Causes of the plane crash on October 31. Lost flight: what is known about the causes of the crash of the A321 a year later. Almost a year later

Flight 9268 departed for its last flight at 03:50:06 UTC (05:50:06 local time and 06:50:06 Moscow time). At 04:13:00, the liner sharply lowered its altitude, and then disappeared from the radar.

Shortly before the accident, the aircraft commander requested permission from ground services for an emergency landing in Cairo due to technical problems. However, it was no longer possible to save the aircraft. The wreckage of the liner was found near the city of El Arish - they were scattered over 13 km in an elliptical-shaped area, the area of \u200b\u200bwhich reached 30 square meters. km.

On board the crashed Airbus 321 were 224 people, seven of them were crew members. Initially, Egyptian rescuers who arrived on the scene reported hearing people groaning under the rubble and said they hoped to find someone who could survive, but it soon became known that no one had survived. Most of the passengers on the plane were tourists returning to Russia after a holiday in Egypt. The vast majority of those who were on board the liner were Russians, but there were three citizens of Ukraine and one Belarusian citizen.

Among the dead were the deputy head of Pskov, who was returning from vacation with his common-law wife, as well as a participant in the TV show "Top Model in Russian" Elena Domashnaya from St. Petersburg. 24 children died.

The smallest passenger was only ten months old, her photograph, published by many world publications, became a symbol of the tragedy over Sinai.

Causes

In the first days after the disaster, information about the possible causes of the crash was contradictory. Thus, the Egyptian authorities said that the crew of the Airbus 321 complained about engine problems. They also put forward the version of a technical malfunction as one of the main ones. In a preliminary report released by Egypt late last year, there was not a single word about a terrorist attack on board the ship.

Photo report: Anniversary of the A321 crash over Sinai

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However, all the evidence pointed to the opposite.

A few hours after the accident, militants of the Islamic State banned in Russia claimed responsibility for the explosion.

The organizer of the explosion was called Abu Osama al-Masri, the leader of the Vilayat Sinai group, which is considered. Later, through media friendly to them, the terrorists showed photographs of an explosive device - it turned out to be a homemade bomb made from an ordinary aluminum can. IS militants also claimed that they were able to carry the device on board the plane after they found some kind of loophole in the security system of Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

On the evening of November 16, Vladimir Putin, at a meeting following the investigation into the causes of the plane crash, said that Russia would find and punish the organizers of the terrorist attack.

“The murder of our people in the Sinai is among the most bloody in terms of the number of victims of crimes. And we will not wipe the tears from our soul and heart. This will stay with us forever. But this will not prevent us from finding and punishing the criminals,” the President stressed. “We have to do this without a statute of limitations, to know them all by name. We will look for them wherever they hide. We will find them anywhere in the world and punish them.”

Putin also ordered more air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria. After this order, the aviation group of the Russian Air Force in Syria was reinforced, and long-range aircraft were also connected to the bombing. “Our combat aviation work in Syria should not just be continued. It must be strengthened in such a way that the criminals understand that retribution is inevitable,” the president added.

"Garden of Memory"

The day before, on October 30, on the Rumbolovskaya Hill in the Leningrad Region, a foundation stone was set on the site of the future monument to the victims of the tragedy "Garden of Memory". “We plan to plant 224 trees here, according to the death toll from the terrorist attack over Sinai. And this garden, the "Garden of Memory", will bloom every year, will live. And in our hearts the memory of relatives, relatives, friends and fellow countrymen who flew on flight 9268 will live, ”said the governor of the region.

The project "Garden of Memory", developed by students of the St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, is a corridor of slabs and metal structures with the names of all those killed in a plane crash with elements of landscape design. Thanks to the lighting system, the monument will be visible at night to those driving along the Road of Life (today it is the official name of the A128 St. Petersburg - Morie highway). The grand opening of the "Garden of Memory" will take place a year later, on the eve of the second anniversary of the Egyptian tragedy.

On the eve, the relatives of the victims literally covered the monument laid in St. Petersburg with flowers.

They did not have long to wait for the first results of the investigation into the tragedy over Sinai: the preliminary results of the investigation, according to a source from the Egyptian newspaper Al-Watan in the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, will be published within the next 60 days.

On October 31, 2015, a Russian airliner A321 crashed due to a terrorist attack in Egypt.

