United States officials say in-flight explosion may have brought down Russian plane

American infrared satellites detected the activity above the Sinai Peninsula at the same time as the passenger plane came down, killing all 224 people on board.

Clapper said the US does not have “any direct evidence of any terrorist involvement yet”, but he also acknowledged that ISIS is active in that region.

The removal of the bodies from the scene of the Metrojet crash in Egypt was completed Tuesday as 28 bags containing victims’ remains were flown to Russian Federation for DNA testing, local aviation ministry sources said. Russia’s top aviation official chided the company for “jumping the gun” on ruling out mechanical or pilot error. ISIS did not offer any details of “how” in their statement claiming responsibility either.

The government plane brought 140 bodies to St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport, touching down in the dark.

He said the aircraft’s engines had undergone routine inspection in Moscow on October 26 which found no problems and he said in the five flights before the crash, the crew recorded no technical problems in the aircraft’s log book.

Investigators say “uncharacteristic” sounds could be heard from recordings of crew and dispatcher conversations moments before the aircraft exploded. Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi told the BBC that Saturday’s crash was most likely the result of a technical fault, and not militants linked to the Islamic State, who claimed to have shot the plane down.

Black box recorders on the Metrojet Airbus 321 picked up sounds “uncharacteristic of a standard flight” just before the accident, The Independent reports, citing Russian media.

When asked whether a terror attack could have downed the plane, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no theory could be ruled out, according to Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared Sunday a day of mourning.

Meanwhile, tearful family members on Tuesday began identifying the first 10 bodies of victims, whose names have not yet been released.

He also said the Sinai desert is well-scrutinized by intelligence agencies, so a missile would have been seen. Data shows the plane quickly slowed 300 miles per hour in speed, climbed almost 3,000 feet in a few seconds before falling another 3,000 feet just seconds later.