BREAKING NEWS: airliner missing within Egyptian FIR
 

Egypt loses contact with passenger plane over Sinai

Egyptian air traffic control lost contact with a civilian airliner carrying 212 people shortly after it took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to head to Russia, aviation sources said on Saturday.

The sources said the passenger plane was mainly carrying Russian tourists and that a search was underway.

Security sources in the Sinai Peninsula confirmed reports that an aircraft was missing.

(Writing by Lin Noueihed; editing by Susan Thoms)

Egypt loses contact with passenger plane over Sinai: sources | Reuters

Aljazeera saying situation not clear, conflicting report from Egyptian ATC.

Russina autorities are confirming that contact has been lost with a russian airliner that was over the Sinai.

According the al jazeera.

By Staff writer Al Arabiya NewsSaturday, 31 October 2015

A Russian civilian plane carrying 224 people crashed in Sinai on Saturday, the Egyptian Prime Minister said, amid earlier conflicting reports that the plane was safely continuing its journey.

Egyptian air traffic control lost contact with the Airbus A-321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia, shortly after it took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to head to Russia, aviation sources told Reuters news agency.

The sources said the passenger plane was mainly carrying Russian tourists.

Security sources in the Sinai Peninsula confirmed reports that an aircraft was missing. But in a conflicting statement, Egypt's air accident chief had said that the missing passenger plane on its way to Russia had safely left Egyptian airspace and made contact with Turkish air traffic control.

"The ... Russian airline had told us that the Russian plane we lost contact with is safe and that it has contacted Turkish air traffic control and is passing through Turkish skies now," Ayman al-Muqaddam, the head of the central air traffic accident authority in Egypt, said in a statement.

But local Egyptian media reported the plane had crashed in Sinai, a claim later confirmed by the PM.

A Russian aviation authority source confirmed that radar contact was lost with the passenger jet, according to RIA news agency.

The source said the aircraft is an Airbus A-321 operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia and that it was carrying 224 passengers and crew. The source added that radar contact was lost in Cyprus' airspace.

[With Reuters]

Last Update: Saturday, 31 October 2015 KSA 10:54 - GMT 07:54

ISIS /al Qaeda lookalikes are running the show in the Sinai Peninsula.
If it is shot down by them, we are in for a rough ride....

If it has crashed in the Sinai, isn't there a lot of bad guys there with manpads?

According to FR it got up to FL330 so that makes manpads unlikely I reckon. Last data point it was back down to 28 and change, if accurate.

intitial report said :'Shortly after take off " would indicate a low altitude. But if Flight radar is to be trusted, it shows the "problem" occurring a FL330 followed by an extremely fast descent ...last reply FL280 .

.Oh boy, yes... This could turn very ugly..

Not smack dab in the middle of Sinai, it is empty desert there, the aircraft was already quite high.

Two further Russian flights (ORB508 and H59222) just left SSH for VKO on similar headings. Obviously not too concerned about a high altitude shootdown threat.

"The source said the aircraft is an Airbus A-321 operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia and that it was carrying 224 passengers and crew. The source added that radar contact was lost in Cyprus' airspace."
No part of the Nicosia FIR is over the Sainai

RT is reporting a source telling that the plane wanted to divert to Cairo
 

"A source at Sharm El-Sheikh Airport told RIA Novosti the pilot of the missing plane requested a change of course, saying the jet would have to land in Cairo."
does not sound like a missile to me....

SKY NEWS reporting contact made in Turkish airspace,who is correct? who Knows

You can see it on Flight Radar 24 play back - flight number KGL9268

Registration EI-ETJ Airbus A321

You can also watch the play back here:

FR24 clearly shows it was going down...

EI-ETJ - Aircraft info and flight history - Flightradar24

Egyptian prime minister stated the aircraft crashed in Sinai - at this point, unless a better source emerges, I would rather believe him.

Russian media said that place was found near Al Arish and that police already located crash site.

Am from Egypt
 

Guys it my first post but I've always been reading the forums. I am from Egypt and I confirm that search and rescue team has been dispatched to the area and in search for it.

Flightradar24 just tweeted some raw data. Note first pic,

I guess: time, lat, long, altitude, airspeed, ??, ??

Small drop in altitude, large drop in speed (if that's what it is) in last minutes.

https://twitter.com/flightradar24/st...68957681958912

hth,

GB

Confirmed and located in hasna area in the middle of Sinai

RIA writes that source said that pilot reports engine malfunction and asked for diverting to Cairo

I wouldn't read too much into the request for a return/diversion. Recently news reports often report this when in fact it is not true. Anyway a dual engine flame out with miles and miles of unpopulated terrain VMC in day light should have a happy ending. If anything you've got 10-15 minutes. Plenty of time to get a mayday and change your squark.

The claim of falling at 1828.8ms is just plain idiotic.

That about 6,500 kilometers per hour. Or 3,500knots. Um.. no.