Exactly one year ago, October 31, 2015, over the Sinai Peninsula. The catastrophe, which became the largest in the history of Soviet and Russian aviation, claimed the lives of 224 people.

Most of them are residents of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. A year after the tragedy, not all relatives of the victims were able to bury their loved ones. Until now, Petersburgers are waiting for the official and final results of the investigation of the disaster from the Egyptian side. And literally learn to live again.

On October 30, Airbus 321-231 of Kogalymavia Airlines successfully completed two flights on the route Sharm el-Sheikh - Samara - Sharm el-Sheikh.

The handover crew of the FAC Dmitry Zhigalkovich and co-pilot Yuri Yushkone did not express any comments on the liner.

Already in the early morning of October 31, the plane will have two more scheduled flights: Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg - Sharm el-Sheikh. The board is already accepting the following crew: an experienced 48-year-old Valery Nemov, who has flown over 12,000 hours, and 45-year-old co-pilot Sergei Trukhachev, a former military pilot who went through the Chechen campaign.

On board, 217 passengers will be waiting for them, most of them are Petersburgers, many are returning home with their families from a long-awaited vacation in Egypt.

At 03:50:06 local time (06:50 Moscow time), flight 7K-9268 takes off from Sharm el-Sheikh, after which, following the air corridor along the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, it begins to climb.

In St. Petersburg, the plane, bypassing the Sinai Peninsula, will have to arrive at 12:10 local time, on a typical Saturday October afternoon, along with dozens of other domestic and international flights listed on the Pulkovo scoreboard. But neither then, nor after several delays that appeared on the scoreboard, the long-awaited flight 9268 did not return to its homeland.

Within minutes after the liner turned inland, its altitude begins to plummet to 6,000 feet. Communication with the aircraft is lost.

The first media reports that the Kogalymavia Airbus aircraft disappeared from the radar begin to appear only at 10:18 Moscow time.

In short news items, the data differ significantly: according to the information contained in them, there were from 207 to 224 people on board.

Some reports say the plane went missing in the Larnaca area of Cyprus.

"Flight 9268 Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg, operated by Airbus 321 Kogalymavia, took off at 6:21 Moscow time and disappeared from the radar screens after 23 minutes, there were 217 passengers and seven crew members on board," the statement said. Rosaviatsia.

The count goes on for a moment - two minutes later there is news from the Arab media, which reported that a Russian plane crashed in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula.

But the data is still scarce and not backed up by official confirmation. Hope is preserved. At 10:42 am, Reuters and Sky News publish the first reports disproving the plane crash. Sources of publications claim that the crew of the missing aircraft got in touch in Turkey. Flightradar also does not confirm the fall, specifying that the airliner sharply lowered its altitude before disappearing from radar.

In Pulkovo, where by that time the information about the arrival has disappeared from the scoreboard, the emergency headquarters begins operational work, the Russian Emergencies Ministry is preparing two aircraft for shipment to Egypt. Later, the agency decides to send five special aircraft to Egypt.

Search teams discovered the crash site among the mountains of the Sinai Peninsula. The wreckage of the liner was scattered over 13 kilometers.

The search operation took place in difficult conditions: North Sinai is a closed zone, for a year now the Egyptian army has been conducting a large-scale operation there against militants of an extremist group associated with ISIS. It was the Egyptian military, patrolling the area, who first discovered the wreckage of the liner.

The plane crashed in the An-Nakhal mountain range, a deserted, waterless and deserted place. According to updated and officially confirmed information, there were 224 people on board the aircraft, including seven crew members.

According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, among the passengers of the liner were 192 adults and 25 children. They all died.

“Dear Amalia, 28 years ago you gave the world a wonderful boy. Every mother dreams of such a son and a girl dreams of such a reliable and loving man next to her. smile, this is the face of a purposeful and very decent young man. I didn’t know him, but I’m terribly sorry for Armen. Such boys were obliged to live and give the world beautiful children. But, unfortunately, another world, black and evil, took his life. Strength and health to you. Thank you for such a son. Insanely sorry ... Blessed memory to Armen and a heavenly birthday. (Tatyana Svetlova, St. Sinai.

On October 26, a few days before the plane crash, Armen Vishnev, a native of the city of Pushkin, who served in the Federal Customs Service, turned 27 years old. Armen flew to Egypt to rest, in one of the last messages he asked his mother not to be bored, because the separation would not be long, he promised to bring a magnet or, as a joke, even a whole camel.

