Exactly a year ago, on October 31, 2015, there was the most massive air crash in Russia in terms of the number of victims. Then in the north of the Sinai Peninsula plane A321 Russian airline Kogalymavia. Onboard there were 217 passengers, including 24 children, and seven crew members. They all died. The Russian authorities have recognized the incident as a terrorist attack, but an international investigation has not yet been completed.
On October 31, the A321 aircraft of the Russian airline "Kogalymavia" performed chartered flight from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. The liner took off at 5:50 am and disappeared from radar 23 minutes later. On the same day, search teams of the Egyptian government discovered the wreckage of a destroyed plane near the city of Nehel in the north of the Sinai Peninsula. All 224 people on board were killed, including 219 Russians, four citizens of Ukraine and one native of Belarus.
Causes of the crash of A321
International investigation led by aviation authorities Egypt is not over yet. It is attended by representatives from Russia, France, Germany, Ireland and the United States.
The first that a terrorist attack could have occurred on board the A321, soon after the plane crash, began to report the Western media, citing their sources in the special services and officials. From these publications it followed that the US and British authorities considered the version of the terrorist attack the most likely. However, Moscow has long publicly distanced itself from her, calling the version of the terrorist attack premature and urging to wait for the official results of the investigation. And only on November 6, it was decided to suspend flights with Egypt until the reasons for the crash of the A321 were clarified and the Russians staying there were evacuated.
Officially, the terrorist attack of the FSB that took place over Sinai only two and a half weeks after the disaster, on November 17. According to the ministry, an improvised explosive device went off during the flight. Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Security Council to find the organizers of the crash "anywhere in the world" and destroy them.
However, the Egyptian authorities, even after these statements, continued to insist that the most likely cause of the disaster was a technical problem. And only in February 2016, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi admitted that a terrorist attack had taken place on board the A321.
In September, the Kommersant newspaper, citing sources, reported that an international technical commission had established exact location explosion in an airplane. According to the newspaper, experts determined that the terrorists had mined the oversized baggage compartment in the rear of the plane, hiding an explosive device between baby carriages and wicker furniture carried by the tourists.
Russia and the CIA believe that the explosion on board was organized by Vilayat Sinai (until 2014 - Ansar Beit al-Maqdis), a cell of the terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS) banned in Russia. The group claimed responsibility for the A321 crash: On November 18, 2015, the Islamic State's propaganda magazine Dabik published a photograph of an improvised explosive device made from a can of Schweppes soda. As stated in the article, it was this device that was powered aboard the A321. In August 2016, the Egyptian military about the assassination of the leader of the "Vilayat Sinai" Abu Dua'a al-Ansari, suspected of organizing a terrorist attack.
Scandalous case
Relatives of those killed in the crash have repeatedly complained about the progress of the investigation and the process of payment of compensation. In December, lawyer Igor Trunov, on behalf of 35 relatives, filed a complaint against the inaction of the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, in the Basmanny Court. According to the lawyer, she expressed herself in the fact that the UK ignored two appeals from relatives. In one of them, they asked for the number of the criminal case, recognize them as victims and familiarize themselves with the materials of the investigation. Another complaint concerned Ingosstrakh. The appeal claimed that the company was fraudulently receiving statements from the relatives of the deceased, limiting their right to go to court in order to obtain compensation. Ingosstrakh itself categorically rejected these accusations. And the lawsuit against Bastrykin was rejected.
Consequences
After the crash of the Kogalymavia plane, Russia suspended flights with Egypt, and tour operators were prohibited from working in this direction. All year long they have been waiting for the resumption of communication with the country, which for many years has been one of the main resort destinations for Russians. According to the latest data, this may not happen until December or January.
To resume flights, the Egyptian side must fulfill a number of airport security requirements (their full list has not been officially made public). During the year, Russia repeatedly sent its specialists to Egypt for checks at the airports of Cairo, Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, but each time there were violations. According to sources of the newspaper "Al-Watan", quoted by TASS, "a number of Russian structures refuse to discuss the issue of resuming flights with Egypt until the results of an official investigation appear."
With the closure of flights, Egypt suffered significant losses. From the collapse of tourism - one of the key industries for the country (more than 11% of GDP until November 2015) - the budget of Egypt, according to Reuters, has lost more than three billion dollars.
