Flight Safety Information October 31, 2015 - No. 217 In This Issue Egypt confirms Russian passenger plane 7K9268 has crashed in Sinai Egypt confirms Russian passenger plane 7K9268 has crashed in Sinai Egypt briefly lost contact with a civilian airliner carrying 212 people. Cairo: A Russian passenger plane carrying up to 224 passengers and crew has crashed in in Egypt, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has confirmed. A statement from the Prime Minister's office said Mr Ismail had formed a cabinet-level crisis committee to deal with the crash in central Sinai. The Airbus A-321, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia lost communications with flight officials 23 minutes after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, on its way to the Russian city of St Petersburg. The Australian Embassy in Cairo is making urgent enquiries with Egyptian authorities to determine whether any Australians were involved in the incident. Advertisement There are no indications of Australians affected so far. Most of the passengers are said to be Russian tourists. Aviation tracking website Flight Radar 24 tweeted that the plane was descending at a rate of about 6000 feet a minute just before its signal was lost. The plane was 18 years old, the site said. Reports on the number of passengers have varied with some agencies reporting there were 212 passengers and seven crew members. It has also been reported that 17 of the passengers were children. Reuters reported that Egyptian security sources said there was no indication that the plane had been shot down. Islamist militants are active in parts of Sinai. Soon after reporting the plane was missing, Reuters put out a second report that quoted an Egyptian official saying the plane had safely flown into Turkish airspace. However, other reports from news agencies including Russia Today said the plane had crashed. Some agencies also suggested the plane had disappeared over Cyprus. Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said in a statement that flight 7K9268 left Sharm el-Sheikh at 6.51am Moscow time and was due into St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport at 12.10pm. It said the aircraft failed to make scheduled contact with Cyprus air traffic control 23 minutes after take-off and disappeared from the radar. http://www.smh.com.au/world/egypt-loses-contact-with-passenger-plane-over-sinai- sources-20151031-gknqdh.html#ixzz3q8PduiYZ ************************ Date: Saturday 31 October 2015 Type: Airbus A321-231 Operator: Kolavia Registration: EI-ETJ C/n / msn: 663 First flight: 1997-05-09 (18 years 6 months) Engines: 2 IAE V2533-A5 Crew: Fatalities: / Occupants: 7 Passengers: Fatalities: / Occupants: 217 Total: Fatalities: / Occupants: 224 Airplane damage: Missing Airplane fate: Presumed damaged beyond repair Location: Sinai ( Egypt) Phase: En route (ENR) Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Sharm el Sheikh International Airport (SSH/HESH), Egypt Destination airport: Saint Petersburg-Pulkovo Airport (LED/ULLI), Russia Flightnumber: 7K9268 Narrative: A Kolavia Airbus A321 reportedly crashed in central Sinai after takeoff from Sharm el- Sheikh, Egypt. Egypt's prime minister has confirmed the crash, according to BBC News. Kolavia flight 9268 took off from Sharm el Sheikh at 05:49 hours local time (03:49 UTC). Last contact with the flight was about 06:13 hours. Flight tracking website Flightradar24 shows the aircraft climbing too 33500 feet, after which it shows lower altitudes of 29925 feet and 28375 feet along with a drop in reported airspeed from 404 knots to 184 knots and 93 knots. http://www.aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20151031-0