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A Ukrainian woman lights a candle to pay tribute to victims of the crash, AP/Press Association Images

Doomed Russian jet broke apart "in the air" before Egypt crash

A top Russian investigator says the wreckage is strewn over a large area.

Updated 4.24 pm

THE RUSSIAN AIRBUS that crashed in Egypt broke apart “in the air,” a senior official with Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee has said.

“The disintegration happened in the air and the fragments are strewn over a large area,” committee chief Viktor Sorochenko was quoted as saying by RIA-Novosti news agency in Cairo, where he is part of an international panel of experts from Russia, Egypt, France and Ireland.

Sorochenko said it was “too early to draw conclusions” about what caused the crash on Saturday, which killed all 224 people travelling from Egypt’s resort Sharm el-Sheikh to Saint-Petersburg.

All of those on board were Russian except for four Ukrainians and one Belarusian.

The Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) is Russia’s top body for investigating air accidents. Sorochenko was appointed on Saturday to head a panel of crash experts to Egypt.

Investigators have recovered the plane’s “black box” flight recorder and the Egyptian government said Sunday its contents were being analysed.

Questions have also been raised about the condition of the plane but an Egyptian ground service official who carried out a pre-flight inspection said the plane appeared to be in good condition.

Reuters / YouTube

The Metrojet plane, bound for St. Petersburg in Russia, crashed 23 minutes after it took off from Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday morning.

The Egyptian official, who did not want to be named, said he was a member of a technical inspection team that included two Russians.

“We are all shocked. It was a good plane. Everything checked out in 35 minutes,” the official told The Associated Press. The closest the plane came to being in trouble, he said, was three months ago when the pilot aborted takeoff halfway through because of a system error.

“That’s almost routine though,” he said.

However, a Russian TV channel late on Saturday quoted the wife of the co-pilot as saying her husband had complained about the plane’s condition. Natalya Trukhacheva, identified as the wife of co-pilot Sergei Trukhachev, said a daughter “called him up before he flew out.

He complained before the flight that the technical condition of the aircraft left much to be desired.”

Russia Egypt Russian Plane Crash Russian officials are closely involved in the investigation. AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Another Egyptian official had previously said that before the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers the pilot had radioed and said the aircraft was experiencing technical problems and that he intended to try and land at the nearest airport.

Russia’s air safety regulator on Sunday ordered Moscow-based Metrojet to temporarily suspend flights. Rostransnadzor, Russia’s transport safety watchdog, said Metrojet needed to thoroughly analyse the situation and weigh all risks before authorities decide on Monday whether to lift the suspension.

CNN / YouTube

Despite the order, Metrojet said it will not fully suspend the flights of its six remaining A321s. It said it will check the planes one by one and continue operating them if they pass inspections. The conflicting claims couldn’t be immediately explained.

A local affiliate of the extremist Islamic State group claimed it “brought down” the aircraft, but Russia’s transport minister dismissed the claim. The militants did not offer any evidence to back up their claim.

In St. Petersburg, hundreds of people were bringing flowers and pictures to the city’s airport to commemorate the 224 victims.

Elena Vikhareva, 48, went with her son to lay flowers, saying “pain is piercing her heart” even though she had no relatives on the plane. Vladimir Povarov, 19, brought flowers with a friend, saying “we couldn’t remain indifferent.”

Other people were bringing planes made of paper, stuffed toys and pictures of the victims.

Meanwhile, Dubai-based Emirates, the Middle East’s largest carrier, said Sunday it has stopped flying over Egypt’s Sinai until more is known about the crash of the Russian airliner.

Mideast Egypt Russian Plane Crash Ambulances line up as emergency workers unload bodies of victims from the crash. AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

It joins two major European airlines, Germany’s Lufthansa and Air France, that announced following the crash Saturday that they would immediately stop flying over Sinai for safety reasons until the cause of the crash was determined.

Two Russian Cabinet ministers were today inspecting the crash site in a remote mountainous part of northern Sinai with the head of Russia’s state civil aviation agency also joining.

The officials will also be shown the plane’s data and cockpit voice recorders, Terekhova said.

Also joining the effort on Sunday were officials from France’s BEA accident investigation agency, involved because the Airbus A321-200 jet was designed in France.

Russia Egypt Russian Plane Crash Relatives and friends of those on the fligh grieve in St. Petersburg. AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

More than 100 workers with Russia’s Emergencies Ministry were at the crash site helping to search for bodies and examine debris. The Russian ministry said its teams were accompanied by the Egyptian military through the restive northern Sinai, where Egypt is fighting an Islamic insurgency.

Russian officials said the rescue teams need to comb 16 sq-km to search for victims’ bodies and plane wreckage.

The Egyptian Cabinet said Sunday that 163 bodies have so far been recovered and sent to morgues in Cairo.

Read: Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for downing Russian passenger plane >

Read: Two crew members on Tom Cruise film killed in plane crash >

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58 Comments
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    Mute DaMoons
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:07 PM

    Again, the media pedal the Government story on average income being 51k. The most accurate statistic includes in the same report showed the median income (which represents 90 percent of the population) being less than 24k per year. A hell of a distance from the 51k figure the Journal and government are spinning.

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:47 PM

    @DaMoons: while I agree there is a discrepancy, the figure quoted above is household income compared with your figure of individual income. Household income often combines 2 or more individual incomes as it is calculated based on total income divided by number of households, and not individuals.

