A routine flight carrying 224 passengers, including families, turned tragic shortly after takeoff from a popular holiday destination. The Metrojet Flight 9268 departed Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh airport bound for Russia on October 31, 2015. Just 23 minutes into the journey, at an altitude of 31,000 feet, the Airbus A321 exploded in mid-air, leading to a catastrophic chain of events that resulted in the loss of all lives on board.
The aircraft disintegrated in the sky, plunging into the Sinai desert in an uncontrolled dive. The passengers, which included 25 children, seven crew members, 212 Russians, four Ukrainians, and one Belarusian, succumbed to severe injuries caused by rapid air pressure changes. Identification of the victims was challenging due to the extent of the injuries sustained.
Initial investigations pointed towards terrorism as the probable cause of the fatal crash. Concerns were raised about the possibility of a homemade bomb being smuggled onto the plane by airport personnel with terrorist affiliations. While ISIS claimed responsibility for the incident online, Egyptian officials did not officially declare it a targeted attack.
Despite various theories, including technical malfunctions and explosives, the exact cause of the crash remains unresolved. Veteran aviation expert Julian Bray suggests that a bomb was likely the reason behind the tragedy, emphasizing signs of an explosion within the aircraft. He speculates that terrorists used TNT concealed in luggage loaded onto the plane at the last minute to execute the attack.
Julian Bray believes that the terrorists triggered the bomb using various methods, potentially through a mobile phone or a timing device. His analysis underscores the possibility of deliberate sabotage leading to the catastrophic demise of Metrojet Flight 9268.