The crash of the Russian airbus and the subsequent termination of flights to the Arab Republic led to problems for Kogalymavia itself and the associated tour operator Brisco, who ordered flight 9268. Since spring 2015, the case on declaring the carrier bankrupt has been dragging on, the next meeting will be held on November 10. In March, the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) limited the Kogalymavia operator's certificate and revoked its admissions to 13 international destinations.
The organizer of the flight, the tour operator Brisco, suspended work on August 2 until it pays off debts to clients and agencies. As reported on the Brisco website, after the closure of flights to Egypt and Turkey, the company suffered "colossal financial and economic losses."
On October 31, 2015, as a result of a terrorist attack in Egypt, the Russian airliner A321 crashed.
Exactly one year ago, on October 31, 2015, over Sinai Peninsula... The catastrophe, which became the largest in the history of the Soviet and Russian aviation, claimed the lives of 224 people.
Most of them are residents of St. Petersburg and Leningrad region... A year after the tragedy, not all the 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 they literally learn to live anew.
On October 30, Airbus 321-231 of the Kogalymavia airline successfully completed two flights on the route Sharm el-Sheikh - Samara - Sharm el-Sheikh.
The handing over crew of the PIC Dmitry Zhigalkovich and the co-pilot Yuri Yushkone do not express any comments on the liner.
Already in the early morning of October 31, the plane will have two more ordinary flights: Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg - Sharm el-Sheikh. The board is already receiving the next crew: the experienced 48-year-old Valery Nemov, who has flown over 12,000 hours, and the 45-year-old co-pilot Sergei Trukhachev, a former military pilot who completed the Chechen campaign.
217 passengers will be waiting for them on board, most of them are from St. Petersburg, many are returning home with their families from a long-awaited holiday in Egypt.
At 03:50:06 local time (06:50 Moscow time), flight 7K-9268 departs 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 the usual Saturday October noon, along with dozens of other domestic and international flights listed on the Pulkovo board. But neither then, nor after several delays, highlighted on the scoreboard, the long-awaited flight 9268 never returned to its homeland.
A few days after the disaster in the skies over Egypt, Flightradar will release data on the last flight of the A321 over Sinai. According to a summary posted on the website, the plane took off safely and began to climb, moving parallel to the coast.
Minutes after the liner swerved inland, its height begins to plummet 6,000 feet. Communication with the aircraft is lost.
The first reports in the media that the Kogalymavia Airbus plane disappeared from the radar began to appear only at 10:18 Moscow time.
In short news items, the data differ significantly: according to the information they contain, there were from 207 to 224 people on board.
Some reports say the plane went missing in the Larnaca region 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 23 minutes later, there were 217 passengers and seven crew members on board," Federal Air Transport Agency.
The account goes on for a moment - two minutes later, there is news from the Arab media, reporting 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 persists. At 10:42 am, Reuters and Sky News publish the first reports denying the plane crash. Sources of publications claim that the crew of the missing plane got in touch in Turkey. Flightradar also does not confirm the fall, specifying that the liner sharply lowered the altitude before disappearing from the radar.
The Federal Air Transport Agency reports that they are trying to contact the flight that disappeared from the radar. At 11:44 on the Pulkovo online scoreboard, there is still information that the arrival of the aircraft from Sharm el-Sheikh is delayed (from 12:10 to 12:20).
In Pulkovo, where by that time information about arrival disappears from the scoreboard, the headquarters for emergencies, The Russian Emergencies Ministry is preparing two aircraft for shipment to Egypt. Later, the department decides to send five special aircraft to Egypt.
Search parties found the site of the disaster 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 who patrolled the area who were the first to find the wreckage of the liner.
The plane crashed in the En-Nahal mountain range, deserted, waterless and deserted place... According to the updated and officially confirmed information, there were 224 people on board the aircraft, including seven crew members.
According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, there were 192 adults and 25 children among the passengers of the liner. 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. A year ago, photos of all the victims 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 did not know him, but I am 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. I wish you strength and health. Thank you for such a son. Absolutely sorry ... Bright memory Armen and happy birthday. (Tatyana Svetlova, St. Petersburg) "- such letters a year after the tragedy continue to receive the relatives of those killed in the terrible plane crash over 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 be short-lived, he promised to bring a magnet or, as a joke, even a whole camel.