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    Mute DaMoons
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    Nov 30th 2019, 8:15 PM

    @Brian Ó Dálaigh: Well, 2 incomes from the 90 percent quoted above still wouldn’t reach 51k. So it obviously points to 3rd and 4th earners living in the same household. Would it be a stretch for me to suggest that it is probably down to adult children not being able to afford somewhere to rent? FG were so proud of this statistic this week. Think about it.

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Nov 30th 2019, 9:00 PM

    @DaMoons: I’d say you’d be pretty bang on the money (no pun intended) with that comment. The slightest bit of analysis into the figures and you’d wonder why Fine Gael would be proud of it. And, remember, these are average figures and not median figures which would far more accurately reflect the reality for the vast majority of people.

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    Mute Manbackonboard
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:03 PM

    Constantly broke.

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    Mute StillNotNews
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    Nov 30th 2019, 8:00 PM

    @Manbackonboard: Same, Keep the recovery going, For TDs.

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    Mute SC
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:06 PM

    With an average rent of 24k and childcare for one child 12k, that is just about enough for a small family. It’s not enough for two children.

    And assuming that’s the median, half of households have less. Is it any surprise we have a birth rate below replacement now?

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    Mute Finbarr Barry
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:20 PM

    @SC: and they are quoting disposable income… I. E income after all expenses such as mortgage/rent, utilities et. Etc are paid…. What a load of BS

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    Mute Finbarr Barry
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:23 PM

    @Finbarr Barry: https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/cso-figures-show-mean-disposable-income-is-now-almost-23000-967144.html

    CSO figures show average disposable income in 2018 was €23,000; 9.6% up on 2017

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    Mute Sos
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:32 PM

    @Finbarr Barry: disposable income is income after government tax has been paid. Discretionary income is income after bills have been paid. Given the very high cost of living here I would expect that to be a lot less.

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    Mute Peter Hughes
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:42 PM

    @SC: I’m delighted, we deserve it we keep voting for it……keep the rippoffs going lads there are legions of suckers who are stuffing your pockets full of cash and keep voting for you……dumb is an understatement.

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    Mute SC
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    Dec 1st 2019, 10:24 AM

    @Peter Hughes: the government has no power to interfere with the economy because it goes against EU rules in most situations (we can’t borrow to boost housing stock, we can’t subsidise rural industry to take pressure off the cities and keep our language alive etc) so it doesn’t make a difference who you vote for.

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    Mute keano
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    Dec 1st 2019, 10:37 AM

    @Finbarr Barry: no Finbarr I believe disposable incoming is your Income after Tax. Before Rent, mortgage, heat, light, etc etc. which would make it a lot more realistic figure and nothing to be proud of !

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    Mute Anastasia
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    Nov 30th 2019, 8:06 PM

    Spin spin spin the average wage is 20000 euro for a 38 hour week or am I working in the wrong place

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    Mute DaMoons
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    Nov 30th 2019, 8:36 PM

    @Anastasia: 90 percent of the people working in Ireland earn less than 24,000. This figure from the Government is pure spin.

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    Mute Brian Clancy
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    Nov 30th 2019, 9:06 PM

    @DaMoons: that’s rubbish anyway for a start

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    Mute John fitzpatrick
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    Dec 2nd 2019, 8:57 AM

    @DaMoons: so you are saying 90% are on minimum wage? Or are you saying that a huge portion of people are part time. What are you saying. What ever your saying it’s BS. But go , keep on plugging the SF agenda, 13% of the people believe you.

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    Mute Harry Trafford
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    Nov 30th 2019, 10:36 PM

    I work 50+hours a week. I’ve a wife and 2 kids. Council house and a car loan, I’m sure like alot of other houses. All I see is the weekly shop getting more expensive, insurance through the roof, more taxes. I’m not seeing any recovery around here. I’d dream of have 51k disposable income. I call bs on the whole thing. This ff fg government are a joke and need to be shown that we are done being fed lie after lie and tax after tax.

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    Mute Ro-your-nan
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    Nov 30th 2019, 7:43 PM

    All the poor-mouths on here – every pub in the country always seem rammed with people swallowing their disposable incomes down their fat necks. Drink less Irish-alcos and you might feel a little better off. Now I’m off to the pub

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    Mute SC
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    Dec 1st 2019, 10:26 AM

    @Ro-your-nan: I don’t think spending a few hundred a year on drink and a few hundred on electronics explains why people can’t afford ten thousand for childcare or 24k for rent… And my car insurance has nearly doubled even though I’ve never even had a penalty point so we’ll all be paying another grand for that soon enough.

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    Mute Ro-your-nan
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    Dec 1st 2019, 1:11 PM

    @SC: move out to Wicklow and don’t have a kid and you’ll be grand. Reckon people are dropping easily €10k a year (€200 per week) on booze. Look at all the snowflakes eating / drinking in town but they can’t save for a deposit.

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    Mute CJ Stewart
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    Dec 1st 2019, 10:28 AM

    ..well somebody must have disposed of my 51k without me seeing it !

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    Mute Michelle Keeley
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    Dec 1st 2019, 8:20 AM

    https://www.thejournal.ie/rish-workers-earn-an-average-of-e23-an-hour-4677090-Jun2019/

    According to the CSO, the average full time wage is approx €48000 and average partime €17000.

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    Mute Luap
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    Dec 1st 2019, 9:41 AM

    51k DISPOSABLE income? Hahahaha

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