Sinai disaster: what is known about the crash of the Russian A321 a year later. The crash of the Kogalymavia A321 aircraft became the largest in the history of Russian aviation. When the plane was blown up over Sinai
Two years ago, on October 31, 2015, an A-321 plane crashed over the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt). All 224 people on board were killed. 25 of them are children.
At the time of the tragedy, 48 people from the Leningrad region, including four children, were flying on flight 9268 from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg. These are residents of the villages of Sovetsky, Gostilitsy, Romanovka, residents of Shlisselburg, Vsevolozhsk, Gatchina, Vyborg, Sosnovy Bor, Slantsy, Volkhov.
Has disappeared from the radar screens
At 7:14 a.m., the Kogalymavia airline A-321, flying from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to St. Petersburg, disappeared from radar screens 20 minutes after takeoff. There are 217 passengers and 7 crew members on board. Of these, four are Ukrainians, one is Belarusian, and all the rest are Russians.
At 7:14 near Larnaca, according to preliminary data, communication with the plane was lost, and the aircraft's mark disappeared from the radar screens.
Rosaviatsia
Catastrophe
A couple of hours later, Egyptian authorities confirmed the crash of a Russian plane in central Sinai.
The liner was completely destroyed, its debris scattered over an area of 13 kilometers. 40 ambulances arrived at the crash site to evacuate victims of the disaster.
According to rescuers, the chances of finding survivors are extremely low.
Everyone died
Reuters reported four survivors. Hope quickly faded - official data arrived. Everyone died.
The smallest victim in terms of age, but not in importance, was 10-month-old Darina Gromova from Gatchina. Her photograph against the background of the liners, which the girl’s mother took before leaving for the Egyptian resort, will become a symbol of the Sinai tragedy.
The child looks at the planes standing on the ground. The caption under the photo is “Main Passenger.”
Darina's father and mother were also on board the A-321 and died along with her.
Grief and Unity
The tragedy left no one indifferent. In Pulkovo and to the Alexander Column, people brought flowers, letters of condolences and children's toys. There are so many of them that later hundreds of workers will be needed to remove all the spontaneous memorials.
Hundreds of balloons were released into the sky on Palace Square in memory of the victims.
About the causes of the disaster
Soon after the tragedy, different versions of what happened began to appear.
- Pilot error
The crew was commanded by 48-year-old Valery Nemov, who has over 12 thousand flight hours, of which more than 3,860 were on the Airbus A321. The aircraft was flown by experienced and highly qualified pilots. The version of pilot error was ruled out.
- Technical fault
Before departure, the aircraft underwent maintenance. No faults found.
- Terrorist attack
The head of the Russian FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, puts forward the first official version - the disaster occurred as a result of a terrorist attack.
A homemade explosive device with a capacity of up to 1 kg of TNT went off. Traces of explosives were found on the wreckage of the plane.
Later, the Russian side will announce a reward of $50 million for information about the terrorists.
The murder of our people in Sinai is among the bloodiest in terms of the number of crime victims. And we will not wipe away the tears from our souls and hearts. This will stay with us forever. But this will not stop us from finding and punishing the criminals.
Vladimir Putin
It is still unclear who ordered the terrible crime. No performers found. According to the most common version, the Sinai branch of the Islamic State (*terrorist organization banned in Russia) was behind the terrorist attack.
Putin: stop flights to Egypt until “the proper level of aviation safety is established”
In November 2015, Russian authorities completely blocked air traffic with Egypt. The remaining tourists in the Arab country were taken out at the end of their tours. Only hand luggage was allowed on board the plane; passengers' luggage was taken out on special flights of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Also, flights with Egypt were interrupted by Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and a number of German airlines.
"Kogalymavia"
In the spring of 2016, the Federal Air Transport Agency banned domestic and international flights of the airline, despite the fact that its involvement in the tragic incident had not been proven.
Relatives of those killed in the plane crash over Sinai have filed a class action lawsuit against the tour operator Kogalymavia airline in the amount of €1.4 billion.
Memory of an interrupted flight
On the eve of the second anniversary of the tragedy, October 28, a monument to the victims of the disaster was unveiled at the Serafimovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.
