Probe into Russian airliner crash enters final stage: Egypt civil aviation minister

A probe into the October crash of a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai has entered its final stage, Egyptian civil aviation minister Sherif Fathy told Russian transport minister Maxim Sokolov during a visit to Moscow.

Fathy provided information about the final stage of the investigation into the causes of the crash that resulted in the deaths of all 224 people on board, an official statement by the Russian ministry read.

"Information provided by Fathy on the final stage of investigation in Egypt into the causes of the aviation accident with the Russian plane over the Sinai Peninsula in October 2015 [was] an important moment of the meeting," the ministerial statement said.

• On Sunday, the Egyptian minister travelled to Moscow for a three-day visit to discuss resuming direct flights between Egypt and Russia.

In the immediate aftermath of the crash, Russia suspended direct flights to and from all Egyptian airports over security concerns, classifying the plane crash as a terrorist attack. The United Kingdom and Germany also suspended flights to Sharm El-Sheikh airport.

An affiliate of the Islamic State group in Sinai claimed responsibility for the attack,

• In earlier statements to media, the Russian transport minister said that air service will resume after Egypt fully ensures security at airports.

Egypt had said it has fulfilled 85 percent of Russia’s demands regarding aviation safety and was now expecting steps to be taken by the Russian side towards resuming flights.
 [ahram.org.eg]
 19/7/16
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• Russian Foreign Minister says terror act downing A321 is equivalent to attack against Russia