The Airbus A321 operating as Flight 7K9268 by Metrojet had 217 passengers and seven crew aboard and was en route from Sharm el Sheikh International Airport to Saint Petersburg-Pulkovo Airport when it crashed close to al Hassana, in a mountainous area of the Sinai peninsula, where there are insurgents. (Note in the images, it does not look very mountainous, but perhaps it is a plateau.) The plane was in the air about twenty-three minutes before it went off the grid. Deputy St. Petersburg Gov. Igor Albin said 25 children were among the dead. Nearly all the passengers were Russian tourists. Three were Ukraine. (We are looking for the passenger manifest.) Metrojet is also known as Kogalymavia.
The plane slowed dramatically before the crash. Pilots apparently experienced technical difficulties and told ATC they wanted to divert. The black boxes have been recovered. Forty-five ambulances were dispatched to the crash site to recover the bodies. The plane was 18 years 6 months old. Pilot Valery Nemov reportedly had 12,000 air hours of experience, including 3,860 in A321s.
Forensic experts were at the Pulkovo Airport in the special reception area designated for families of victims, where they gathered DNA to assist in cataloging the remains.
IS claimed on its twitter page that they took the plane down to punish Russia for its military campaign in Syria. Russia dismisses this claim.
Egypt’s Civil Aviation Minister said communication from the plane and ATC was normal; however, the Russian Embassy in Cairo says that Egyptian officials told them the pilot was trying to make an emergency landing.
The airline made an official statement:
Malaysia Airlines flight MH-128 had to return and make an emergency landing in Melbourne, Australia, on May 31st.
