Egypt, Russian Federation: No Proof Explosion Brought Down Sinai Plane

The head of Egypt’s investigation into the crash, Ayman al-Muqaddam, has confirmed the cockpit recorder registered a noise in the last second of recording.

Meanwhile, Moscow is outraged at a cartoon in the French weekly Charlie Hebdo mocking the Russian plane crash in Egypt. But a top Egyptian official criticized other countries for lackluster efforts to combat terrorism in the Middle East.

Shoukry said Egypt had expected that the technical information used by the Western governments would be shared with Cairo.

Western intelligence sources have said British and US spies intercepted “chatter” from suspected militants suggesting that a bomb, possibly hidden in luggage in the hold, had downed the plane. But neither country has reached a final conclusion about the cause of the incident.

An Egyptian affiliate of the ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility for the crash, and aviation authorities across Ireland, Britain and Russian Federation have since suspended flights to Sharm El-Sheikh.

The source added that the missile that almost struck the Thomson jet was also spotted by another of the carrier’s planes as it approached Sharm El Sheikh.

“The security at Sharm was horrendous – we had friends with lighters in their pockets, people were patting you down but not asking you to get anything out, bottles of water being passed through”, he said.

On Friday, President Vladimir Putin ordered all Russian flights to Egypt halted, in a fresh blow to the country’s already struggling tourism industry.

“The tempers are fraying, not with the Egyptians but more among the tourists…”

Amid concerns over what happened to Flight 9268, Britain has suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh and is working to bring its citizens home from the resort.

The USA said it would also step up security screenings of US-bound flights from a few Middle East airports as a precaution.

The government said it concluded the incident was not a deliberate attack.

U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron have both said it is certainly possible the plane was bombed.

Relatives and friends of those on the Metrojet flight that crashed in Egypt react while gathering to grieve at a hotel near St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo worldwide Airport outside St. Petersburg, Russia, October 31, 2015.

Five airlines – Monarch, Thomas Cook, Thomson, Easyjet and British Airways – flew 1,945 Britons back to the United Kingdom on nine flights on Saturday.

Then 24 minutes into the flight, “suddenly there was nothing” with one of the boxes registering a loud sound and a “violent, sudden end”, strongly indicating that a bomb went off.

An official said British passengers would check in their luggage as usual but it would be transported separately on a different plane.

IS said it downed the plane in retaliation for Russian air strikes in Syria, but has provided no details as to how.

Customers were not able to take any hold luggage with them on any of the flights.

“There seems to be difficulty in serving a large number of aircraft from the airport of Sharm el-Sheikh”, said airports communication manager Adamos Aspris.