Leading the News -
Egypt:
On October 31st, a Russian jet carrying 217 passengers and seven crew members crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, killing all people on board. While the cause of the crash was not immediately known, two of Europe’s largest airlines, Germany’s Lufthansa and Air France-KLM announced they would divert flights from the area after militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for downing the plane. Meanwhile, Egyptian and Russian officials denied claims the plane had been shot down by jihadists.
On November 2nd, Deputy General Director of Russian airliner Metrojet Alexander Smirnov said Saturday’s plane crash in Egypt was not caused by technical problems or pilot error. He said the only explainable cause of the crash was physical impact on the aircraft. Meanwhile, Alexander Neradko, the head of the Russian aviation agency who is now in Cairo overseeing the crash investigation, said it was premature to comment on the possible cause since not enough data had been obtained to draw any conclusions. Meanwhile, Egyptian experts analyzing the plane’s black box reported the plane had not been struck from the outside and the pilot did not make a distress call before it disappeared from radar.
Please see full publication below for more information.