The head of a committee investigating the recent crash of a Russian plane in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula says a "noise" was registered in the last second of the recording of cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the aircraft.
“A noise was heard in the last second of the CVR recording,” Ayman al-Muqaddam told a news conference in the capital, Cairo, on Saturday.
An Airbus A321, run by Russia’s Kogalymavia airline, dropped off radar screens on October 31, nearly half an hour after takeoff from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The Russian passenger plane crashed in the restive Sinai Peninsula, killing all the 224 people on board.
“A spectral analysis will be carried out by specialized labs in order to identify the nature of this noise,” Muqaddam added.
He further noted that the parts of the crashed plane were scattered over a wide area extending for 13 kilometers (8 miles) “which is consistent with an in-flight break-up.”
Muqaddam referred to the reports on the possibility that the plane was brought down by a bomb, saying the committee has been provided with no evidence related to such claims.
The US and the UK have both said intelligence reports indicate that a bomb on board the flight has caused it to go down.
“The committee is considering for the great attention all possible scenarios for the cause of the accident and did not reach till the moment any conclusion in this regard,” he added.
The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group has released a video claiming responsibility for downing the Russian Metrojet flight.
Russia has halted all of its flights to Egypt while the UK has also stopped British flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.
Militants from Velayat Sinai (Sinai Province), previously known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, had earlier circulated a statement on social media claiming responsibility for the plane crash. They said the group brought down the aircraft in revenge for Russian airstrikes against positions of Daesh in Syria. Velayat Sinai pledged allegiance to Daesh in November 2014.