The monument was named “Folded Wings”. On one is the flight number, on the other is the date of the disaster. In front of them is a sarcophagus with a note: “To the crew members and passengers of flight 7K9268 who died at the hands of terrorists on October 31, 2015 in the skies over Sinai (Egypt).”
Meanwhile, today, October 31, a “Garden of Memory” was opened on Rumbolovskaya Gora in the Vsevolozhsk district of the Leningrad region for the victims of the terrorist attack. The memorial is a corridor made of metal plates on which the names of all the victims are carved.
The monument is surrounded by red-leaved maples. 25 fir trees are planted separately, they symbolize the memory of the dead children.
The Russian FSB classifies the incident as a terrorist attack, and the investigation is still ongoing. Air traffic between Russia and Egypt was stopped after the disaster and has not resumed to this day.
Exactly two years ago, on October 31, 2015, the most massive air crash in terms of the number of deaths occurred in the entire history of Russia. On this day, an Airbus A321-231 airliner of a Russian airline took off from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and headed for St. Petersburg. The crew of the airliner was operating a charter flight and was taking Russian tourists home after a vacation.
The plane climbed calmly along the Gulf of Aqaba and would soon cross the Sinai Peninsula to enter European airspace. However, at the 23rd minute of the flight, communication between ground services and the aircraft was interrupted. It soon became clear that the Airbus A321-231 crashed to the ground in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula and was completely destroyed. The wreckage of the aircraft was scattered over 13 km. All 224 people on board the plane were killed.
At the time of the death of the airliner, there were seven crew members and 217 passengers. Of these, four were Ukrainians, one was Belarusian, and the rest were Russian citizens. Among them was the deputy head of Pskov and a deputy of the local legislative assembly. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the oldest passenger was 77 years old, and
the youngest victim of the tragedy was a 10-month-old.
Shortly before the tragic incident, her mother Tatyana published a photo of the child on a page on the VKontakte social network. The photo shows the girl standing on the windowsill of an airport window with her back to the viewer. She looks at the planes on the ground. She captioned the photo: “The most important passenger.”
This photograph was later circulated by many Russian and world media and became a symbol of the Sinai disaster. Diana's mother and father also died as a result of the plane crash.
The Russian President, as well as the leaders of many countries in Europe and the world, expressed condolences to the victims. The day after the plane crashed, mourning was declared in Russia. However, the French published three cartoons on the topic of the disaster, which caused a negative reaction from the Russian Federation and. In response, the French Foreign Ministry stated that “in France, journalists freely express their opinions,” while “it does not always coincide with the official position of the French authorities.”
“There were no questions about the car”
Soon after the incident, various versions of what happened began to be put forward. Almost immediately, the hypothesis that the plane crashed due to a pilot error was dismissed. The crashed Airbus was controlled by experienced pilots, and the crew commander, 48-year-old Valery Nemov, had flown over 12 thousand hours, of which more than 3860 were on the Airbus A321.
However, details of the aircraft’s operation soon became known, and it turned out that it was far from new.
It was released in the spring of 1997 and made its first flight on May 9. After this, the aircraft was transferred to the American company International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), which by May 27 leased it to the Lebanese airline Middle East Airlines (MEA), which had owned it for six years. On June 2, 2003, already under tail number TC-OAE, the airliner was leased to the Turkish airline Onur Air. This structure later sub-leased the aircraft to Saudi Arabian Airlines, and from July 30 to September 29, 2010 to Syrian Cham Wings Airlines. By the spring of 2012, the TC-OAE board returned to ILFC, and by March 30, 2012, it was leased to the Russian Kogalymavia.
On April 30 of the same 2012, it was bought from ILFC by the Dutch airline AerCap, which re-delivered this airliner to the Russian Kogalymavia. The Russian airline, in turn, has already been operating under the Metrojet brand since May 1, 2012.
During the long service of the aircraft, an unpleasant incident occurred from a safety point of view. On November 16, 2001, he was flying passenger flight ME 306 on the Beirut-Cairo route and during landing at the airport in the Egyptian capital, the pilots raised his nose too high, causing the tail to drop so low that it hit the ground. None of the 88 people on board the plane (81 passengers and 7 crew members) were injured then, and the airliner itself returned to passenger routes after undergoing repairs. This information was also confirmed by representatives of Kogalymavia, assuring that the aircraft passed all the necessary checks and technical tests on time.
