External Activity

[Ric.ror]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34697416

What could that be?

[Sqad]

Ground to Air missile strike?

[naomi24]

:o(

[douglas9401]

Obviously I don't know. Luckily, both countries involved are known for their open and honest ways and we can expect an accurate and factual report in due course.

[ichkeria]

It could be a small airline company sticking up for itself. The Russian government has already threatened to sue the pants off it for "malpractices" and the co-pilot's wife was making derogatory comments about the airworthiness of the plane

The truth is no one knows what caused this disaster yet, and probably won't for some time

[anotheoldgit]

Obviously, something similar to the Ukrainian air crash.

If that is what it was, makes one wonder why such killers, target innocent men, women and children.

[jourdain2]

We'd already concluded that the cause would be a missile or a bomb inside the plane - we were hoping we were wrong. :(

If it is one of these, it may backfire on ISIL, I can't see Putin being backwards in putting boots on the ground. Still a small possibility of mechanical failure, I suppose, but my hopes are not high.

[ichkeria]

I think you need to be clear that this report from the BBC is actually based on a disclaimer by an official of Metrojet. It does not come from any evidence as yet provided by the investigators.
It isn't true what the guy says, namely that a plane can only break up in mid air due to an external impact or influence. A Japan airlines plane did just that a few years ago, after a faulty tail section repair, and this plane was also known to have undergone a similar repair, On the other hand, the airline does have a good safety record.
Reports indicated that there was a fire in the rear of the Russian plane, whose rear section broke away from the rest of the aircraft, and that does sound similar to the scenario on the Japanese plane.
On the other hand again, a bomb or missile remains a possibility unless and until ruled out

[Gromit]

Far too early to say. Speculation is pointless without more info.

[mikey4444]

As time wears on, I am becoming more convinced than ever that this was due to terrorist activity of some sort. I hope I am wrong but it seems to me the most likely cause.

[Baldric]

///The Russian airline Kogalymavia has blamed "external influence" for Saturday's Sinai plane crash///

Well at least you seem to be in agreement with the OP!

[ichkeria]

I'm putting my hard-earned 90p on it being a catastrophic structural failure, especially as the parts of the plane that separated appear to have been subject to a comparatively clean break. That suggests the plane did not blow apart. I believe the last "successful" bombing of an aircraft took place 11 years ago (and in fact was a double suicide bomb attack on Russian planes - but this was probably not a suicide attack, given the passengers were all on a return flight) It's actually very, very hard, thankfully, to perpetrate such a crime successfully.

If it was a missile then we should all be very worried as it would mean IS have acquired the weaponry, training and backup radar to take out high altitude passenger planes.

As far as speculation goes, it's all the rage at the moment, so AB might as well join in :-)

[naomi24]

ichkeria //but this was probably not a suicide attack, given the passengers were all on a return flight//

You've lost me there. Why would the destination be relevant to someone on a suicide mission?

[ichkeria]

Without being 100% sure, it seems every passenger on that plane was returning from a holiday.
If you were on a suicide bombing mission, you'd think that it would make more sense to get it over and done with sooner rather than later.
If that wasn't the case, assuming that they didn't carry it with them on the flight out also, which seems so unlikely as to be more or less impossible, then they'd have needed an assistant on the other side, which is possible of course, but still seems bizarre. More likely, as I said elsewhere, that a non-passenger in Egypt smuggled a bomb on board. But you've got to look at the sheer rarity on this type of incident. When the evidence stacks up in favour of foul play then I'll hastily take my 90p back, but at the moment it would seem to suggest otherwise.

[naomi24]

If it was a terrorist attack, I’m more inclined to think that rather than a suicide bomber being on board, or a ground to air missile employed, explosives were loaded into the baggage hold before the plane took off from Sharm – but we shall see.

[ichkeria]

We know now it wasn't a missile launched from the ground, as the CIA have said there is no obvious evidence of terrorism: which is code for 'we didn't detect a missile launch'

[naomi24]

I hadn't seen that - but I'd be surprised if it was a missile.