no mi-24
 

i think it is more an Egyptian Apache

Err, because that's an AH-64?

Site overview footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cCf52DdHwM

So, pretty much intact aircraft hitting ground with no significant forward velocity. The tail section is somewhere different (any idea of displacement?) as are the engines.

the tail section
 

the tail section looks like it is far from the main fuselage crash area

Hm... Lets me ask it another way - why military attack copter loaded at crash site? Rescue team is afraid that place is unsafe?

To keep someone who is looking for a soft target at a distance.
This isn't the safest area of the world.

Tail position reported about 5 km from nose section.

Irish aviation experts to assist with investigation
 

Irish experts to assist Egypt crash investigation - RTÉ News

Two AAIU investigators and one IAA expert travelling to assist with the investigation.

Egypt is unsafe.

If you don't know what happened and an aircraft has come down why not take along some protection?

I've not seen any further information on any maintenance work that apparently delayed departure from Sharm el Sheikh.

The aircraft appears to have ferried from the Moscow DME base to St Petersburg on Thursday morning, and then set off on a somewhat extended "W" from there to Sharm, returning to Samara in southern central Russia by Friday morning, straight back to Sharm, but seemingly on the ground there for 12 hours before departing back to St Petersburg on Saturday morning. There are accounts above of maintenance work at Sharm during this extended layover. What was it ?

I thought it was just a night stop rather than an extended layover. The maintenance was likely a daily/A check.

Aside from other info on Metrojet: airline tried to sue Russian CAA in the past for ordering them to install ice detection sensors on A321 fleet. Very telling on safety attitude.

The absence of ground scorch marks around the well incinerated centre section debris field suggests a large part of the airframe was ablaze before impact with terrain. It exhibits the hall marks of an intense dynamic fuel fed fire, consuming much of the centre section of the airframe in flight, at altitude.

Regarding the Apache circling the crash site...

I'm not a pilot and have no specific expertise whatsoever in regards to aviation. Really appreciate the insights on this forum, if a bit scattered..

I am however a close Egypt watcher and years-long resident. Just to lend a bit of context here:

Egypt is.... militarized. They fly Apaches and F-16s around central Cairo every now and then just for the heck of it. As noted, central Sinai is a lawless area with some level of threat, but really, Egypt generally and the current government in particular is enamored with military hardware and there's no more reason for them to fly attack aircraft around the area other than that they can.

Also, people need to take everything and anything the government of Egypt says with a high degree of skepticism. That's already been proven with this distress call that wasn't, and general radar confusion yesterday with the plane reported in Cyprus and Turkey. Honestly I can't think of anything less transparent than a joint Russian-Egyptian investigation. Hopefully Airbus and other third party involvement will help keep this process in check.

Finally, on the purely speculative point of Sharm security... having lived in many continents and countries around the world, my personal feeling is that it is totally plausible that local sympathizers could easily place something on board. Egyptian security is just short of a joke, especially at the smaller airports outside of Cairo.

Thanks again for the interesting conversation here. Appreciate the professional perspectives.

Notam question
 

Why higher than 26000 feet? Wouldn't that suggest some SAM capability as I thought MANPADs were limited to 10-15000 ft max altitude? Keep in mind that there is some high terrain in the proximity. Not buying into the ISIS story, but quite a number of reports over the last few months about the 'newer' Russian arms being delivered to and used by the insurgents against Egypt.

Wasn't there some mention of drift down? 260 allows for an aircraft to descend and leave the area before dropping into MANPAD range?

You can often see Russian aircraft on the ground for longer periods of time at Sharm el Sheikh , When i was there you would see Nordwind and UTair laying around all day so its not unusual for a aircraft to be on the ground there overnight

(pax) If I am looking at the video of debris correctly, the wings and fwd fuselage struck the ground level with low fwd speed, but where is the rear fuselage? Did it break at the wing box as well as the tail section?

Watch this video at 1:50 you will see the tail lying at some distance from the main wreckage. Whilst the main wreckage is burnt out, the tail is relatively pristine. Also, it is interesting to note that the main debris of wings/fuselage appears to be missing any fuselage aft of the wings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cCf52DdHwM