Russian Plane Crash Update: Black Box Confirms Explosion Near Engine Caused Deadly Crash

Egyptian officials note that an explosion near the plane’s engine caused the deadly plane crash that killed 224 people. The Russian plane crash has been the center of controversy as the Islamic State claimed they were responsible for the downing of the Metrojet Airbus A321 over Egypt. Both Egyptian and Russian officials initially denied the claims, calling them “false,” noting that the plane crashed due to a “technical failure.” However, with the new black box data showing an explosion near an engine is causing many to question if a bomb may have been placed on the airplane. In response to the new claims, ISIS has created a new video asking officials to “prove” they didn’t down the jet and kill the 224 people on board.

The Daily Mail reports that Egyptian officials confirmed to Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm that the black box recordings indicate an explosion near the plane’s engine. The black box information seems to confirm what some of the previous debris analysis suggested which is that the Russian plane broke apart at a high altitude, likely from an explosion of some sort. Though the black box notes the explosion, it does not note a source of the explosion. Therefore, it is left to speculation as to whether a bomb may have been used on the aircraft. A heat flash, caught on infra-red satellite pictures, taken the same time and in the same vicinity of the disaster, also indicated an explosion in the area the plane was flying. Some officials close to the case also claim that “strange sounds” could be heard on the black box recording of the cockpit just moments before the explosion. However, analysis of the plane crash victims’ bodies may hold the key to answering the question of what caused the Russian Metrojet plane to crash over Egypt.

In addition to the analysis of the debris and black box, the Daily Telegraph notes that a doctor that examined nearly half of the bodies from the plane crash victims reported that one-fifth of all of the victims bodies had been badly burned. This finding is also suggestive of an explosion on the plane, as the bodies near the explosion point would be severely burned. The doctor could not go into detail as to exactly what caused the fire, but noted the burns were extensive and severe.

The bodies of the Russian plane crash victims have allegedly been checked for explosive residue. It was noted that the initial test results found no residue from explosives on any of the bodies. Furthermore, the analysts noted that the burned bodies did not show any “signs of external impact,” which would be likely in a bomb situation.

“Preliminary tests did not reveal traces of explosives on the bodies of those killed.”

With conflicting evidence of explosives on board, some are claiming a catastrophic fire may have started near the engine, which caused the explosion or some other type of “technical failure.” However, other reports have claimed that “signs of external impact” were present on victims seated at the rear of the plane that appeared as shrapnel injuries. Additionally, those same passengers were allegedly burned on over 90 percent of their bodies after an explosive blast of some sort went through the tail wing.

Despite the claims of forensics analyst that explosives were not found on the bodies, the Islamic State, or ISIS, is still claiming they were responsible for the Russian plane crash. They released a new video that challenges Russian and Egyptian officials to “prove” they didn’t.

“We brought it down, die in your rage. Prove that we didn’t. Bring the wreckage and search it, bring your black boxes and analyse them.”

In another video, ISIS members allegedly are “praising” the “Sinai brothers,” an Islamic State group in the Sinai peninsula of Egypt, for destroying the jet. In that same video of praise to the “Sinai brothers,” the Islamic State representative tells Vladimir Putin that this isn’t the end and that more attacks will take place in retaliation for airstrikes against ISIS in Syria. The ISIS speaker in the video tells of their plot in both Arabic and Russian.

[Photo by Alexander Aksakov / Getty Images]