A year after the tragedy, Amalia carefully keeps all the photos and messages of her son. Caring residents of other regions of Russia and dozens of other relatives of the victims of the plane crash help her to honor the memory and survive the grief of loss. The tragedy brought together more than 36 thousand people on the Web. Through the efforts of St. Petersburg residents, the Flight 9268 charitable foundation was created, which now provides support to people who have lost loved ones in the disaster over Sinai.

"The main goal for which we have united is to perpetuate the memory of our relatives in the deeds that we are able to accomplish: the creation of a memorial and a temple, the preservation of memories of our loved ones, helping the families of the victims who need financial, legal and psychological support. "Our foundation is not just an attempt to rally around a common cause. It is a protest against terrorism, murder, cruelty and injustice. A long journey begins with a small step. And we are taking this step all together - this is the goal set by people whose lives The tragedy divided into before and after the catastrophe," the foundation says.

The group of the fund in social networks has long become a kind of spontaneous book of memory, where you can find out the latest information about the course of the investigation of the tragedy, see again the photos of all those who did not return home from the ill-fated flight, and also provide all possible assistance to relatives and friends.

And it’s not just about money: any support is valuable, because even after a year, practice shows that time does not heal, and a long investigation and difficult bureaucratic procedures associated with the payment of compensation only exacerbate the already unrelenting pain of loss.

Most of the passengers of the crashed A321 were residents of the North-West of Russia, mainly from St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Novgorod and Pskov regions. Also on board were four citizens of Ukraine and one citizen of Belarus. The smallest passenger, Darina Gromova, was only 10 months old, her photo, posted by her mother on social networks shortly before the disaster and subsequently published by many world publications, became an unspoken symbol of the tragedy.

A year after the plane crash, not all relatives of the victims of the A321 crash were able to bury their relatives: six of those killed in the crash over Sinai have not yet been identified. According to Irina Zakharova, chairman of the Board of the Flight 9268 Charitable Foundation, the remains that are now stored in the crematorium on Shafirovsky Prospekt are not subject to examination. However, the families still have hope to get fragments of the bodies of their dead relatives: in Egypt, after the completion of the main stage of the investigation, new remains were discovered, they are now being studied.

The report of the international commission investigating the crash of the Russian A321 over Sinai has not yet been made public: experts will tell about the preliminary results of their work (and this is a year after the investigation), according to a source in the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, "within 60 days."

"Certain technical analyzes are now being carried out, after which a preliminary report will be released," a spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Aviation told media on October 26.

One of the first versions of the disaster was the assumption that the Russian plane could have been shot down by a missile fired by militants operating in the North Sinai region. However, this assumption was almost immediately refuted by experts as untenable. For a long time, experts worked out another probable cause of the crash of the Kogalymavia airliner - a version of technical problems. This was announced on the day of the crash by the operational services of Egypt following a preliminary examination of the wreckage of the aircraft. At the initial stage of the investigation, Russian specialists were inclined to the same version.

Representatives of Kogalymavia (trademark Metrojet) were the first to refute it: already on November 2, the airline's press secretary Alexander Smirnov ruled out a technical malfunction and pilot error as the causes of the disaster and announced "external influence" on the liner. He stressed that the aircraft, which the airline owned under a lease, was 100% ready to fly and that its crew was "very experienced." The representative of the company supported his speech with certificates received by the airline in early 2015. He also stated that the plane's engine was checked on October 26, five days before the crash.

On November 7, the IAC reported that until the end of recording on the registrars, the flight took place in the normal mode, there was no information about the failures of the aircraft's systems and assemblies.

“We can unequivocally say that this is a terrorist act. According to our experts, an improvised explosive device with a capacity of up to 1 kg in TNT equivalent went off on board the aircraft in flight, as a result of which the aircraft fell apart in the air, which explains the spread of parts of the aircraft fuselage on a large distance," Bortnikov said, adding that traces of a foreign-made explosive were found on the wreckage and things.

Bortnikov explained that the conclusions were made by specialists after a thorough examination of personal belongings, passengers' luggage and parts of the wrecked liner.

At first it was assumed that the explosive device was planted under passenger seat 30A or 31A. However, in September 2016, the data of the commission were made public, according to which the explosion occurred in the tail section, in the oversized baggage compartment. The time bomb was hidden among the baby carriages. Experts came to this conclusion after analyzing the layout of the assembled A321 fragments in the hangar of Cairo airport. Due to the explosion, the aircraft lost its tail section, after which it went into an uncontrolled dive.