On the eve of departure, the ill-fated flight underwent maintenance, and the receiving crew had no questions about the car.
Interrupted message
An investigation into the causes of the tragedy was launched by several large structures from around the world, since Egypt is a very popular tourist destination among citizens of many countries. The investigation was carried out by the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Russian Civil Aviation Safety Investigation and Analysis Bureau of France, the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, the Irish Air Accident Investigation Department, and the US National Transportation Safety Board.
At the same time, in accordance with international law, general management was carried out by Egyptian investigators, since the incident occurred in the airspace of that country. Already on the first of November, the previously found “black boxes” from the lost liner were deciphered. In the meantime, he opened criminal cases under Articles 263 and 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of traffic safety rules and operation of railway, air, sea and inland water transport and the subway” and “Production, storage, transportation or sale of goods and products, performance of work or provision of services that do not meet security requirements").
The UK and German airlines also interrupted flights with the Egyptian state, and France, the Netherlands and Belgium warned their citizens against flying to Sharm el-Sheikh. In addition, it announced the cancellation of night flights to Sharm el-Sheikh.
Customers not identified
Meanwhile, the victims in the disaster case filed a class action lawsuit against the tour operator, Kogalymavia airline and insurance companies for a total amount of about €1.4 billion. This is the first example of a class action lawsuit for such a serious amount in Russian history.
And although the involvement of Kogalymavia employees in the incident over Sinai is not confirmed by facts, in the spring of 2016 it banned domestic and international flights of this airline.
According to the most frequently voiced version, the Sinai division of the terrorist group was behind the terrorist attack (both organizations are banned in Russia). Its members accepted responsibility for this crime shortly after the fact.
However, there are other points of view. A number of experts believe that the Qatari organization Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (a cell of the Islamic State banned in Russia) could be behind the terrorist attack. The United States also announced its trace in the tragedy.
Be that as it may, after the death of the plane, Russian aviation began to intensify air strikes against targets of various Islamist organizations in Syria. For the first time, Russian strategic aviation was involved in raids on IS targets and other extremists.
However, the names of the specific perpetrators of the terrorist attack have not yet been established.
And on October 28, 2017, a monument to the victims of the disaster was unveiled at the Serafimovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg. In addition, among St. Petersburg residents there is an idea to erect a monument to 10-month-old Darina Gromova, which a famous sculptor has already promised to make for free.
On the morning of October 31, 2015, the largest disaster in the history of domestic aviation occurred. The plane of the Russian company Kogalymavia took off from the Egyptian Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, but was blown up by terrorists over the Sinai Peninsula. 224 people on board died - children, wives, husbands, fathers, mothers... Many of them, before departure, left photographs and notes on their pages on social networks, which involuntarily became farewell notes.
The Airbus A321 airliner operated charter flight 7K-9268 on the route Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg. 23 minutes after takeoff, radio contact with the crew was lost, and the airliner itself disappeared from radar. Egyptian search teams discovered the wreckage of the plane near the town of Nehel. All people on board the plane, including 25 children and 7 crew members, were killed.
The cause of the tragedy, according to the Russian FSB, was a terrorist attack for which the international terrorist group “Islamic State”, banned in the Russian Federation, took responsibility. As experts later established, the improvised explosive device was planted in the oversized baggage compartment at the rear of the plane. The explosion led to the complete destruction of the aircraft. By the time the fragments of the aircraft hit the ground, almost all the people on board had already died from barotrauma.
Most of the passengers on the tragic flight were residents of North-West Russia, mainly from St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Novgorod and Pskov regions. Also on board were four citizens of Ukraine and one citizen of Belarus.
The people who boarded the liner were young and full of vitality. Some of them celebrated their wedding anniversary in Egypt, others decided to celebrate their birthday in the southern country. Many went to the resort with their entire families, with children. And so they died - all together. There were also those who decided to go on holiday abroad for the first time. And this trip was the last...
“I know I won’t come back”
Spouses Olga and Yuri Shein celebrated ten years of marriage in Egypt - the whole family flew with three children: 11-year-old Zhenya, 10-year-old Leroy and 3-year-old Nastya. The last photo posted on social networks showed the father of the family walking up the plane. In his arms is his daughter Nastya. The caption under the photo “We are flying home” was made 11 minutes before departure. They never returned home...