A year after the tragedy, Amalia carefully keeps all the photographs and messages of her son. Caring people from other regions of Russia and dozens of other relatives of the victims of the plane crash help her to honor her memory and relive the grief of loss. The tragedy brought together more than 36 thousand people on the Internet. Thanks to the efforts of Petersburgers, 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: creating a memorial and a temple, preserving the 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 way begins with a small step. And this step we take all together - this is the goal set by people whose lives the tragedy divided into before and after the disaster, "the Foundation says.
The fund's group in social networks has long become a kind of spontaneous memory book, 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 help to family and friends.
And it's not just about money: any support is valuable, because even after a year practice shows: time does not heal, and the long investigation and difficult bureaucratic procedures associated with the payment of compensation only exacerbate the already unabated pain of loss.
The tragedy cut off the lives of entire families: Olga and Yuri Shein and their three children were killed in the crash. The whole country from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok was shaken to the depths of his soul by the love story of Alexandra Chernova and Yevgeny Yavsin on board the A321: Yevgeny specially saved money in order to take Sasha to Egypt and propose to her there. And dozens of other life-long stories that ended so unjustly and suddenly on that unfortunate 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. 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: the six who died in the crash over Sinai have not yet been identified. According to Irina Zakharova, chairman of the board of the Flight 9268 charity foundation, the remains, which are now stored in the crematorium on Shafirovsky Prospekt, are not subject to examination. However, the families still have hope to receive the fragments of the bodies of their deceased relatives: in Egypt, after the completion of the main stage of the investigation, new remains were discovered, and they are now being studied.
The report of the international commission to investigate the catastrophe of the Russian A321 over Sinai has not yet been made public: on the preliminary results of its work (and this is a year after the investigation), according to a source in the Ministry civil aviation Egypt, experts will tell you "within 60 days."
"Certain technical analyzes are now being carried out, after which a preliminary report will be made public," a representative of the Egyptian Ministry of Aviation told the media on October 26.
Recall that representatives of six countries are taking 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 is governed by the Egyptian aviation authorities in accordance with the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
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, specialists have worked out another probable cause crash of the airliner "Kogalymavia" - a version of technical problems. This was announced on the day of the crash in the operational services of Egypt following a preliminary examination of the wreckage of the aircraft. At the initial stage of the investigation, Russian experts were inclined to the same version.
Representatives of Kogalymavia (Metrojet trademark) were the first to refute it: on November 2, the airline's press secretary, Alexander Smirnov, ruled out technical malfunction and pilot error as the causes of the crash and declared an "external influence" on the liner. He stressed that the plane, which the airline owned on a lease basis, was 100% ready to fly and that its crew was "highly experienced." The company's representative backed up 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 recording on the recorders was terminated, the flight was proceeding normally, no information about the failure of the aircraft's systems and assemblies was recorded.
At a meeting in the Kremlin on November 16, the head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, officially announced for the first time that the cause of the crash was a terrorist attack. Versions of third-party interference with links to different sources were previously published in foreign and Russian media.
“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 was detonated 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 foreign-made explosives were found on the wreckage and belongings.
Bortnikov explained that the conclusions were drawn by experts after a thorough examination of personal belongings, passengers' luggage and parts. wrecked liner.
Initially, it was assumed that an explosive device was planted under the passenger seat 30A or 31A. However, in September 2016, the commission's data were published, according to which an explosion occurred in the tail section, in the oversized baggage compartment. A timer bomb was hidden among the prams. The experts came to this conclusion after having analyzed the layout of the collected fragments of the A321 in the hangar of the Cairo airport. Due to the explosion, the aircraft lost its tail section, after which it switched to an uncontrolled dive.
The investigation into the tragedy is progressing very slowly, and all the circumstances of the incident are still unknown.
Almost immediately, the Egyptian cell of the Islamic State group banned in Russia took responsibility for the crash of the Russian plane. Airport staff could have brought an explosive device aboard - numerous evidences of poor security in air harbor Immediately after the tragedy, the Internet flooded: many tourists said that for a small bribe they calmly carried bags with things through all security cordons, and no one examined them themselves.