The investigation into the tragedy is progressing very slowly, and all the circumstances of the incident are still unknown.

Responsibility for the crash of the Russian plane was almost immediately claimed by an Egyptian cell of the Islamic State group banned in Russia. The airport employees could have carried the explosive device on board - numerous testimonies of the weak level of security in the air harbor flooded the Internet immediately after the tragedy: many tourists said that for a small bribe they calmly carried bags with things through all the security cordons, and nobody examined them.

However, the Egyptian side for a long time insisted on the version of a technical malfunction, refusing to admit the possibility of a terrorist attack on board the liner.

In December 2015, the Technical Investigation Committee released a statement saying that Cairo found no evidence of terrorist involvement in the Airbus 321 crash.

It was only in February 2016 that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi admitted for the first time that a terrorist attack was the cause of the Russian plane crash in the sky over Sinai. The head of state stated this at the presentation of a report on the development of the country until 2030.

On August 30, 2016, it was announced that Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, who was allegedly the organizer of the attack, had been killed in Aleppo, Syria.

Air traffic with Egypt, which was terminated immediately after the crash of the A321, has not yet been restored. In accordance with the official commentary of the Russian Ministry of Transport, the situation will not change until all the remarks in the field of aviation security are eliminated.

"The decision to resume air traffic between Russia and Egypt is possible only after all the comments in the field of aviation and transport security have been eliminated. It is worth noting that the Egyptian side has made significant progress in resolving these issues and the interaction between the two countries is quite constructive," the ministry noted. October.

In a year, the memorial "Garden of Memory", which will be located on Rumbolovskaya Hill in Vsevolozhsk, will be completed and fresh flowers will bloom here. A corridor of slabs, on which, in accordance with the design of the monument, there will be the names of all those killed in the A321 plane crash, as well as metal structures in the form of pipes on which the wind will play, will be seen by anyone who passes along the Road of Life.

On Monday, October 31, a memorial service will be held in St. Isaac's Cathedral for the victims of the A321 crash in the sky over the Sinai Peninsula. In memory of those who never returned home to their relatives and friends, the bell of the cathedral will strike 224 times.

Last information:

25.12.2015 The attack on board the A321 was carried out using an improvised explosive device based on C-4 plastic explosive. According to the Kommersant newspaper on Friday, citing its own source close to the investigation, this fact significantly expands the list of potential criminals.

The source said that the Russian special services had established the possible nature of the explosive device. C-4 plastic explosive was developed in the USA and is now produced in many countries. Thus, the list of those suspected of participating in the preparation of a terrorist act will be significantly expanded, which means that their search will be more complicated.

11/17/2015 The FSB confirmed the version of the explosion on board the Airbus A321.

Information about this was received by the resource site after the meeting between the director of the FSB and Vladimir Putin. As it became known, in all likelihood, the power of the explosive device activated on board the Russian passenger airliner that crashed in the Sinai Peninsula was about 1 kilogram of TNT, however, in reality, we can talk about a much smaller amount of explosives that could serve as only the initiator of further destruction of the aircraft in the air.

The cause of the explosion on board the Russian A321 over Sinai was an unknown suitcase, which one of the loaders received from an employee of the Sharm el-Sheikh airport. According to sources in the Egyptian security services, the luggage scanner was left unattended for some time.

The terrible tragedy that occurred on October 31, 2015, and claimed the lives of 224 people, is fraught with a lot of questions, while, despite the fact that the flight recorders found at the crash site of the Airbus A321 airliner have not yet been deciphered, experts have already put forward far not one version of why the plane crash could happen.

Terrorist act

Almost immediately after the appearance of information about the crash of a passenger airliner of the Kogalymavia (Metrojet) airline, versions appeared about a terrorist act that had occurred on board the aircraft. It is extremely difficult to guess who could carry it out, since there are not so few radical groups around the world, however, experts who adhere to this version believe that these could be the militants of the Islamic State, whose positions were so mercilessly destroyed in Syria by the Aerospace Forces for a month Russian Federation.

Almost immediately after the presentation of this version, skeptics also appeared who noted that the version of a terrorist act on board the aircraft is unlikely for the reason that in the event of an explosion on board, and it is most likely to consider precisely these circumstances, very large damage would certainly have been found, including those that affected both passengers and interior trim. Nevertheless, it is worth noting the fact that even a small explosion inside the aircraft cabin would be enough to depressurize it, and given the fact that the aircraft was at high altitude, it can be said with 99% probability that the aircraft would have been destroyed.