The young Gromov family from the city of Gatchina, Leningrad Region, died in the disaster. The youngest passenger on the flight was their daughter, ten-month-old Darina. Before flying out on vacation, the baby's mother published a photo of the child standing near the glass at the St. Petersburg airport and carefully watching the planes. “The main passenger,” Tatyana Gromova touchingly signed a photo of her baby. It was this photograph, published by many world publications, that became a visual symbol of the A321 tragedy. The baby's body was found by rescuers 30-35 km from the epicenter of the crash.
Vladimir and Victoria Golenkov went to the sea with their little daughter Diana. She was only four years old. On the social network, Vladimir’s page published footage of a happy family life.
Among the dead was the deputy head of the city of Pskov and deputy of the Pskov City Duma Alexander Kopylov. He gave the trip to his wife for her birthday. Together they died...
“I’m still waiting for my daughter”
Irina Evgenievna found strength and told us about that terrible day when she lost her only daughter, Elvira Voskresenskaya. The 28-year-old girl worked at the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in St. Petersburg as an inspector in the supervisory activities department. I went on vacation with a friend. Irina Zakharova learned about the plane crash from her brother when she and her husband were going to the airport to meet their daughter.
In the morning, completely calmly, without any bad thoughts, we began to get ready for the dacha, which is located not far from Pulkovo. Just in time to meet you at the airport on the way home. Our daughter’s husband could not meet us - he is also an employee of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and that day he had just taken duty for a day. When we had already reached the ring road, my brother called me to clarify whether my daughter had arrived or not. I said that she was arriving today at 12 o'clock. He says: “What flight is she on?” I say I don't know which one. He, apparently not yet assessing the situation, says: “You know, some plane disappeared from radar over Sinai. Where is she flying from? I say from Sharm el-Sheikh. He says: “You know, some plane that took off from Sharm el-Sheikh disappeared from the radar”...
I don't even want to remember what happened. It’s just that at the first moment there were thoughts in my head that this was not her plane. Yes, this cannot be! This is not her flight. There is more than one flight, and this is not about her at all. Then I called her husband, since he also works in the Ministry of Emergency Situations and knows everything. Then those terrible hours of waiting, which turned into days. My daughter's husband was there from the very beginning to the end - he was replaced at work. I couldn’t go to Pulkovo - I don’t even know how I survived. My dad went and took a DNA test.
Actually, I still don't believe it. It seems to me that this is not about her, she is somewhere and simply cannot return yet.
The first moment when the lists appeared, she was not on them... It’s hard to remember. Even though we knew that our loved ones were on that plane, every day we waited for news whether we were on the lists of those identified. This is the worst thing when, having lost a loved one, you cannot even bury the remains so that you can come and venerate them.
Hope faded away gradually, but it did not fade away, I am still waiting for my daughter. It seems to me that someday this terrible dream will end. Therefore, when I do something now, it seems to me that this is not about us, not about our family, not about our daughter. This simply cannot happen, she could not leave us with dad.
She was very caring and worried about our health. She didn’t even want to live separately from us when she got married. She had a dream to build her own house, in one half of which we would live, in the other - she and her husband.
She was very positive and goal oriented. She was always in a hurry, always on the move, driving quickly. Speed in general meant a lot to her. She was always late for something because she had a lot of plans. I wanted to master everything as quickly as possible. I took a motorcycle driving course. She and my dad had a dream, secret from me: they wanted to buy a good motorcycle for both of them.
She was feminine, but with a masculine character. She never whined and tried to hide her weaknesses. She was strong. And I tried to help everyone as much as I could. Relatives came to us from Donetsk, from the demarcation line. With three children, they fled from this war. She took upon herself all the care of these children. Just before flying on vacation, she became the godmother of the little girl Anastasia. She said that now she will also have to think about her children. I really wanted to have my own children. This was her dream because two years ago she lost her twins due to premature birth.
But then she planned to entrust the children to me and work - she wanted to reach certain heights in her profession. She told her father: “Dad, you are the major, and I will be the general!” She liked her job. It’s my dad and I’s pride that we raised her to be a real person.