However, the Egyptian side for a long time insisted on the version of a technical malfunction, refusing to recognize the possibility of a terrorist attack on board the liner.
In December 2015, the technical investigation committee issued a statement saying that Cairo had found no signs of terrorist involvement in Airbus crash 321.
It was only in February 2016 that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi admitted for the first time that a terrorist attack was the reason for the crash of a Russian plane in the skies over Sinai. The head of state said 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, presumably, was the organizer of the terrorist attack, was destroyed in Aleppo, Syria.
Air traffic with Egypt, which was interrupted immediately after the crash of the A321, has not yet been restored. According to the official comment of the Russian Ministry of Transport, the situation will not change until all the remarks in the field of aviation security are eliminated.
"A decision on the resumption of air traffic between Russia and Egypt is possible only after the elimination of all remarks 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 of the two countries is quite constructive, "the ministry said on October 25.
A year later, 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 made of slabs, on which, in accordance with the design of the monument, 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 drives along the Road of Life.
On Monday, October 31, a memorial service for the victims of the A321 crash in the sky over the Sinai Peninsula will be held at St. Isaac's Cathedral. In memory of those who never returned home to relatives and friends, the cathedral bell will ring 224 times.
On October 30, Airbus 321-231 of the Kogalymavia airline successfully completed two flights on the route Sharm el-Sheikh - Samara - Sharm el-Sheikh. The handing over crew of the PIC Dmitry Zhigalkovich and the 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 ordinary flights: Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg - Sharm el-Sheikh. The board is already receiving the next crew: the experienced 48-year-old Valery Nemov, who has flown over 12,000 hours, and the 45-year-old co-pilot Sergei Trukhachev, a former military pilot who completed the Chechen campaign.
217 passengers will be waiting for them on board, most of them are from St. Petersburg, many are returning home with their families from a long-awaited holiday in Egypt. At 03:50:06 local time (06:50 Moscow time), flight 7K-9268 departs 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 the usual Saturday October noon, along with dozens of other domestic and international flights listed on the Pulkovo board. But neither then, nor after several delays, highlighted on the scoreboard, the long-awaited flight 9268 never returned to its homeland.
A few days after the disaster in the skies over Egypt, Flightradar will release data on the last flight of the A321 over Sinai. According to a summary posted on the website, the plane took off safely and began to climb, moving parallel to the coast. Minutes after the liner swerved inland, its height begins to plummet 6,000 feet. Communication with the aircraft is lost. The first reports in the media that the Kogalymavia Airbus plane disappeared from the radar began to appear only at 10:18 Moscow time. In short news items, the data differ significantly: according to the information they contain, there were from 207 to 224 people on board. Some reports say the plane went missing in the Larnaca region 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 23 minutes later, there were 217 passengers and seven crew members on board, the Federal Air Transport Agency reported.
The account goes on for a moment - two minutes later, there is news from the Arab media, reporting 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 persists. At 10:42 am, Reuters and Sky News publish the first reports denying the plane crash. Sources of publications claim that the crew of the missing plane got in touch in Turkey. Flightradar also does not confirm the fall, specifying that the liner sharply lowered the altitude before disappearing from the radar.
The Federal Air Transport Agency reports that they are trying to contact the flight that disappeared from the radar. At 11:44 on the Pulkovo online scoreboard, there is still information that the arrival of the aircraft 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 information about the arrival disappears from the scoreboard, the headquarters for emergency situations begins operational work, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation is preparing two aircraft for dispatch to Egypt. Later, the department decides to send five special aircraft to Egypt.
Search parties found the site of the disaster 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 (the activities of the group are prohibited on Russian territory by the decision of the Supreme Court. - Note... ed.). It was the Egyptian military who patrolled the area who were the first to find the wreckage of the liner. The plane crashed in the En-Nahal massif, a desolate, waterless and deserted place. According to the updated and officially confirmed information, there were 224 people on board the aircraft, including seven crew members. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, there were 192 adults and 25 children among the passengers of the liner. 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. A year ago, photos of all the victims 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 wonderful children. But, unfortunately, another world, black and evil, took his life away. Strength and health to you. Thank you for such a son. It's a shame ... Happy memory to Armen and a heavenly birthday. (Tatyana Svetlova, St. Petersburg) - such letters a year after the tragedy continue to receive the relatives of those killed in the terrible plane crash over 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 be short-lived, he promised to bring a magnet or, as a joke, even a whole camel.