Destruction of an aircraft from the ground

One of the first to appear was also a version that a passenger airliner of the domestic airline Kogalymavia could have been destroyed from the ground. This version was discussed in great detail until the photos and videos from the crash site of the passenger airliner were made public. The presented photos and video materials clearly show that there are no external, in any case, visible damage to the fuselage from a missile hit, which minimizes the likelihood of such circumstances, but at the same time does not completely exclude them.

Airliner technical malfunction

The most common cause of almost any plane crash is a technical malfunction, and at the moment, this version is followed by most experts involved in the investigation of a plane crash. What kind of malfunction was, experts at the moment cannot speak, since a variety of versions are possible, however, it should be assumed that it arose, it is very transient.

Initially, it was assumed that a failed aircraft engine could be the culprit, however, it is fair to note the fact that modern airliners are very well insured against falling in the event of a failure of one of the engines, since even when using only one power plant, an aircraft can overcome in no way less than 200-300 kilometers.

In addition, given the official data, before taking off from the Egyptian airport, the passenger airliner of the Kogalymavia company was fully operational, and even earlier there were no technical problems causing concern with it.

It is also worth clarifying that in the event of any technical malfunction, the aircraft crew first of all informs the air traffic controller about this, however, according to official data, the pilot of a passenger aircraft did not make any requests or notifications regarding technical problems that arose on board the aircraft.

Sudden depressurization of the aircraft

The last, very plausible voiced version was the so-called explosive depressurization. Given the rather large spread of the wreckage of a passenger airliner, as well as the entire transience of the process, this version is quite justified, however, the circumstances of what happened remain unknown, since initiating the process of instantaneous depressurization requires either a large hole in the fuselage of a passenger airliner, or a sharp increase in pressure inside a passenger aircraft , which can be caused precisely by the detonation of explosives on board the liner, which again suggests a version of either a terrorist act or a version of the deliberate destruction of an aircraft from the ground.

Experts note that most likely the main cause of the crash will be named only after decoding the aircraft's flight recorders, which, although they received some damage, are quite suitable for extracting information and data from them. It is expected that the first information from the flight recorders will be received by experts by the middle of this week.

On October 30, Airbus 321-231 of Kogalymavia Airlines successfully completed two flights on the route Sharm el-Sheikh - Samara - Sharm el-Sheikh. The PIC's handover crew Dmitry Zhigalkovich and co-pilot Yuri Yushko do not express any comments on the liner. Already in the early morning of October 31, the plane will have two more scheduled flights: Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg - Sharm el-Sheikh. The board is already accepting the following crew: an experienced 48-year-old Valery Nemov, who has flown over 12,000 hours, and 45-year-old co-pilot Sergei Trukhachev, a former military pilot who went through the Chechen campaign.

On board, 217 passengers will be waiting for them, most of them are Petersburgers, many are returning home with their families from a long-awaited vacation in Egypt. At 03:50:06 local time (06:50 Moscow time), flight 7K-9268 takes off from Sharm el-Sheikh, after which, following the air corridor along the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, it begins to climb.

A few days after the catastrophe in the sky over Egypt, Flightradar will publish data on the last flight of the A321 over Sinai. According to a report published on the website, the plane took off safely and began to climb, moving parallel to the coast. Within minutes after the liner turned inland, its altitude begins to plummet to 6,000 feet. Communication with the aircraft is lost. The first media reports that the Kogalymavia Airbus aircraft disappeared from the radar begin to appear only at 10:18 Moscow time. In short news items, the data differ significantly: according to the information contained in them, there were from 207 to 224 people on board. Some reports say the plane went missing in the Larnaca area of Cyprus.

Flight 9268 Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg, operated by Airbus 321 "Kogalymavia", took off at 6:21 Moscow time and disappeared from the radar screens after 23 minutes, there were 217 passengers and seven crew members on board, the Federal Air Transport Agency reported.

The count goes on for a moment - two minutes later there is news from the Arab media, which reported that a Russian plane crashed in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula. But the data is still scarce and not backed up by official confirmation. Hope is preserved. At 10:42 am, Reuters and Sky News publish the first reports disproving the plane crash. Sources of publications claim that the crew of the missing aircraft got in touch in Turkey. Flightradar also does not confirm the fall, specifying that the airliner sharply lowered its altitude before disappearing from radar.