“We have a lot of caring people”
The first emotions of people who have lost their loved ones are shock, tears, and non-acceptance of what happened. Then - identification in the morgue of the few who could be identified visually. Then there is the painfully long wait for the results of DNA testing of those whose remains could not be identified. For some relatives, this nightmare is still not over - six victims of the disaster have still not been identified. Their relatives hope for the results of the latest genetic examinations.
In total there are about 200 unidentified body fragments.
“The Egyptian services have remains that were found during the laying out of the plane. When they are transferred to the Investigative Committee, a genetic examination will be carried out. We are waiting for its results to understand whether we have the right to bury the existing remains,” Zakharova explained. The relatives of the victims intend to bury all unidentified remains in a mass grave.
Irina Evgenievna noted the support of caring townspeople in the first mournful days; human solidarity continues to be felt to this day.
“This deserves a huge amount of gratitude. In the first days, we saw how people rallied and worried. Until now, those who knew our dead relatives are always with us. The graves are always buried in flowers, and candles are burning, people come constantly. It is great happiness that we have many caring people. I think it was stressful for everyone at first. Anyone could find themselves in this situation. At Pulkovo, a plane takes off and lands every 10-15 minutes. So many people use this type of transport every day, so many people use other modes of transport. Terrorism has no borders. At that moment, people were shocked, and everyone tried this situation on themselves. Therefore, everyone was very scared and in pain,” added Irina Zakharova.
According to her, the relatives of the victims communicated on social networks in the first months to exchange the slightest new information. After most of the funeral was completed, people gathered to decide what they planned to do in memory of their loved ones. At the very first meeting, the idea of building a temple was expressed. It will be built at the intersection of Matisov and the Dudergof Canal on the territory of the Baltic Pearl microdistrict in the Krasnoselsky district of St. Petersburg. The future rector of the Church of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica, in memory of the victims of the A321 disaster, Father Sergei lost his friend in this tragedy.
As Irina Zakharova says,
“the temple will contain a small atrium, where the names of our loved ones, possibly photographs, will be placed”
“A lot of children were left without parents. They will be able to come there. We want to build a house for 224 souls and their relatives. So that this house can live a full life. This will be the best memory of our loved ones. Because it will include not only the memory of them, but also care for the living,” added the interlocutor of the REGNUM news agency.
On October 30, Airbus 321-231 of Kogalymavia airlines safely completed two flights on the route Sharm el-Sheikh - Samara - Sharm el-Sheikh. The handing over crew, PIC Dmitry Zhigalkovich, and co-pilot Yuri Yushko do not make any comments about the aircraft. Already in the early morning of October 31, the plane will have two more regular flights: Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg - Sharm el-Sheikh. The following crew is already on board: experienced 48-year-old Valery Nemov, who has flown over 12,000 hours, and 45-year-old co-pilot Sergei Trukhachev, a former military pilot who served in the Chechen campaign.
217 passengers will be waiting for them on board, most of them are St. Petersburg residents, many returning home with their entire families from a long-awaited vacation in Egypt. At 03:50:06 local time (06:50 Moscow time), flight 7K-9268 takes off from Sharm el-Sheikh, after which, following the air corridor along the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, it begins to climb.
The plane, bypassing the Sinai Peninsula, will have to arrive in St. Petersburg at 12:10 local time, on a regular Saturday afternoon in October, among dozens of other domestic and international flights listed on the Pulkovo board. But neither then, nor after several delays that were displayed on the board, the long-awaited flight 9268 never returned to its homeland.
A few days after the disaster in the skies over Egypt, Flightradar will release data on the last flight of the A321 over the Sinai. According to the report published on the website, the plane took off safely and began to gain altitude, moving parallel to the coast. A few minutes after the liner turned deeper into the peninsula, its altitude began to drop sharply by 6,000 feet. Communication with the plane is lost. The first media reports that the Kogalymavia Airbus plane disappeared from radar began to appear only at 10:18 Moscow time. Short news reports vary significantly: according to the information they contain, there were from 207 to 224 people on board. Some reports say the plane went missing near Larnaca in Cyprus.
Flight 9268 Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg, operated by Airbus 321 Kogalymavia, took off at 6:21 Moscow time and disappeared from radar screens after 23 minutes, there were 217 passengers and seven crew members on board, reports the Federal Air Transport Agency.
