Russian passenger plane has crashed in Sinai
Russian passenger plane has crashed in Sinai.
Cairo: A Russian passenger plane carrying up to 224 passengers and crew has crashed in in Egypt, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has confirmed.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s office said Mr Ismail had formed a cabinet-level crisis committee to deal with the crash in central Sinai.
The Airbus A-321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia lost communications with flight officials 23 minutes after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg.
Aviation tracking website Flight Radar 24 tweeted that the plane was descending at a rate of about 6000 feet a minute just before its signal was lost.
Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said in a statement that flight 7K9268 left Sharm el-Sheikh at 6.51am Moscow time and was due into St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport at 12.10pm.
It said the aircraft failed to make scheduled contact with Cyprus air traffic control 23 minutes after take-off and disappeared from the radar.
October 31, 2015
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