The Federal Air Transport Agency reports that they are trying to contact the flight that disappeared from the radar. At 11:44, Pulkovo's online scoreboard still contains information that the flight from Sharm el-Sheikh is delayed (from 12:10 to 12:20). But closer to 12, citing sources in the Federal Air Transport Agency, most of the media publish information about the crash of an airliner over the Sinai Peninsula. In Pulkovo, where by that time the information about the arrival has disappeared from the scoreboard, the emergency headquarters begins operational work, the Russian Emergencies Ministry is preparing two aircraft for shipment to Egypt. Later, the agency decides to send five special aircraft to Egypt.

Search teams discovered the crash site among the mountains of the Sinai Peninsula. The wreckage of the liner was scattered over 13 kilometers.

The search operation took place in difficult conditions: Northern Sinai is a closed zone, for a year now the Egyptian army has been conducting a large-scale operation there against militants of an extremist group associated with ISIS (the activities of the group are prohibited in Russia by a decision of the Supreme Court. - Note. ed.). It was the Egyptian military, patrolling the area, who first discovered the wreckage of the liner. The plane crashed in the An-Nakhal mountain range, a deserted, waterless and deserted place. According to updated and officially confirmed information, there were 224 people on board the aircraft, including seven crew members. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, among the passengers of the liner were 192 adults and 25 children. They all died.

Dear Amalia, 28 years ago you gave the world a wonderful boy. Every mother dreams of such a son and a girl dreams of such a reliable and loving man nearby. A year ago, photographs of all the dead were published, I immediately remembered Armen's face, it attracts the eye with its kind and pure smile, this is the face of a purposeful and very decent young man. I didn't know him, but I'm terribly sorry for Armen. Such boys were obliged to live and give the world beautiful children. But, unfortunately, another world, black and evil, took his life. Strength and health to you. Thank you for being such a son. Insanely sorry ... Blessed memory of Armen and a heavenly birthday. (Tatiana Svetlova, St. Petersburg) - a year after the tragedy, relatives of those killed in the terrible plane crash over Sinai continue to receive such letters.

A year after the tragedy, Amalia carefully keeps all the photos and messages of her son. Caring residents of other regions of Russia and dozens of other relatives of the victims of the plane crash help her to honor the memory and survive the grief of loss. The tragedy brought together more than 36 thousand people on the Web. Through the efforts of St. Petersburg residents, the Flight 9268 charity foundation was created, which now provides support to people who have lost loved ones in the disaster over Sinai.

The main goal for which we have united is to perpetuate the memory of our relatives in the deeds that we are able to accomplish: the creation of a memorial and a temple, the preservation of memories of our loved ones, helping the families of the victims who need financial, legal and psychological support. Our foundation is not just an attempt to rally around a common cause. This is a protest against terrorism, murder, cruelty and injustice. A great journey starts with a small step. And we are taking this step all together - this is the goal set by people whose lives the tragedy divided into before and after the disaster.

Foundation Group in social networks has long become a kind of spontaneous book of memory, where you can find out the latest information about the investigation of the tragedy, see again the photos of all those who did not return home from the ill-fated flight, and also provide all possible assistance to relatives and friends.

The tragedy cut short the lives of entire families: Olga and Yuri Shein and their three children died in the disaster. The whole country from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok was shocked to the core by the love story of Alexandra Chernova and Yevgeny Yavsin on board the A321: Evgeny specially saved money to take Sasha to Egypt and propose to her there.
And dozens of other life-long stories that ended so unfairly and suddenly on that ill-fated October morning. Most of the passengers of the crashed A321 were residents of the North-West of Russia, mainly from St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Novgorod and Pskov regions. Also on board were four citizens of Ukraine and one citizen of Belarus. Flight 9268" by Irina Zakharova, the remains that are now stored in the crematorium on Shafirovsky Prospekt are not subject to examination. However, the families still have hope to receive fragments of the bodies of their dead relatives: in Egypt, after the completion of the main stage of the investigation, new remains were discovered, they are now being studied.

Certain technical analyzes are now being carried out, after which a preliminary report will be made public, a spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Aviation told the media on October 26.