Moments count - two minutes later news appears from Arab media, reporting that a Russian plane crashed in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula. But the data is still scarce and not supported by official confirmation. Hope remains. At 10:42 Reuters and Sky News publish the first reports refuting the plane crash. Publication sources claim that the crew of the missing plane made contact in Turkey. Flightradar does not confirm the fall, specifying that the airliner sharply decreased in altitude before disappearing from the radar.
The Federal Air Transport Agency reports that they are trying to contact the flight that disappeared from radar. At 11:44 on the Pulkovo online board there is still information that the flight’s arrival from Sharm el-Sheikh is delayed (from 12:10 to 12:20). But already closer to 12, citing sources in the Federal Air Transport Agency, most media outlets publish information about the crash of an airliner over the Sinai Peninsula. In Pulkovo, where by that time the information about the arrival had disappeared from the display, the emergency headquarters began operational work, and the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations was preparing two aircraft to be sent to Egypt. Later, the department decides to send five special aircraft to Egypt.
Search teams discovered the crash site among the mountains of the Sinai Peninsula. The wreckage of the airliner was scattered over 13 kilometers.
The search operation took place in difficult conditions: North Sinai is a closed zone, and for a year now the Egyptian army has been conducting a large-scale operation there against militants of an extremist group associated with ISIS (the group’s activities are prohibited in Russia by decision of the Supreme Court. - Prim. ed.). It was the Egyptian military, patrolling the territory, who were the first to discover the wreckage of the airliner. The plane crashed in the En-Nahal mountain range, a deserted, waterless and deserted place. According to clarified and officially confirmed information, there were 224 people on board the plane, including seven crew members. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, among the passengers on the plane there were 192 adults and 25 children. They all died.
Dear Amalia, 28 years ago you gave the world a wonderful boy. Every mother dreams of such a son and every girl dreams of such a reliable and loving man nearby. A year ago, photographs of all the dead were published, I immediately remembered Armen’s face, it attracts the eye with its kind and pure smile, this is the face of a purposeful and very decent young man. I didn’t know him, but I’m incredibly sorry for Armen. Such boys were obliged to live and give the world beautiful children. But, unfortunately, another world, black and evil, took his life. Strength and health to you. Thank you for such a son. Insanely sorry... In loving memory of Armen and happy heavenly birthday. (Tatyana Svetlova, St. Petersburg) - such letters, a year after the tragedy, continue to be received by the relatives of those killed in the terrible plane crash over Sinai.
On October 26, a few days before the plane crash, Armen Vishnev, a native of the city of Pushkin, who served in the Federal Customs Service, turned 27 years old. Armen flew to Egypt to rest, in one of his last messages he asked his mother not to be bored, because the separation would not be long, he promised to bring a magnet or, as a joke, even a whole camel.
A year after the tragedy, Amalia carefully preserves all the photographs and messages of her son. Concerned residents of other regions of Russia and dozens of other loved ones of the victims of the plane crash help her to honor the memory and overcome the grief of loss. The tragedy united more than 36 thousand people online. Through the efforts of St. Petersburg residents, the Flight 9268 charitable foundation was created, which now provides support to people who lost loved ones in the disaster over Sinai.
The main goal for which we have united is to perpetuate the memory of our relatives in those things that we are able to accomplish: creating a memorial and temple, preserving the memories of our loved ones, helping the families of the victims who need financial, legal and psychological support. Our foundation is not just an attempt to rally around a common cause. This is a protest against terrorism, murder, cruelty and injustice. A big journey begins with a small step. And we are taking this step all together - this is precisely the goal set for ourselves by people whose lives were divided by the tragedy into before and after the disaster.
Fund group on social networks has long become a kind of spontaneous book of memory, where you can find out the latest information about the progress of the investigation into the tragedy, again see photos of all those who did not return home from the ill-fated flight, and also provide all possible assistance to family and friends.
And it’s not just about money: any support is valuable, because even after a year, practice shows: time does not heal, and a long investigation and difficult bureaucratic procedures associated with the payment of compensation only aggravate the already ongoing pain of loss.
The tragedy cut short the lives of entire families: Olga and Yuri Shein and three of their children died in the disaster. The whole country from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok was shocked to the core by the love story of Alexandra Chernova and Evgeny Yavsin who were on board the A321: Evgeny specially saved money to take Sasha to Egypt and propose to her there. 