A year after the tragedy, Amalia carefully keeps all the photographs and messages of her son. Caring people from other regions of Russia and dozens of other relatives of the victims of the plane crash help her to honor her memory and relive the grief of loss. The tragedy brought together more than 36 thousand people on the Internet. Thanks to the efforts of Petersburgers, 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: creating a memorial and a temple, preserving the 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 all taking this step together - this is the goal set for themselves by people whose lives were divided by the tragedy into before and after the disaster.
Fund group 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 help to family and friends.
And it's not just about money: any support is valuable, because even after a year practice shows: time does not heal, and the long investigation and difficult bureaucratic procedures associated with the payment of compensation only exacerbate the already unabated pain of loss.
The tragedy cut off the lives of entire families: Olga and Yuri Shein and their three children were killed in the crash. The whole country from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok was shaken to the depths of his soul by the love story of Alexandra Chernova and Yevgeny Yavsin on board the A321: Yevgeny specially saved money in order to take Sasha to Egypt and propose to her there. 
And dozens of other life-long stories that ended so unjustly and suddenly on that unfortunate 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, which are now stored in the crematorium on Shafirovsky Prospekt, are not subject to examination. However, families still have hope to receive the fragments of the bodies of their deceased 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 to investigate the catastrophe of the Russian A321 over Sinai has not yet been made public: according to a source in the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, experts will tell about the preliminary results of their work (and this is a year after the investigation) "within 60 days."
Certain technical analyzes are now being carried out, after which a preliminary report will be made public, - a representative of the Egyptian Ministry of Aviation told the media on October 26.
Recall that representatives of six countries are taking 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 is governed by the Egyptian aviation authorities in accordance with the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). 
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 in the operational services of Egypt following a preliminary examination of the wreckage of the aircraft. At the initial stage of the investigation, Russian experts were inclined to the same version.
Representatives of Kogalymavia (Metrojet trademark) were the first to refute it: on November 2, the airline's press secretary, Alexander Smirnov, ruled out technical malfunction and pilot error as the causes of the crash and declared an "external influence" on the liner. He stressed that the plane, which the airline owned on a lease basis, was 100% ready to fly and that its crew was "highly experienced." The company's representative backed up 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 recording on the recorders was terminated, the flight was proceeding normally, no information about the failure of the aircraft's systems and assemblies was recorded.
At a meeting in the Kremlin on November 16, the head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, officially announced for the first time that the cause of the crash was a terrorist attack. Versions of third-party interference with links to different sources were previously published in foreign and Russian media. “We can definitely say that this is a terrorist act,” Bortnikov said, adding that traces of foreign-made explosives were found on the wreckage and belongings. - According to our experts, an improvised explosive device with a capacity of up to 1 kg in TNT equivalent was detonated 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 at a great distance.
Bortnikov explained that the conclusions were drawn by experts after a thorough examination of personal belongings, passengers' luggage and parts of the crashed liner.
Initially, it was assumed that an explosive device was planted under the passenger seat 30A or 31A. However, in September 2016, the commission's data were published, according to which an explosion occurred in the tail section, in the oversized baggage compartment. A timer bomb was hidden among the prams. The experts came to this conclusion after having analyzed the layout of the collected fragments of the A321 in the hangar of the Cairo airport. Due to the explosion, the aircraft lost its tail section, after which it switched to an uncontrolled dive.
The investigation into the tragedy is progressing very slowly, and all the circumstances of the incident are still unknown. Almost immediately, the Egyptian cell of the Islamic State group banned in Russia took responsibility for the crash of the Russian plane. Airport employees could have brought an explosive device on board - numerous testimonies about the weak level of security in the air harbor immediately after the tragedy flooded the Internet: many tourists said that for a small bribe, bags with things were safely carried through all security cordons, and no one examined them themselves. However, the Egyptian side for a long time insisted on the version of a technical malfunction, refusing to recognize the possibility of a terrorist attack on board the liner. In December 2015, the technical investigation committee issued a statement stating that Cairo had found no signs of terrorists' involvement in the crash of Airbus 321. It was not until February 2016 that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi admitted for the first time that the cause of the Russian plane crash in the skies over Sinai was a terrorist attack. The head of state said 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, presumably, was the organizer of the terrorist attack, was destroyed in Aleppo, Syria.
