russian aircraft Airbus-321 crashed in Egypt was performing charter flight 9268. The aircraft belonged to the narrow-body class, was released in 1988, and became the first with fly-by-wire control principle. Plane accidents involving this brand of aircraft happened almost every year, starting from the year of the beginning of their mass production. The largest of them are:
- February 14, 1990 - 96 victims,
- August 23, 2000 - 143 victims,
- May 3, 2006 - 113 dead,
- July 28, 2010 - 152 victims,
- December 28, 2014 - 162 dead,
- October 31, 2015 - 224 victims.
The crew of the aircraft flying 9268 from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg consisted of 7 specialists. The first pilot of the Airbus-321 was an experienced pilot Valery Nemkov, who has more than 12,000 flight hours in his professional treasury. The co-pilot Sergey Sukhachev had no less experience than his leader.
The passengers were served by a crew of 5 flight attendants, and for all of them this flight was the last. The brigade was led by 38-year-old Valentina Martsevich, assisted by Andrey Belomestnov (29 years old), Irina Olaru (22 years old), Stanislav Sviridov (29 years old) and Andrey Filimonov (25 years old).
Versions and true causes of the plane crash over Egypt in October 2015
Official confirmation that the aircraft flying 9268 crashed arrived in St. Petersburg on the evening of October 31. Before that, the sign “arrival is delayed” was displayed on the board. The remains of the aircraft and those killed in the crash were scattered within a radius of 13 km from the crash site of the Airbus-321 airliner.
The investigative bodies of Egypt and the Russian Federation put forward and developed three versions of what happened at once:
- technical problems with one or more components of the aircraft,
- error in piloting by the crew,
- terrorist act.
At the place where the plane crashed, representatives of the investigative bodies of several countries worked at once - Russia, Egypt, France, USA, Germany, Ireland. The IAC expert commission was headed by the representative of Egypt - Ayman al-Mukkadam.
The experts included engine failure and the so-called "fatigue" of the hull, poor-quality repairs, traces of which were found in the tail section of the aircraft, and the formation of microcracks around the correction area in the list of technical problems that could cause the plane to crash.
The real cause of the crash, as it turned out after the end of the investigation, was a terrorist attack. The evidence was voiced by the head of the FSB of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bortnik. On the wreckage of the tail section of the aircraft, traces of an explosive (TNT) were found, a hole with a diameter of about 1 m, the airliner recorders recorded a blast wave, airport radars - a thermal flash.
Perpetrators of the plane crash over Egypt on October 31, 2015
The facts confirming that the cause of the crash of the Russian plane in the Egyptian sky was a terrorist attack were irrefutable. But here, too, two versions were put forward - the plane was shot down from the ground, the explosive device was on board the liner. Both versions were worked out in detail, as a result of the investigation, specialists allegedly even managed to establish the exact place where the explosives were - passenger seat 31A.
None of the terrorist organizations claimed responsibility for the tragedy and death of more than 200 people, including children. The Egyptian authorities arrested airport employees, but none of them was punished.
As a result, one of the ISIS groups - the so-called jihadists - claimed responsibility for the explosion on board the flight 9268.
Death toll in the plane crash over Egypt on October 31, 2015
Most of the passengers on the Airbus-321 that flew from Sharml-el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg were Russians. But citizens of other countries flew with them. On board were 4 Ukrainians, 1 Belarusian. 25 passengers out of 217 are children under 12 years old. And not just people died, families died, whole family chains were cut off. A few days later, the official list of those who lived their last minutes in the sky of Egypt was published.
The board carried the clients of two Russian tour operators - Odeon, Brisok, which operated mainly in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. Most of the passengers came from this city, and only a few people from the Pskov, Ulyanovsk and Novgorod regions of the Russian Federation.
The most resonant loss is little Darina Gromova. A photo of her at the airport window overlooking the runway scattered around the world, became the key point of almost all mourning banners and posts on social networks.
Remembrance of those killed in the plane crash in Egypt on October 31, 2015
Not only Russia, but the whole world grieved for those killed in this terrible tragedy. People brought flowers, candles and toys for children who will never become adults to the buildings of the Russian embassies in different countries.
The Russian government has taken not only measures to carry out mourning, but also measures to protect its citizens, vacationers or working abroad. Air traffic with Egypt was completely cut off.
Mourning events took place all over the world, including Egypt. Ordinary people organized a procession in memory of those who died due to the fault of terrorists in the skies over their country. In Russia, the national day of mourning was announced on November 1, 2015.
Memorials in memory of the victims were opened almost everywhere the passengers of the liner came from - the "Garden of Memory" on Rumbolovskaya mountain in the city of Vsevolzhsk in the Leningrad region, a monument was erected at the Seraphim cemetery in St. Petersburg, and most of the victims of the crash were buried in a specially reserved area of Kuzminsky cemeteries in Pushkin.
