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Russian Plane Crash: Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal Confirms Noise On Cockpit Recorder

Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Confirms Noise Heard On Cockpit Recorder
Paul Vale
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Egyptian officials inspect the crash site of Russian Airliner in Suez, Egypt on November 01, 2015. A Russian Airbus-321 airliner with 224 people aboard crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on yesterday. According to Egypts Civil Aviation Authority, the plane had been lost contact with air-traffic controllers shortly after taking off from the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh en route to St Petersburg. (Photo by Alaa El Kassas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Egypt's civil aviation minister confirmed on Saturday an unidentified noise was picked up by the cockpit recorder in the final seconds before the Russian MetroJet plane crashed in the Sinai Peninsula last weekend.

The revelation confirmed media reports on Friday in which investigators said a recorded noise pointed to a bomb as the cause of the disaster, which killed all 224 people on board.

Hossam Kamal said the cockpit voice recorders captured the sound before the aircraft broke up in mid-air, but the origin is as-yet unknown. Investigators are looking at "all possible scenarios" as to the cause, he said. The plane exploded 23 minutes and 14 seconds after it left Sharm el-Sheikh airport, climbing at around 30,888-feet. Kamal said the debris footprint, which was spread over 13 kilometres, was consistent with the plane breaking up in mid air.

The wreckage is currently en route to Cairo, where teams from Russia, Germany, France, Ireland and Egypt, as well as the manufacturer Airbus, will examine it. "It could be lithium batteries with one of the passengers, it could be an explosion in the fuel compartment – all the scenarios are on the table, I cannot exclude anything.” Said Kamal.

Groups affiliated with the Islamic State have claimed responsibility for the downing of the plane.

On Saturday, a Thomas Cook flight left Sharm el-Sheikh heading for the UK as airlines continue their efforts to repatriate British tourists stranded in the resort. The flight was one of nine flights scheduled to return holidaymakers to Britain.

SEE ALSO:

British Tourists Stranded at Sharm El-Sheikh
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Emma Turner breaks down as she talks to reporters at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex after returning on a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. (credit:Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
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Emma Turner breaks down as she talks to reporters at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex after returning on a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. (credit:Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
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Emma Turner breaks down as she talks to reporters at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex after returning on a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. (credit:Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
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The British Ambassador to Egypt, John Casson, talks to British tourists after the announcement by easyJet staff that there would not be any more flights today to evacuate tourists from Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Hundreds of British tourists stranded in the Egyptian resort from where a doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, waited anxiously Friday for flights home as budget carrier easyJet said the Egyptian government had disrupted its plans to fly the Britons out of Sinai. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Passengers line up to depart from SSharm el-Sheikh Airport hours after a Russian aircraft carrying 224 people, including 17 children, crashed about 20 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea resort popular with Russian tourists, in south Sinai, Egypt, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. Britain moved to repatriate thousands of tourists from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh after warnings a 'terrorist bomb' may have brought down a Russian jet that took off from the resort, as several nervous airlines scrapped their flights. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists rest at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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British tourists arrive at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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Tourists wait in the departure hall to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Agents from the easyJet company give flight information to a passenger waiting to be evacuated from the Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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An employee of EasyJet talks to stranded tourists waiting at the airport to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheik, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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An employee of EasyJet talks to stranded tourists waiting at the airport to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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British tourists wait in the departure hall to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Tourists wait in the departure hall to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Egyptian airport security check passenger's luggage as they pass through security in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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Tourists pass through airport security in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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Tourists wait at the airport of Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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Tourists queue at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. Britain moved to repatriate thousands of tourists from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh after warnings a 'terrorist bomb' may have brought down a Russian jet that took off from the resort, as several nervous airlines scrapped their flights. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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Russian tourists queue at the airport in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh on November 6, 2015. Egypt is not allowing British airlines to fly extra repatriation flights to bring back holidaymakers from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the airline easyJet said. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MOHAMED EL-SHAHED via Getty Images)
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Tourists wait in line at the security gate before the check-in counter at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egypt police are carrying out detailed security checks around the airport at Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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A tourist talks to staff from the British Embassy as other tourists wait in line at the security gate before the check-in counter at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egypt police are carrying out detailed security checks around the airport at Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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British Embassy staff assist in the evacuation of tourists at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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British tourist, Mo Phelps, from Andover, England, waits for a wheelchair to assist her in boarding a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Tourists are led by a tour guide as they enter Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport in south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Tourists wait in the departure hall to be evacuated from Sharm el-Sheikh airport, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/ Vinciane Jacquet) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Stevenson family from Brighton, England, wait in the departure area before boarding an EasyJet flight from Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Stevenson family from Brighton, England, wait in the departure area before boarding an EasyJet flight from Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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British tourists wait in line to check in for an EasyJet flight to England, at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Russian tourists wearing t-shirts with images of Russian President Vladimir Putin pose for a photo in the departure terminal before boarding a flight from Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Egyptian police carried out detailed security checks on Friday at the airport in Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort from where the doomed Russian plane took off last weekend, after U.K. officials confirmed that flights will start bringing stranded British tourists home from the Sinai Peninsula. (AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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