Air traffic with Egypt, which was interrupted immediately after the crash of the A321, has not yet been restored. According to the official comment of the Russian Ministry of Transport, the situation will not change until all the remarks in the field of aviation security are eliminated.
A decision on the resumption of air traffic between Russia and Egypt is possible only after the elimination of all remarks 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 of the two countries is quite constructive, ”the ministry noted on October 25.
The Garden of Remembrance ", 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, will be the names of all those who died in the A321 plane crash, as well as metal structures in the form of pipes on which the wind will play, anyone who drives along the Road of Life will see.
On Monday, October 31, a memorial service for the victims of the A321 crash in the sky over the Sinai Peninsula will be held at St. Isaac's Cathedral. In memory of those who never returned home to relatives and friends, the cathedral bell will ring 224 times.
On October 31, 2015, the Russian plane Airbus A321 of the airline "Kogalymavia" (Metrojet), performing flight 9268 Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg,.
On behalf of the President, the Russian government in connection with the disaster, headed by the Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov. The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) was led by executive director committee of Viktor Sorochenko.
Cairo immediately after the disaster on the possibility of taking part in the investigation of the tragedy. A special commission was created to investigate, in it: Russia, Egypt, France (the state - the developer of the aircraft), Germany (the state - the manufacturer of the airliner) and Ireland (the state of registration). Ayman al-Mukaddam was appointed head of the commission to investigate the disaster.
On November 1, 2015, Egyptian Prosecutor General Nabil Ahmed Sadek participated in the investigation of the causes of the crash with a Russian plane in the Sinai Peninsula.
A group of investigators and criminologists of the central office of the Investigative Committee of Russia, in agreement with the competent authorities and together with representatives of the Republic of Egypt, in accordance with the norms of national and international law, participated in the inspection of the site of the plane crash in Egypt.
On November 17, 2015, the head of the FSB of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bortnikov, during a meeting in the Kremlin on the results of the investigation into the causes of the crash Russian aircraft that as a result of the examination of personal belongings, luggage and parts of the plane that crashed in Egypt, traces of foreign-made explosives were revealed. He .
In turn Egyptian authorities urged not to rush to conclusions. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said that as part of a criminal investigation.
In March 2016, the International Commission to Investigate the crash of the Russian A321 aircraft that it received an official report from the Investigative Committee of Russia and handed it over to the Egyptian Prosecutor General's Office to complete legal procedures. The commission itself, despite the transfer of the case to the investigative bodies of the state security of the country, continued a technical examination of the wreckage of the liner.
In mid-April, Attorney General of Egypt Nabil Sadek on the transfer of the case of the crash of the Russian plane to the Supreme Prosecutor's Office state security country. The decision of the head of the supervisory department, it was noted in the text of the statement, was made on the basis of the data of the report of the Investigative Committee of Russia, "which indicates the suspicion of a criminal trace."
In June, CIA Director John Brennan, speaking in the US Senate, that American intelligence has information about the involvement of the Egyptian group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis in the explosion on the Russian A321 passenger plane, which has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist movement banned in many countries (an organization banned in the Russian Federation), and on August 4, the Egyptian Ministry of Defense announced the elimination of the leader of this terrorist group.
At the insistence of the Investigative Committee of Russia, the international commission of inquiry aviation accident... As a result of the work carried out, the fact of the impact of high-energy elements on the aircraft skin in the "inside-out" direction and "explosive decompression" in flight was established.
In October 2016, a commission of inquiry, formed by the Egyptian Attorney General's Office, sent twelve wrecks of the liner to the Alloys Science Laboratory for detailed investigation.
Work to determine the causes of the crash. To date, the parties have no understanding of what happened to the plane, how the explosive device got on board the plane, and who carried it. There are also no identified suspects and their accomplices from among the airport staff.
October 31, 2015, flight Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg. Someone is reviewing photos on the phone, imagining how they will tell family and friends about the rest. Married couples reassure kids who behave too violently in the morning - yes, I suppose they are afraid to fly. Departure on schedule, drove straight into the sky. The very next day, the media will circulate a photo of the "main passenger" - ten-month-old Darina Gromova. This picture will become a kind of symbol of the fateful Airbus flight 321, from which none of the 224 people returned alive.