Recall that representatives of six countries take part in the investigation of the causes of the disaster: Egypt, Russia, as well as specialists from France, Germany, Ireland and the United States. Its course, in accordance with the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), is led by the aviation authorities of Egypt.
One of the first versions of the disaster was the assumption that the Russian plane could have been shot down by a missile fired by militants operating in the North Sinai region. However, this assumption was almost immediately refuted by experts as untenable. For a long time, experts worked out another probable cause of the crash of the Kogalymavia airliner - a version of technical problems. This was announced on the day of the crash by the operational services of Egypt following a preliminary examination of the wreckage of the aircraft. At the initial stage of the investigation, Russian specialists were inclined to the same version.

At a meeting in the Kremlin on November 16, the head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, officially announced for the first time that a terrorist attack was the cause of the crash. Versions of third-party interference with links to various sources were published earlier in foreign and Russian media. “We can definitely say that this is a terrorist act,” Bortnikov said, adding that traces of a foreign-made explosive were found on the wreckage and things. - According to our experts, an improvised explosive device with a capacity of up to 1 kg of TNT went off on board the aircraft in flight, as a result of which the aircraft fell apart in the air, which explains the dispersion of parts of the aircraft fuselage at a great distance.

Bortnikov explained that the conclusions were made by specialists after a thorough examination of personal belongings, passengers' luggage and parts of the wrecked liner.

The investigation into the tragedy is progressing very slowly, and all the circumstances of the incident are still unknown. Responsibility for the crash of the Russian plane was almost immediately claimed by an Egyptian cell of the Islamic State group banned in Russia. The airport employees could have carried the explosive device on board - numerous testimonies of the weak level of security in the air harbor flooded the Internet immediately after the tragedy: many tourists said that for a small bribe they calmly carried bags with things through all the security cordons, and nobody examined them. However, the Egyptian side for a long time insisted on the version of a technical malfunction, refusing to admit the possibility of a terrorist attack on board the liner. In December 2015, the Technical Investigation Committee released a statement saying that Cairo had found no evidence of terrorist involvement in the Airbus 321 crash. Sinai was a terrorist attack. The head of state stated this at the presentation of a report on the development of the country until 2030.

On August 30, 2016, it was announced that Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, who was allegedly the organizer of the attack, had been killed in Aleppo, Syria.

A decision to resume air traffic between Russia and Egypt is possible only after the elimination of all comments in the field of aviation and transport security. It is worth noting that the Egyptian side has made significant progress in resolving these issues and the interaction between the two countries is quite constructive, the department noted on October 25.

The Garden of Memory, which will be located on Rumbolovskaya Hill in Vsevolozhsk, will be completed and fresh flowers will bloom here. the wind will play, anyone who will pass along the Road of Life will see.

Exactly two years ago, on October 31, 2015, the most massive air crash in terms of the number of deaths occurred in the entire history of Russia. On this day, the Airbus A321-231 airliner of the Russian airline took off from the Egyptian Sharm el-Sheikh and headed for St. Petersburg. The crew of the liner operated a charter flight and drove Russian tourists home after the rest.

The plane climbed steadily along the Gulf of Aqaba and was soon to cross the Sinai Peninsula to enter European airspace. However, at the 23rd minute of the flight, the connection of ground services with the aircraft was interrupted. It soon became clear that the Airbus A321-231 crashed to the ground in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula and completely collapsed. The wreckage of the aircraft was scattered over 13 km. All 224 people on board the aircraft were killed.

Photo report: Three years of tragedy over Sinai

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At the time of the death of the airliner, there were seven crew members, as well as 217 passengers. Of these, four were Ukrainians, one Belarusian, and the rest were Russian citizens. Among them was the deputy head of Pskov and a deputy of the local legislative assembly. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the oldest passenger was 77 years old, and

the smallest victim of the tragedy was 10-month-old.

Shortly before the tragic incident, her mother Tatyana published a photo of the child on the page on the social network VKontakte. The picture shows the girl standing on the window sill of the airport window with her back to the viewer. She looks at the planes on the ground. Under the picture she signed: "The most important passenger."

This photograph was later replicated by many Russian and world media and became a symbol of the Sinai catastrophe. Diana's mother and father also died in the crash of the liner.

Condolences to the victims were expressed by the Russian president, as well as the leaders of many countries in Europe and the world. The day after the crash of the liner, mourning was declared in Russia. However, the French published three cartoons on the topic of the disaster, which caused a negative reaction from the Russian Federation and. In response, the French Foreign Ministry said that "journalists in France freely express their opinion", while "it does not always coincide with the official position of the French authorities."

