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[h=4]Reports: 'Heat flash' linked to doomed Russian plane[/h]A U.S. satellite detected a mid-air 'heat flash" when the doomed Russian plane crashed.
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Only an external impact could have caused a Russian plane to dive into the Egyptian desert, killing all on board, Metrojet airline officials said Monday, adding to a series of confusing statements from investigators as to why the plane crashed. (Nov AP
A woman places a white paper plane at a makeshift memorial for the victims of a jetliner crash on Dvortsovaya Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, on November 3, 2015.(Photo: VASILY MAXIMOV, AFP/Getty Images)
A multinational investigation team on Tuesday could begin examining the data and cockpit voice recording black boxes from the Russian jet that crashed in the Egyptian desert.
The<span style="color: Red;">*</span>investigating team, led by Egypt and aided by experts from Russia, Airbus and Ireland, was completing work at the site of the crash<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Tuesday and then will begin examining the black boxes,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mohamed Rahmi, spokesman for<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Egypt’s civil aviation ministry, told Reuters. The plane was registered in Ireland.
Hossam Kamal,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Egypt’s civil aviation minister, warned that it "will take some time" to generate a final report on Saturday's crash, the Associated Press reported.
All 224 people aboard were killed when Metrojet charter Flight 9268 crashed 23 minutes after taking off<span style="color: Red;">*</span>from Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, bound for St. Petersburg.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Speculation about why the Airbus 321-200<span style="color: Red;">*</span>came apart 31,000 feet above the Egyptian desert continued to focus Tuesday on pilot error, technical problems and terrorist attacks.
A U.S. infrared satellite detected a mid-air "heat flash" over the Sinai Peninsula at the same time a Russian plane crashed in the area, media outlets<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reported<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Tuesday.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>NBC News, citing an unnamed senior defense official, said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>U.S. intelligence analysts believe the flash could have been an<span style="color: Red;">*</span>explosion inside the aircraft,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>most likely a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>fuel tank or bomb.
USA TODAY
Russian official: Jet broke apart 'at high altitude'
USA TODAY
Russian plane crash in Egypt kills all 224 people aboard
The reports came as Russian media outlets, citing an Egyptian forensic expert, reported that burns and other injuries on the victims indicated a mid-air explosion might have occurred aboard the Airbus A321.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Hundreds of bodies and body parts were being<span style="color: Red;">*</span>flown to St. Petersburg, where mourning families have begun identifying remains.
Metrojet executives on Monday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>blamed "external impact"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and said neither their crew nor mechanical failure played a role in the air disaster.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>An insurgent affiliate of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Islamic State group<span style="color: Red;">*</span>operating in the Sinai has claimed responsibility for bringing down the jet.
Experts called the conclusions premature and said the answers lay in the flight<span style="color: Red;">*</span>data and voice recorders and the expansive debris field.
The<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Egyptian government<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said militants in the region using<span style="color: Red;">*</span>shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons could not<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reach<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the Metrojet flight at 31,000 feet in the air.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>James Clapper, <span style="color: Red;">*</span>U.S. director of national intelligence, said a terrorist strike from an<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Islamic extremist group could not be ruled out, but<span style="color: Red;">*</span>no physical proof of terrorism had been revealed.
If a missile did bring<span style="color: Red;">*</span>down the jet, the wreckage will hold clues about the weapon’s damage, like perforations in the wreckage of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Malaysia Airlines Flight 17<span style="color: Red;">*</span>shot down over Ukraine<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in July 2014. Likewise, a missile or bomb would leave chemical residue.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“There’s all kinds of evidence from pyrotechnics,” said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Al Diehl, an author and former investigator with the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>National Transportation Safety Board.
If a group affiliated with the Islamic State, also known as ISIL<span style="color: Red;">*</span>or ISIS, shot down the jet, it represents "a new and dangerous development —<span style="color: Red;">*</span> ISIS combining the bloodiest aspects of statehood and terrorism in one dangerous mess,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Cornell Law School professor Jens David Ohlin said.
One critical<span style="color: Red;">*</span>clue<span style="color: Red;">*</span>involves the aircraft's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>tail, which fell to the ground miles from the rest of the jet. That might turn the investigation toward a mechanical problem, such as metal fatigue.
In 2001, the tail of the Metrojet Airbus struck a runway during a landing in Cairo. Airline executives insist<span style="color: Red;">*</span>it was repaired correctly, but an improperly repaired and maintained tail could break off and lead to disaster.
Such was the case in August 1985, when<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Japan Air Lines Flight 123<span style="color: Red;">*</span>from Tokyo to Osaka crashed,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>killing<span style="color: Red;">*</span>520 people in the worst single-plane<span style="color: Red;">*</span>aviation disaster in history,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>after losing part of its tail and vertical fin.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Investigators<span style="color: Red;">*</span>found the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Boeing 747’s bulkhead had been damaged in 1978 and was repaired improperly, allowing the tail to fail.
“It’s in a dry desert where things are easy to find,” <span style="color: Red;">*</span>Diehl<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said about Saturday's crash. “Within weeks, we should know about metal fatigue vs. overload failures.”
Another option in the Metrojet case could be a structural failure due to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a pilot error.
In November 2001,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>American Airlines Flight 587<span style="color: Red;">*</span>crashed after taking off from New York’s<span style="color: Red;">*</span>John F. Kennedy airport, killing 260 people aboard the jet and five on the ground. Investigators found the vertical stabilizer of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Airbus A300-600<span style="color: Red;">*</span>broke off<span style="color: Red;">*</span>because the first officer moved the rudder excessively and unnecessarily in the wake of another plane.
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