"Normal flight"
The plane took off safely and began to climb at 6:50 Moscow time. Everything goes on as usual, when suddenly after 23 minutes the dispatchers lose contact with the crew.
Meanwhile, at the Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg it is reported that the flight is delayed "for technical reasons." Time is postponed once, postponed two ... In Russia they try not to think about the worst and nervously wait for messages from relatives: about an emergency landing, or anything, if only they wrote. When the flowers had already begun to fade, and the board was displaying a record about the next flight transfer, the relatives' nerves could not stand it: calls to the Kogalymavia airline and the tour operator Brisco rained down. “We’ll figure it out,” “Don’t worry,” people in different instances heard.
And then the news came, which flashed in everyone's head, but they refused to believe. The fact that everyone had died did not become known immediately. One of the rescuers, who immediately after the crash moved to the site, said that he heard the voices of passengers that came from under the wreckage of the liner. Within minutes it became clear: I did not hear, it seemed.
Main passenger
A photograph of ten-month-old Darina Gromova from Gatchina, taken at Pulkovo airport, seems to have gone around all the famous Russian media and was replicated on social networks. The picture became one of the symbols of that terrible tragedy.
The son, Alexey, wanted to be a pilot. Only I didn’t allow, ”Darina’s grandmother Elena told Life later.
Alexei's father was a military pilot for 30 years. The young man himself graduated from a technical specialty and went to work in an IT company. Here he met Tatiana. Young people got married a little more than a year before the tragedy. On the still accessible page of the young man on the social network, there are many photos of a couple in love, taken on their wedding day.
Tatiana named her daughter "the main passenger". Before flying from Pulkovo, she photographed a girl who pressed her hands to the glass, and posted the picture on the social network.
Darina's grandmother suggested that her parents not take the child on the flight: she would be scared, she would not bear it well. But they did not listen: the child should bask in the sun.
"I won't live without her"
October 31 was a tragedy for thousands of people. Svetlana Dudochkina's husband, Anatoly, could not fly with his wife on vacation that time. The couple had been to Egypt more than once, so the woman knew quite well how to behave at the resort. His warning seemed all the more strange.
She went on vacation for the first time without me. I told her that if something happened, I would not survive without her. I don’t want to live anymore, I’m not interested, ”Anatoly said after the crash.
The woman went to rest in the company of her daughter and two young grandchildren. But the daughter decided to stay for another day or two, since she had the opportunity to rest longer. As a result, only Svetlana from the whole family got on the fatal flight.
Birthday gift
On October 27, the common-law spouse of the then deputy head of Pskov, Alexander Kopylov, celebrated her birthday. He bought himself and his beloved, Elena Melnikova, vouchers. They did not want to let go of work, but the deputy head of the city persuaded to do it. He argued that the reason was too weighty.
The man met his future common-law wife at work. The fact is that Elena is the head of the personnel department in the Pskov City Duma. Alexander's wife had died a few years before, Elena was divorced. They had been together for about a year by then.
All the time on vacation, Elena told in social networks that they have a very good rest - they swim, sunbathe and generally "come off". V last time went online three hours before the fatal departure.
"A little more - and I will quit aviation"
Senior flight attendant, 38-year-old Valentina Martsevich, who has devoted 12 years to the sky, planned to retire from aviation in the near future. I wanted calm, made plans for a calm family life... Valentina's husband, Maxim, is the commander of the aircraft. At the time, he was on a China Airlines flight.
Valentina herself is from Anapa, she worked at the Krasnodar airport when she met her future husband. Soon they moved to Moscow together. He is on the flight all the time, she is on the next flight. Tired of seeing my husband and family in fits and starts.
On October 5, her birthday, she flew home to hug her mother. Acquaintances later recalled that she behaved rather strangely: she spoke strangely, smiled strangely, took many pictures.
During her return to Moscow, shortly before the fatal flight, the woman was frightened for the first time in her life during landing. She told her friends how the liner was shaking and she was afraid that the pilots would not land the board successfully.