And dozens of other life-long stories that were so unfairly and suddenly ended on that ill-fated October morning. Most of the passengers of the crashed A321 were residents of the North-West of Russia, mainly from St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Novgorod and Pskov regions. Also on board were four citizens of Ukraine and one citizen of Belarus. Flight 9268" of Irina Zakharova, the remains, which are now stored in the crematorium on Shafirovsky Prospekt, are not subject to examination. However, families still have hope of receiving fragments of the bodies of their dead relatives: in Egypt, after the completion of the main stage of the investigation, new remains were discovered, they are now being studied.
The report of the international commission investigating the crash of the Russian A321 over the Sinai has not yet been made public: according to a source in the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, experts will talk about the preliminary results of their work (and this is a year after the investigation) “within 60 days.”
Certain technical analyzes are now being carried out, after which a preliminary report will be made public, a representative of the Egyptian Ministry of Aviation told the media on October 26.
Let us remind you that representatives from six countries are taking part in the investigation into the causes of the disaster: Egypt, Russia, as well as specialists from France, Germany, Ireland and the USA. Its progress in accordance with the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is supervised by the Egyptian aviation authorities. 
One of the first versions of the disaster was the assumption that the Russian plane could have been shot down by a missile fired by militants operating in the North Sinai region. However, this assumption was almost immediately refuted by experts as untenable. For a long time, experts worked on another probable cause of the crash of the Kogalymavia airliner - a version of technical problems. This was announced on the day of the crash by the operational services of Egypt following a preliminary inspection of the wreckage of the plane. At the initial stage of the investigation, Russian experts were also inclined towards this version.
Representatives of Kogalymavia (Metrojet trademark) were the first to refute it: already on November 2, the airline’s press secretary, Alexander Smirnov, ruled out a technical malfunction and pilot error as the causes of the disaster and announced an “external influence” on the airliner. He stressed that the aircraft, which the airline owned under lease, was 100% ready to fly and that its crew was “very experienced.” The company representative supported his speech with certificates received by the airline at the beginning of 2015. He also stated that the plane's engine was checked on October 26, five days before the crash.
On November 7, the IAC reported that until the recording on the recorders stopped, the flight was proceeding as normal; no information about failures of the aircraft’s systems and components was recorded.
At a meeting in the Kremlin on November 16, the head of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, officially announced for the first time that the cause of the crash was a terrorist attack. Versions about third-party interference with links to various sources were previously published in foreign and Russian media. “We can definitely say that this is a terrorist act,” Bortnikov said, adding that traces of foreign-made explosives were found on the debris and things. - According to our experts, an improvised explosive device with a power of up to 1 kg in TNT equivalent went off on board the aircraft during the flight, which resulted in the aircraft falling apart in the air, which explains the scattering of parts of the aircraft fuselage over a long distance.
Bortnikov explained that the conclusions were made by specialists after a thorough examination of personal belongings, luggage of passengers and parts of the crashed airliner.
It was initially believed that the explosive device was planted under the passenger seat of 30A or 31A. However, in September 2016, data from the commission were made public, according to which the explosion occurred in the tail section, in the compartment for oversized luggage. A timed bomb was hidden among the baby strollers. Experts came to this conclusion after analyzing the layout of the collected fragments of the A321 in the hangar at Cairo airport. Due to the explosion, the plane lost its tail section, after which it went into an uncontrolled dive.
The investigation into the tragedy is progressing very slowly, and all the circumstances of what happened are still unknown. The Egyptian cell of the Islamic State group banned in Russia almost immediately took responsibility for the crash of the Russian plane. Airport employees could have carried the explosive device on board - numerous evidence of the weak level of security in the air harbor immediately after the tragedy flooded the Internet: many tourists said that for a small bribe they calmly carried bags with things through all the security cordons, and no one inspected them. However, the Egyptian side for a long time insisted on the version of a technical malfunction, refusing to acknowledge the possibility of a terrorist attack on board the liner. In December 2015, the Technical Investigation Committee issued a statement saying that Cairo had found no signs of terrorist involvement in the Airbus 321 crash. It was not until February 2016 that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi admitted for the first time that a Russian plane had crashed in the skies above. Sinai was a terrorist attack. The head of state stated this at the presentation of a report on the country’s development until 2030.
