Sinai plane crash: How tragedy unfolded

Summary

A Russian airliner crashed in central Sinai, killing all 224 people on board, on 31 October 2015
Flight KGL 9268 was carrying 214 Russian and three Ukrainian passengers
It was carrying mostly tourists from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to Russia's St Petersburg
Militants linked to Islamic State say they brought down the Airbus A-321, but Russia has dismissed this claim
The plane is operated by the Russian airline Kogalymavia, also known as Metrojet

Live Reporting

Sarah Fowler, Aidan Lewis, Lucy Fleming, David Gritten and Nick Eardley

Hasty assertions?published at 14:33
Quote Message
What is worrying a lot of people in the aviation safety community is the haste with which both the Russian and Egyptian authorities seem to be saying: 'We know this was mechanical failure.' In the event of any disaster like this, particularly when the aircraft is at high attitude, there's generally the need simply to wait until the black boxes - the flight data and cockpit voice recorders - have been analysed and then start to work out the sequence of events. And it has been asserted that perhaps they want to do this on the Egyptian side to rule out any terrorist-related activity, because the area in which the aircraft was flying over is a hotbed of Islamist fighters who are taking on Egyptian forces."
Simon Calder, BBC Travel Show
Fuel samplespublished at 14:27
Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's top investigative body, is checking fuel samples taken from the plane during its last refuelling stop in the Russian city of Samara, and questioning those who were involved in preparing the aircraft and its crew, the RIA news agency reports.
Serbian PM offers condolencespublished at 14:24 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2015
Aleksandar Vucic
'Out of missile range'published at 14:22
The IS statement does not say how militants downed the plane. Sinai Province has shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles (Manpads). However, security experts say that as the plane was flying at 31,000ft (9,450m), it would have been beyond the range of any Manpad missiles.
Islamic State claimpublished at 14:10
The jihadist group Islamic State (IS) claims that it downed Flight KGL9268 in a statement published on the Telegram messaging app.
The crash site is in an area where the Egyptian government is fighting an insurgency led by a local IS affiliate called Sinai Province. But Egyptian security sources earlier said there was no indication that the plane had been shot down or blown up.
Identification of bodiespublished at 14:03
Medics have begun assigning serial numbers to bodies recovered from the crash site in Sinai, Egypt's foreign ministry says in a statement. They have also begun taking samples and other measures to help identify them, it adds.
'I will keep hoping'published at 13:55
A 25-year-old woman at St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport says she is awaiting for her parents, who were on board Flight KGL9268. "I spoke to them last on the phone when they were already on the plane, and then I heard the news," Ella Smirnova tells the AFP news agency. "I will keep hoping until the end that they are alive, but perhaps I will never see them again."
Russian delegation to crash sitepublished at 13:48
A Russian delegation led by Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov (pictured) left Moscow half an hour ago to head to the site of the crash, the BBC's Rafael Saakov says.
Image source, Getty Images
Bodies recoveredpublished at 13:47
Egyptian security sources in North Sinai tell Reuters that about 150 bodies have so far been recovered within 5km (3.1 miles) of the crash site.
Here's a map of the flight path.
Relatives gatherpublished at 13:46
Anxious friends and family of the passengers and crew have been gathering at St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, awaiting news of their loved ones.
Image source, AP
'Safety breaches'published at 13:38
The Russian state transport regulator, Rostransnadzor, found violations when it conducted a routine flight safety inspection of Kogalymavia in March 2014, the Interfax news agency reports. However, the violations were remedied within the required time period, it says.
Victims namedpublished at 13:29
The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) has published a list of what it says is the names of the passengers and crew on its website, external.
'Technical fault caused crash'published at 13:25
A security source has told Reuters an initial examination indicates the plane crashed due to a technical fault
'Compensation for victims' families'published at 13:13
Kogalymavia will provide free flights to Egypt for relatives of those killed in the crash, and pay out an as yet undecided amount of compensation, the Russian news agency Interfax quotes spokeswoman Oxana Golovina as telling a news conference in Moscow.
Ms Golovina says the company has launched an internal investigation.
John Kerry sends condolencespublished at 13:11
US Secretary of State on plane crash:
Quote Message
We don't know any details about it, but obviously the initial reports represent tremendous tragedy, loss, and we extend our condolences to the families and all those concerned."
Airbus confirms accident involving one of its planespublished at 13:10 Greenwich Mean Time 31 October 2015
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Egyptian president leaves Bahrainpublished at 13:04
Image source, EPA
'Help on hand' for relatives of victimspublished at 12:59
BBC Monitoring
Russian Emergency Ministry official, Aleksey Anikin, says everything is being done at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport to look after the victims' relatives.
"At this moment, an emergency operations centre has been set up. The relatives will be received in the Crowne Plaza Hotel," he told reporters.
He said psychological services would also be offered to the relatives.
Image source, EPA
'We don't know what caused the crash'published at 12:53
BBC Monitoring
Kogalymavia airline spokeswoman Oxana Golovina has said the captain of the crashed Airbus - Valery Nemov - had more than 12,000 hours of flying experience, the Russian news agency Interfax reports.
Quote Message
Our aircraft was in full working order, our crew was experienced, our pilot had a great deal of flying experience, so we don't know (what caused the crash)"
'No grounds to blame human error' for crashpublished at 12:52
Breaking
Russian airline Kogalymavia says it sees no grounds to blame human error for the crash in Sinai, reports Reuters.