External factors, not technical issues, prompted Russian airline’s disastrous end in Egypt

The Russian aircraft that crashed in Egypt on Saturday, Oct. 31, was a result of external factors and not technical issues in the aircraft, according to the Russian airline.

Russia’s Metrojet, legally operated as Kogalymavia airline, killed all 224 passengers within the flight. The carrier’s management said that the crew completely “lost control”; hence, a call of emergency was not made by pilots during the flight.

“We rule out a technical fault of the plane or a pilot error,” Kogalymavia airline executive Alexander Smirnov said in a press conference in Moscow on Monday, as quoted by The Guardian. “The only explainable cause is physical impact on the aircraft.”

When asked about an explanation on the whole matter, Smirnov refused to provide any detail on the ongoing investigation.

Viktor Yung, the deputy general director at Metrojet, added that he could not understand why the aircraft broke down in the middle of the flight without any technical failures figured out. He said that the only explanation for the plane crash was that it was some kind of external force because the jet aircraft was in excellent technical condition before it took off.

One of the members of the Egyptian committee examining the black box of the crashed aircraft told Reuters that the plane showed no indication of being stuck from outside, and the pilot did not try to contact anyone before the plane vanished from the radar. The source did not provide further details but claimed that the information were completely based on the preliminary inspection of the boxes.

Kogalymavia’s Deputy General Director for Engineering Andrei Averyanov claimed that the aircraft had undergone complete routine inspection on Oct. 26 in Moscow. He cleared the examination and took five flights without experiencing any technical problem days before the crash took place.

The U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said on Monday that the involvement of the Islamic State militant is unlikely in the matter.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.