LONDON, Nov. 4 (UPI) — The British government canceled flights to and from Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh amid fears a Russian passenger jet that crashed in Egypt was downed by a bomb.
British leaders said the Metrojet Airbus that crashed in the Sinai Peninsula killing all 224 aboard may have been “brought down by an explosive device.” A government spokeswoman said a team of experts was being dispatched from the United Kingdom to Egypt to investigate.
While the investigation is still ongoing we cannot say categorically why the Russian jet crashed. But as more information has come to light we have become concerned that the plane may well have been brought down by an explosive device. In light of this, and as a precautionary measure, we have decided that flights due to leave Sharm for the UK this evening will be delayed. That will allow time for a team of UK aviation experts, currently travelling to Sharm, to make an assessment of the security arrangements in place at the airport and to identify whether any further action is required. We expect this assessment to be completed tonight,” the spokeswoman said. “In light of this, and as a precautionary measure, we have decided that flights due to leave Sharm for the UK this evening will be delayed.”
The announcement from the British government comes one day after U.S. officials said an infrared surveillance satellite detected a “flash or explosion” in the same vicinity of the crash of the aircraft. A U.S. defense official said the satellite saw no heat trail of a surface-to-air missile.
A visible heat flash could indicate a bomb aboard the plane, a malfunctioning and exploding engine or a structural problem leading to a fire, among several possibilities. Metrojet Flight 9268, an Airbus A321-200, carried 217 passenger and seven crew members on its way from the Sinai resort Sharm el-Shiekh to St. Petersburg, Russia, when it crashed.
There were no survivors, and although a local Islamic State affiliate took responsibility for the crash, officials of several countries dismissed the claim as impossible, since none of the militias on the Sinai Peninsula have the weapons to down the plane from its altitude.
The plane, built in 1997, required repair in 2001 when its tail struck a Cairo landing strip. Officials have confirmed its safety inspections were in order.
Ed Adamczyk contributed to this report.
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