Expectations were high as to what information was about to be released during the press conference in Cairo last Saturday, 7 November; however, nothing untoward was announced. Ayman el-Mokaddem, the Egyptian head of the fifty investigators in place, said there was still "no conclusion" about the origin of the inflight break-up of the Metrojet Airbus A321, just over a week ago over Sinai, leaving 224 dead.
He recalled that the recordings of the Metrojet Airbus A321 stopped 23 minutes and 14 seconds after take-off from Sharm El Sheikh airport, when the aircraft was at 31,000 feet (9,400 metres) above sea level. The noise picked up by one of the two flight recorders just before the breakup of the aircraft will undergo a spectral analysis to try to learn more about its origin and position on the ‘plane. "Several scenarios are being considered", he added, by specifying that the investigation was at an "information gathering stage". At no time were the words "bomb" or "attack" used.
The debris - not all has been found - that was scattered over a wide area, will be transported to "a secure place in Cairo." Tens of thousands of tourists are still awaiting repatriation, and with tourism as its second source of income, this incident comes as a hard blow for Egypt.