People mentioning the 6000fpm drop, have you noticed the 3200fpm climb just before it and the 93kts airspeed reported at circa FL300

EI-ETJ Airbus A321-231 Metrojet Y220 2x IAE V2533-A5 01-05-2012

tfd, leased from AerCap

Crashed 31-10-2015 as flight KGL9268 enroute Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt to St. Petersburg, Russia over Sinai peninsula about 25mins after take-off
(c) planespotters.net

Current notam
 

1A6349
HECC CAIRO FIR ---------------------1A6349/15 SECURITY EGYPT, NORTHERN SINAI PENINSULA, POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS SITUATION CONTENT: GERMANY ADVISES ALL GERMAN OPERATORS NOT TO PLAN AND CONDUCT FLIGHTS BELOW FL260 DUE TO HAZARDOUS SITUATION IN THE AIRSPACE OF EGYPT, REGION NORTHERN SINAI (FIR CAIRO). POTENTIAL RISK TO AVIATION OVERFLYING THIS AREA BELOW FL260 AND TAKE OFF / LANDING AT ALL AIRPORTS FROM DEDICATED ANTI-AVIATION AND GROUND TO GROUND WEAPONRY. OPERATORS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO TAKE POTENTIAL RISK INTO ACCOUNT IN THEIR RISK ASSESSMENT AND ROUTEING DECISION. AFFECTED AREA: AREA WITHIN N311400E322200 - N294000E324000 - N293000E345400 N312000E341200 - N311400E322200 EMERGENCY SITUATIONS: IN AN EMERGENCY THAT REQUIRES IMMEDIATE DECISION AND ACTION FOR THE SAFETY OF THE FLIGHT, THE PILOT IN COMMAND MAY DEVIATE FROM THIS NOTAM TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED BY THAT EMERGENCY.

And

1V42/15 HAZARDOUS SITUATION IN EGYPTIAN AIRSPACE IN NORTHERN SINAI GOVERNATE WITHIN THE AREA BOUNDED BY 311400N 322200E - 294000N 324000E - 293000N 345400E - 312000N 341200E - 311400N 322200E (CAIRO FIR, SINAI PENINSULA). POTENTIAL RISK TO AVIATION OVERFLYING THIS AREA AT LESS THAN 25,000FT AGL FROM DEDICATED ANTI-AVIATION WEAPONRY. OPERATORS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO TAKE THIS POTENTIAL RISK INTO ACCOUNT IN THEIR RISK ASSESSMENTS AND ROUTEING DECISIONS. CONTACT UK DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT (DFT) (+44) (0)20 7944 3260 OR (+44) (0)207 944 5999 OUT OF HOURS 14-12-0274/AS6.
SFC-UNL

:(

Big commercial load and a long range flight for an A321, so presumably at maximum gross. Top of climb. Coffin corner ?

Yes, eye witnesses who will say 'the plane was on fire', the 'engines were misfiring' and e pilot was 'struggling to control it'.

It's worrying how quickly the Egyptians have gone from saying the plane is in Turkey, then it was down in Cyprus now just an hour it was a technical problem and it was not a bomb and it was not shot down. It was going in a straight line. If it was serious and they were diverting urgently then I'd imagine a turn to be made in the direction of SSH or CAI.

I doubt they'd get into coffin corner without the plane shouting at them to do something about it, not to mention both PFDs would be telling a rather unhappy story long before coffin coroner is reached. The MCDU will also tell them the max alt, planned at the optimum too. I very much down they'd go sailing throu REC MAX. The plane will be struggling with the climb, and will make it plainly obvious that it's not happy.

RT saying 31,000ft, FR24 indicating even 33 - NOTAM for below FL260? :suspect:

I note the news is also saying they did not check in on the radio with Cyprus - no surprise there as they were probably over half an hour from calling the Cypriots:rolleyes:

Sky News are reporting survivors in a section of the aircraft?

PAXfips
 

MH17 was well above the notam 'd levels, too.

520.

The aircraft was around level 300. It was speed that was 400K (ground speed),
which dropped. It was never anywhere close over max level

https://twitter.com/hashtag/7K9268?src=hash

TRA, he's correct in what he says; I am watching Sky News and that's what they are reporting - not that I believe it for a moment.

RT says on https://www.rt.com/news/320225-plane...russian-egypt/

Sky News Newsdesk ‏@SkyNewsBreak 9m9 minutes ago
Update - Reuters: officers at the scene of the Russian plane crash say voices of trapped passengers could be heard in a section of the plane
180 retweets 30 favorites


My instinct is that report is probably inaccurate; really hope I'm wrong.

BTW, my handle may be "newjourno" (and that was a long time ago); it would be more accurately "ex-journo".

EI registered
Irish?? Does it make it an EASA investigation too??

A321 full load would have been fine at FL320 (32,000 feet) so that's probably not the issue.

Angle of Attack probes probably also not an issue in a dry climate. Sand damage or poor maintenance maybe - but that should have shown up as a problem earlier in the flight.

Data from the transponder (as shown on flightradar24.com) shows climb, loss of speed, then dive. The Airbus normal law should protect the aircraft against a stall like this unless the normal laws fail to work at the critical moment they're needed!

The same has happened in several Airbus accidents, yet not enough has been done to change the way pilots are trained to handle this type of scenario. How many more more crashes will it take for Airbus, the regulators and airline training departments to wake up?