"Fuzzy, I'm waiting"
Flight attendant Marina Okhotnikova was supposed to meet with her husband, steward Andrei Belomestnov, at Domodedovo on November 1. The plan looked like this: Andrey lands at Pulkovo, rests, and then leaves for Moscow as a passenger. 20 minutes after the arrival of his board in the capital, she lands. The young people were planning an unforgettable weekend.
The couple had a tradition: all four years that they were together, Andrei sent his beloved SMS during such "intersections" with the same text: "Fuzzy, I'm already waiting for you." There was no message this time. In November, Andrey was supposed to be 30 years old ...
Versions
Experts considered four main versions of the plane crash: a technical malfunction, a pilot error, that the plane was shot down and an explosion.
Technical malfunction
The first version that investigators began to consider - technical malfunction... Allegedly, the liner had defects. For example, even 14 years before the tragedy, in November 2001, at the Cairo airport, the airliner unsuccessfully landed and touched the ground with its tail. Then it still belonged to Middle East Airlines. After the incident, the aircraft was repaired and sold. Thereafter, it was chartered by various airlines until it finally settled in Kogalymavia in 2012.
You can say anything about this airline, but any plane of any carrier is checked before a new flight. In addition, technical checks are carried out on the sides. So, the engines of the liner were inspected five days before the tragedy. And the experts would hardly have missed such a significant malfunction, due to which the plane could crash. This point of view was confirmed by the airline. In addition, pilots with great experience have repeatedly said that none of the crew members will risk their own lives, but simply refuse to fly in case of doubt.
Another fact speaks against the version of the malfunction: on the eve of the crash, the Airbus flew from Sharm el-Sheikh to Samara and back. After that, at the Egyptian airport, he underwent maintenance, no critical problems were recorded.
A week after the tragedy, representatives of the IAC said that until the recording of the recorders was stopped, the flight was proceeding in a normal mode, information about the failures of the aircraft systems and assemblies was not recorded on the parametric recorder.
Crew error
This version became the second. Allegedly, the pilots could panic, misbehave in a critical situation. This version was denied in the Federal Air Transport Agency on the same day. FAC Valery Nemov was originally a military pilot, and after retirement (the man was 48 years old) he retrained as a civil aviation pilot at the AmurAir training center in Turkey. His total flight experience is 3682 hours, of which 1100 hours - as an aircraft commander.
The co-pilot, 45-year-old Sergei Trukhachev, had 5641 flight hours behind him - more than the PIC. He underwent special training in the Czech Republic to manage the A321.
The Kogalymavia pilots themselves ruled out the version of the error: they posted a letter on the Web a few hours after the tragedy, where they argued that there could be no mistake.
Shot down
Shortly after the crash, ISIS * militants claimed responsibility for the plane crash. They even posted a video where the aircraft was allegedly shot down. It soon turned out that the video was nothing more than a fake, and no one had shot down the Russian airliner.
After a preliminary examination of the wreckage of the plane, the experts realized that no one had fired at it.
The plane crashed in the air. Initially, the tail section was torn off, and then the entire liner began to disintegrate. The wreckage of the aircraft was at a distance of about 40 km from each other, the tail and nose were at a distance of 5 km.
Terrorist attack
This version is prioritized. The media began to write that there was a bomb on board a few hours after the tragedy. Within a month, the fact of the explosion was confirmed by Russian experts. So, on November 16, 2015, the head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, at a meeting in the Kremlin for the first time officially announced that what had happened was a terrorist attack.
Initially, it was assumed that the bomb was planted between the passenger seats in the 30th row. However, later experts came to the conclusion that an improvised explosive device with a capacity of up to 1 kg in TNT was located in the tail section, next to the baby carriages. A timer installed in the bomb counted how many more minutes 224 people would live. After the explosion, the tail section of the liner was torn off, and it went into an uncontrolled dive.
For a long time, Egyptian officials did not officially recognize the incident as a terrorist attack (according to one version, fearing multimillion-dollar lawsuits from the relatives of the victims). Cairo urged to wait for the official results of the investigation, which, by the way, are still missing. However, in February 2017, the representative of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Ahmed Abu Zeid, in some way admitted that there was a terrorist attack on board.
Dozens or even hundreds of people have become victims of terrorist operations, including as a result of the fall of a Russian liner on the Sinai, he said.
* The organization is banned in Russia by the decision of the Supreme Court.