"There were no questions about the car"

Shortly after the incident, various versions of what had happened began to be put forward. Almost immediately, the hypothesis was dismissed, according to which the plane crashed due to pilot error. The crashed Airbus was flown by experienced pilots, and the crew commander, 48-year-old Valery Nemov, flew over 12,000 hours, of which more than 3,860 were on the Airbus A321.

However, the details of the operation of the aircraft soon became known, and it turned out that it was far from new.

It was released in the spring of 1997 and made its first flight on May 9th. After that, the aircraft was handed over to the American company International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), which by May 27 leased it to the Lebanese airline Middle East Airlines (MEA), which had it for six years. On June 2, 2003, already under the tail number TC-OAE, the liner was leased to the Turkish airline Onur Air. This structure later sub-leased the liner to Saudi Saudi Arabian Airlines, and from July 30 to September 29, 2010 - to the Syrian Cham Wings Airlines. By the spring of 2012, the TC-OAE board returned to ILFC, and by March 30, 2012, it was leased to the Russian Kogalymavia.

On April 30 of the same 2012, the Dutch airline AerCap bought it from ILFC, which re-delivered this airliner to the Russian Kogalymavia. The Russian airline, in turn, has been operating under the Metrojet trademark since May 1, 2012.

During the long service of the aircraft, an unpleasant incident from the point of view of safety occurred to him. On November 16, 2001, he was on passenger flight ME 306 on the route Beirut - Cairo, and when landing at the airport in the Egyptian capital, the pilots raised his nose too high, as a result of which the tail dropped so low that it hit the ground. None of the 88 people on board the aircraft (81 passengers and 7 crew members) were injured then, and the liner itself returned to passenger routes after undergoing repairs. This information was confirmed by the representatives of Kogalymavia, assuring that the aircraft passed all the necessary checks and technical tests on time.

On the eve of departure, the ill-fated flight underwent maintenance, and the receiving crew had no questions about the car.

Interrupted message

An investigation into the causes of the tragedy was immediately launched by several large structures of the countries of the world, since Egypt is a very popular tourist destination among citizens of many states. The investigation began to be conducted by the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, Russia, the French Civil Aviation Safety Investigation and Analysis Bureau, the German Federal Aviation Accident Investigation Bureau, the Irish Accident Investigation Division, and the US National Transportation Safety Board.

At the same time, according to the norms of international law, the Egyptian investigators carried out the general leadership, since the incident occurred in the airspace of this country. Already on the first of November, the "black boxes" found earlier from the deceased liner were deciphered. In the meantime, he opened criminal cases under articles 263 and 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of the rules for the safety of traffic and operation of railway, air, sea and inland water transport and the subway” and “Production, storage, transportation or sale of goods and products, performance of work or provision services that do not meet security requirements”).

The United Kingdom and German airlines also interrupted flights with the Egyptian state, while France, the Netherlands and Belgium warned their citizens about the undesirability of flying to Sharm el-Sheikh. In addition, she announced the cancellation of night flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.

Customers not installed

Meanwhile, the victims of the disaster filed a class-action lawsuit against the tour operator, the Kogalymavia airline and insurance companies for a total amount of about €1.4 billion. This is the first example of a class-action lawsuit for such a serious amount in Russian history.

And although the involvement of Kogalymavia employees in the incident over Sinai is not confirmed by the facts, in the spring of 2016 she banned domestic and international flights of this airline.

According to the most frequently voiced version, the Sinai division of the terrorist "" is behind the attack (both organizations are banned in Russia). Its members claimed responsibility for this crime shortly after the incident.

However, there are other points of view. A number of experts believe that the pro-Catarian organization Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (a cell of IS banned in Russia) could be behind the attack. The United States also announced its trace in the tragedy.

Be that as it may, after the death of the plane, Russian aviation began to intensify its air strikes on the objects of various Islamist organizations in Syria. For the first time, Russian strategic aviation was involved in raids on IS targets and other extremists.

However, the names of the specific perpetrators of the attack have not yet been established.

And on October 28, 2017, a monument to the victims of the disaster was unveiled at the Serafimovsky cemetery in St. Petersburg. In addition, among the people of St. Petersburg there is an idea to erect a monument to 10-month-old Darina Gromova, who has already promised to make a well-known sculptor free of charge.