On August 30, 2016, it was announced that Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani, who was allegedly the organizer of the terrorist attack, had been killed in Aleppo, Syria.
Air traffic with Egypt, which was stopped immediately after the A321 crash, has not yet been restored. In accordance with the official commentary of the Russian Ministry of Transport, the situation will not change until all concerns in the field of aviation security are eliminated.
A decision to resume air traffic between Russia and Egypt is possible only after all concerns in the field of aviation and transport security have been eliminated. It is worth noting that the Egyptian side has made significant progress in resolving these issues and the interaction between the two countries is quite constructive, the department noted on October 25.
The Garden of Memory", which will be located on Rumbolovskaya Mountain in Vsevolozhsk, will be completed and fresh flowers will bloom here. A corridor of slabs on which, in accordance with the design of the monument, will be the names of all those killed in the A321 plane crash, as well as metal structures in the form of pipes on which the wind will play, anyone who drives along the Road of Life will see it.
On Monday, October 31, a memorial service for the victims of the A321 crash in the skies over the Sinai Peninsula will be held at St. Isaac's Cathedral. In memory of those who never returned home to their family and friends, the cathedral bell will ring 224 times.
Exactly one year ago, a Russian plane crashed over Sinai as a result of a terrorist attack. 224 people died in the plane crash. At the crash site, our country conducted an unprecedented search operation, and all surviving parts of the aircraft were found. The Investigative Committee stated that it will continue the criminal case until all those involved in this terrorist act are identified. On October 31, Russia remembers the victims of this terrible tragedy.
The funeral prayer began at 07:15 - this is the time the plane hit the ground. Nadezhda Volkova lost her son Nikolai in that terrible plane crash. He and his wife Lera flew off on their honeymoon. They were 32, reports.
“I don’t remember how I was driving home. When I arrived, my husband was destroying everything, beating, shouting: “They are no more.” No, you understand?" But I didn’t believe it. And he said to me: “Look, the lists have arrived,” recalls Nadezhda Volkova.
Board A321 of the Kogalymavia company was operating charter flight number 9268 on the route Sharm el-Sheikh - St. Petersburg. 23 minutes after takeoff, the plane disappeared from radar. After another two hours, Egyptian Air Force aircraft discovered debris in the central Sinai Peninsula.
At the St. Petersburg Pulkovo airport, the line on the electronic display all this time was on: arrival at 12:09. Then all the relatives meeting this flight were invited to board the bus and taken away from the television cameras. This is how the morning of October 31, 2015 began. In the evening, people brought flowers to the Arrival terminal.
The plane crash over Sinai killed 224 people, including seven crew members and 25 children. Almost all passengers were residents of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. The crash of the A321 aircraft was the largest mass death of Russian citizens in a plane crash in the history of world aviation and the largest disaster in the history of Egypt.
An international investigation into the causes of the tragedy is still ongoing. Preliminary results will be announced before the end of the year. Russian news agencies reported this last Thursday with reference to Egyptian media. Representatives of Russia, Egypt, France, Germany, Ireland, the USA, as well as consultants from Airbus Industry are taking part in the investigation.
“There is a general version, which has already become the main one, that terrorists from the Egyptian IS cell are behind the disaster over the Sinai Peninsula ( The organization's activities are prohibited in Russia - editor's note.),” said Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine and director of the Center for Analysis of the Global Arms Trade.
An explosive device was planted in luggage right at Sharm el-Sheikh airport. It went off in the air. The airliner fell from a height of almost 10 thousand meters, and flew in a downward arc, losing altitude, at a speed of 30 meters per second. In Russia, the version of the explosion on board the A321 of an improvised explosive device with a capacity of up to a kilogram of TNT was officially announced on November 16, 2015 at a meeting with the president.
Egyptian authorities have become the latest to officially recognize the downing of the airliner as a terrorist act. The Egyptian president first publicly stated this only in February, four months after the plane crash.
“For Egypt, the recognition of the organization of a terrorist attack of this kind associated with the movement of tourists is a disaster for the tourism sector. In fact, this is what is happening today in Egypt. For a whole year they have been trying to restore the tourist flow, which is the main component of the Egyptian economy,” explained the director of the International Institute of Modern States, political scientist Alexey Martynov.
