Airbus-321 pilot asks for emergency landing before the crash

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Egypt holds emergency meeting in connection with the crash of the passenger plane en route Sharm El-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. A special commission has been created for the purpose. “Armenpress” reports the information referring to TASS news agency.

Unknown source from Cairo airport informed that before the plane crash the pilot had got in touch with flight operations officers asking for an emergency landing at the nearest airport. The plane was at an altitude of 9000 meters at that time. Afterwards, the connection with the pilot was lost. Russian Foreign Ministry informed that the Russian Embassy in Egypt was looking into the incident connected with the airplane owned by “Kogalimavia” Russian air company.

According to Egyptian media, parts of the Russian passenger aircraft en route Sharm El-Sheikh to St. Petersburg were found in the center of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. Egypt’s military is currently conducting sweeps of the area and search and rescue operations. Earlier, the Prime Minister had cancelled a trip to the governorate of Ismailiya after news of the crash. Egypt’s government has set up an emergency room to manage search and rescue operations.

It was reported earlier that Airbus-321 performing flight Sharm El-Sheikh to St. Petersburg disappeared from radar screens in the morning, on October 31. Russian aviation source informed that the plane was carrying 217 passengers and 7 members of the air crew. The plane disappeared 23 minutes after it took off.