Investigators scrutinize recorders on doomed Russian jet
A multinational investigation team on Tuesday turned its attention to the data and cockpit voice recording black boxes from the doomed Russian jet that crashed in the Egyptian desert Saturday.
The investigating team, led by Egypt and aided by experts from Russia, Airbus and Ireland, began to focus on analysis of the black boxes after completing work at the crash site, Egyptian civil aviation ministry spokesman Mohamed Rahmi told Reuters. The plane was registered in Ireland. German and French investigators also are involved in the probe.
The Russian News Agency Interfax, citing an Egyptian investigator it did not name, reported that the cockpit recording revealed "sounds uncharacteristic of a standard flight preceding the moment of the airliner's disappearance from radar screens."
"The recordings suggest that an emergency situation occurred on board unexpectedly, took the crew by surprise, and the pilots had no time to send out a distress signal," the source told Interfax.
All 224 people aboard were killed when Metrojet charter Flight 9268 crashed 23 minutes after taking off from the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, bound for St. Petersburg, Russia. Speculation about why the Airbus 321-200 came apart 31,000 feet above the Egyptian desert continued to focus Tuesday on pilot error, technical problems and terrorism.
A U.S. infrared satellite detected a midair "heat flash" over the Sinai Peninsula at the same time a Russian plane crashed in the area, media outlets reported Tuesday. NBC News, citing an unnamed senior defense official, said U.S. intelligence analysts believe the flash could have been an explosion inside the aircraft, most likely a fuel tank or bomb.
The reports came as Russian media, citing an Egyptian forensic expert, reported that burns and other injuries on the victims indicated a midair explosion might have occurred aboard the plane. Hundreds of bodies and body parts were being flown to St. Petersburg, where mourning families have begun identifying remains.
Metrojet executives on Monday blamed "external impact" and said neither their crew nor mechanical failure played a role in the air disaster. An insurgent affiliate of the Islamic State group operating in the Sinai has claimed responsibility for bringing down the jet.
Experts called the conclusions premature and said the answers are in the flight data and voice recorders and the expansive debris field.
The Egyptian government said militants in the region using shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons could not reach the Metrojet flight at 31,000 feet in the air. James Clapper, U.S. director of national intelligence, said a terrorist strike from an Islamic extremist group could not be ruled out, but no physical proof of terrorism has been revealed.
If a missile did bring down the jet, the wreckage will hold clues about the weapon’s damage, like perforations in the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shot down over Ukraine in July 2014. Likewise, a missile or bomb would leave chemical residue. “There’s all kinds of evidence from pyrotechnics,” said Al Diehl, an author and former investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.
One critical clue involves the aircraft's tail, which fell to the ground miles from the rest of the jet. That might turn the investigation toward a mechanical problem, such as metal fatigue.
In 2001, the tail of the Metrojet Airbus struck a runway during a landing in Cairo. Airline executives insist it was repaired correctly, but an improperly repaired and maintained tail could break off and lead to disaster.
“It’s in a dry desert where things are easy to find,” Diehl said about Saturday's crash. “Within weeks, we should know about metal fatigue vs. overload failures.”
Another option in the Metrojet case could be a structural failure because of pilot error.
In November 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 crashed after taking off from New York’s John F. Kennedy airport, killing 260 people aboard the jet and five on the ground. Investigators found the vertical stabilizer of the Airbus A300-600 broke off because the first officer moved the rudder excessively and unnecessarily in the wake of another plane.