Plane with Russian Passengers Crashes Killing all On Board
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.</s>VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: You can see the devastation on the faces of families waiting on loved ones, just wanting more answers this morning hours after a Russian passenger jet crashed in Egypt killing all 224 people on board. We're following this breaking news this morning.</s>ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Alison Kosik in for Christi Paul.</s>BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. That plane took off around 6:00 a.m. local time, rising to 31,000 feet before losing contact with air traffic control.</s>KOSIK: The flight was headed from the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, Russia. Russian state TV reports that many of those who were on the plane were Russian tourists. And this morning grief stricken family members have been gathered at the airport at St. Petersburg waiting for any information about their loved ones.</s>BLACKWELL: Meanwhile, officials from around the world, they are expressing their support and grief for everyone involved. France saying they are investigating, sending agencies ready to aid if necessary, while td U.S. secretary of state sends America's sympathies.</s>JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We want to extend our condolences to Russia and all of the families. We don't know any details about it, but obviously the initial reports represent tremendous tragedy and loss. And we extend our sympathies to the families and all those concerned.</s>BLACKWELL: We're covering this story from around the globe this morning. Aviation correspondent Richard Quest live from London, also Ian Lee with us live from Cairo. I'm going to start with Ian. Ian, what are you hearing about recovery efforts this morning?</s>IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, we are hearing right now from the prime minister's office. We heard earlier that everyone on board from the Russians, saying that everybody on board had been killed in this accident. Now from the Egyptian prime minister's office saying 15 bodies have been recovered from the scene of the accident. Rescue crews on ground sifting through the wreckage, trying to find other bodies, also, trying to find those black boxes to really figure out what exactly happened here. This plane taking off early morning hours and about 20 minutes into the flight, that's when it disappeared from radar, crashing into the central, northern central part of the Sinai Peninsula. This is a very mountainous region, which will make it difficult for this recovery effort. The prime minister here is on his way to the scene of the crash to help oversee this. We have heard from the Egyptian president as well saying all resources avail, or all resources will be made available to help in this recovery effort. This crash, though, the site of the crash was discovered by two Egyptian fighter jets, and it was a while before rescue crews could actually get there and really go through this. This is a route that we see a lot of these charter jets, these jets delivering people going on holiday to Sharm el-Sheikh, a lot of them families going down there. And looking at the numbers, we are also hearing from the prime minister that 214 passengers were from Russia, three of them were from Ukraine, as well 138 were women, 62 were men, and 17 children, people returning from rushing to a holiday in Sharm el-Sheikh. We're still waiting through to hear what exactly brought down that plane.</s>KOSIK: Ian, what about reports that the pilot of this had radioed in about technical trouble and was looking to land at a different airport?</s>LEE: We have heard a lot of rumors this morning and in through the day, a lot of them sifting through them really trying to confirm them. That has been the difficulty. We have heard mixed reports from the Egyptian authorities. This report in particular, we heard that the pilot may have radioed in. We called Egypt's Civil Radio Administration, and they say right now they do not know if this pilot, if he did, in fact, call, or if he didn't. There are still a lot of questions about the final minutes of this plane and if the pilot did, in fact, suspect that something was wrong before it went down. But it was cruising at over 30,000 feet when it started its dissent, hitting speeds up to 6,000 feet per minute. And so their question is how this plane was able to - how did they lose contact. And again, we have had a lot of rumors here in Cairo about what possibly took place. But right now what we do know is that the plane disappeared. They are searching for these black boxes. There were rumors -- people may have saw online that there were voices heard from the wreckage. That proved to be untrue. Everyone on board this plane was killed, and now it's a matter of body recovery, and some of those bodies are making their way here to Cairo.</s>BLACKWELL: The first 15 as you're reported have been recovered and are en route to Cairo. Let's bring in Richard Quest. Richard, a lot of these questions will be answered upon discovery and analysis of those black boxes. As you have been investigating, the history of this airline and this aircraft over the last several hours, what have you learned?</s>RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, the airline Metrojet was rebranded, a rebranded airline of Kogalymavia, which is a Russian air carrier from Siberia. The airline itself has only had two previous incidents, and they seem to be fairly minor incidents. However, the aircraft itself, this particular A321, was involved in what's known as a tail strike in 2001 when it was owned or being released by a previous character. Apparently the damage was substantial. The plane was flying Beirut to Cairo. As it came into land in Cairo, the tail struck the runway and required repair. Now, that might mean nothing. That might mean absolutely nothing. The 321 incidentally is prone to tail strikes, both on takeoff and landing, because it is a stretched version of the 320. It is one of the things 321 pilots are warned about is that because it is a longer aircraft, as you rotate you have to be careful of that. But there will be people that will be remembering previous instants where tail strike repairs haven't been done properly and there have been failures, in one case, seven years later. This is just something that's out there. But otherwise the A321, an extremely reliable, extremely safe aircraft.</s>KOSIK: It is not just that. It is also very popular, isn't it, Richard, this airbus, class of 320 fleet? I understand one takes off every few seconds around the world.</s>QUEST: I think the number is about 6,000 of the 320 family. That goes from 318, 19, 20, through to the 21. And the only difference -- there is a commonality of cockpit. So one pilot can fly anyone in the range, and the only difference is it just gets longer and longer for more passengers. And you will see the 320 in all the fleets of all the worlds of all the major airlines. Its direct competitor is the Boeing 327. Airbus is doing the 320 Neo. Boeing is doing the 737 max. But off the top of my head I'm pretty certain every major U.S. carrier has 320s in its fleet, and certainly in Europe the 320 is the backbone of the short- haul fleet now.</s>BLACKWELL: All right, let's bring in CNN aviation analyst, Les Abend. Les, for those who have been following this, and it seems like a spate of air accidents and incidents over the last 24 months, they know that this investigation will likely expand beyond the Russians and beyond the Egyptians. Who else likely will be involved here?</s>LES ABEND, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, at this point, unless the Egyptians request the NTSB, I don't know who else would be involved. There are parties to the investigation. The Egyptians follow the standards of the International Civil Aviation standards for that investigation. So they will be bringing in all the parties, meaning the aircraft manufacturer of the airbus, the engine manufacturer, and if there is a union with the pilots, that would be involved also. But all these folks will be parties to the investigation when the NTSB gets involved. It's hard to say at this point.</s>BLACKWELL: Les Abend, thank you so much. Thanks also to Ian Lee and Richard Quest. And we'll continue to follow the breaking news throughout the morning. Thank you all, gentlemen. We've got live pictures this morning going to Charleston, South Carolina. We're going to put those up. Hillary Clinton set to take the stage pretty soon. But it is her appearance in Atlanta that is still making news. Black Lives Matter interrupted her speech there, and it went on for quite a while. We'll talk with two students who were at that event.</s>KOSIK: Also, six inches of rain an hour, six inches an hour of rain leading to deadly flooding overnight. This happened in Texas with more rain on the way. Plus, fighting ISIS -- the U.S. prepares to send Special Forces to Syria as ISIS strikes back with a message to the U.S.