Russian official: Jet broke apart 'at high altitude'

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[h=4]Russian official: Jet broke apart 'at high altitude'[/h]The cause of the crash that killed all 224 people aboard a Russian airliner<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Egypt's Sinai peninsula<span style="color: Red;">*</span>early Saturday has yet to be determined.

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A Russian aviation official said the Kogalymavia flight that crashed in Egypt was destroyed in the air. The cause is still unknown.
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Debris from a Russian airliner lies on the ground a day after the plane crashed in Wadi al-Zolomat, a mountainous area in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, on Nov. 1, 2015.(Photo: Khaled Desouki, AFP/Getty Images)


A Russian airliner that crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard, broke apart at high altitude and scattered mangled bodies and plane parts over a wide swath of Egyptian desert,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Russia's air transport chief said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sunday.
Alexander Neradko said it was too soon to determine what caused Saturday's horrific crash of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Metrojet charter flight. The tragedy rocked the Russian nation, which marked a day of mourning Sunday with vigils, memorials<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and sorrow.
Neradko said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the debris field of more than 6 square miles indicated "the plane broke down in midair at high altitude," according to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Russia's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Rossiya-24 TV.
The Airbus<span style="color: Red;">*</span>A321's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>data and cockpit voice recorders were recovered. Russian<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said it was not immediately clear when or where the boxes would be studied.
The plane was en route from the Red Sea resort of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt to St. Petersburg, Russia, when it disappeared from radar screens 23 minutes into the flight.
The Sinai in recent years<span style="color: Red;">*</span>has been the setting for sometimes brutal battles between Islamic insurgents and Egyptian troops.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Russian officials dismissed a claim of responsibility by an Egyptian<span style="color: Red;">*</span>militant group affiliated with the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Islamic State in retaliation for Russia's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>airstrikes in Syria.
Egyptian security adviser Sayed Ghoniem told<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Daily News Egypt<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that the insurgents in the Sinai don't have the radar tracking technology and anti-aircraft missile<span style="color: Red;">*</span>capabilities required to take down a plane at 30,000 feet. Another<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Egyptian aviation official, Ayman al-Muqadem, said the pilot reported technical difficulties and sought to land at the nearest airport minutes before the crash, the Associated Press reported.
Most of the victims were Russian tourists.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sharm El-Sheikh is a popular tourism destination, known for its beaches and scuba diving. The youngest victim was 10-month-old Darina Gromova, according to a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>manifest<span style="color: Red;">*</span>released by the Russian Association of Tour Operators.
A<span style="color: Red;">*</span>picture of Darina gazing at a tarmac from inside the terminal in St. Petersburg<span style="color: Red;">*</span>days before the crash<span style="color: Red;">*</span>has<span style="color: Red;">*</span>become a symbol of the tragedy to Russians, according to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>RT news. Her parents, Aleksei, 27, and Tatiana, 26, also died in the crash.
At Pulkovo Airport in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>St. Petersburg, an impromptu memorial to the victims quickly grew. Scores of flower arrangements, candles and stuffed animals<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>— more than a dozen children were among the victims<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— adorn a section of the busy terminal.
The Egyptian Forensic Medicine Authority most of the bodies had been recovered by<span style="color: Red;">*</span>midday Sunday. Some bodies were being flown back to Russia later Sunday.
The Vatican issued a statement Sunday saying Pope Francis was praying "for all who have died and for all who mourn their loss." British Prime Minister David Cameron called Russian President Vladimir Putin to express condolences on behalf of the British people.
USA TODAY
Russian plane crash in Egypt kills all 224 people aboard




USA TODAY
Expert: Russian jet was 'screaming down' on descent




Russia's air safety agency ordered Metrojet to suspend all flights until at least Monday, but the company said it would continue operating its six remaining A321s<span style="color: Red;">*</span>if they passed inspections, the AP reported.
The German transportation ministry issued a "comprehensive warning" for airlines not to fly over parts of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Sinai Peninsula.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Lufthansa, Emirates and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Air France were among major airlines announcing<span style="color: Red;">*</span>they would stop flying over the area until the cause of the crash was determined.
A team of about 100 Russian investigators and support staff are working with Egyptian officials, Russia's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Emergencies Ministry said.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The plane was designed in France and built in Germany, and both nations said they will be involved<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to help determine the cause of the catastrophe.
Flight Radar 24, a flight tracking service, said the plane was descending at 6,000 feet per minute when it went off radar.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>The crash is<span style="color: Red;">*</span>believed to be the deadliest in the history of Russian aviation, surpassing a 1985 disaster in Uzbekistan in which 200 people died, the Russian-run news agency RIA says.
Contributing: Doug Stanglin

The area in Egypt's Sinai peninsula where a Russian passenger plane with at least 200 people on board crashed on Oct. 31.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Mapbox)

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