Numerous theories trail Russian plane crash

IS claimed to have brought down the Russian Metrojet plane, killing all 224 people aboard, shortly after it crashed on Saturday.

Alexander Smirnov, Deputy General Director of Kogalymavia, said only a “technical or physical action” could have caused the aircraft to break up in the air.

Isis has issued a statement claiming responsibility for the crash, describing it as an attack on “Russian crusaders”.

Russian officials first said Sunday that it appeared the plane had broken up in midair – fueling speculation of a possible plot involving explosives – and officials on Monday did little to dispel those fears.

That could point to a catastrophic event during flight, possibly the result of a bomb explosion although analysts were considering a range of possible causes, CNN said. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said it could take months to establish the truth behind the crash and Egyptian officials are cooperating with Russian Federation to aid in the investigation.

The Russian airline Kogalymavia’s jet crashed in Sinai Peninsula en route to St. Petersburg from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh on Saturday.

Russian officials said that the airliner had likely broken up in mid-air before falling to the ground. The aircraft had clocked around 56,000 flight hours over the course of almost 21,000 flights, the plane maker said.

US National Intelligence Director James Clapper said on Monday it is unlikely that terrorists took down the Russian airliner, but would not rule that out.

“It doesn’t tell us if it was a bomb… or if somebody had a fight in the airplane with a gun – there is a whole raft of things that could happen in this regard”, he said. And Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said the claim that terrorists brought down the plane with an anti-aircraft missile “cannot be considered reliable”, according to RIA Novosti.

While officials have been reluctant to talk about the condition of the bodies, St Petersburg’s governor has said DNA expertise may be needed to identify a few remains, indicating many were badly damaged.

The RIA Novosti news agency on Tuesday cited an unidentified Egyptian source as saying no trace of explosives had yet been discovered on the wreckage. Additionally, 140 bodies and more than 100 body parts were transported by two planes to St. Petersburg, with a third to follow Tuesday night.

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.