이집트 시나이반도 북부에서 추락한 러 시아 여객기는 높은 고도에서 기체가 부서진 것으로 추정된다고 러시아 항공당국이 1일(이하 현지시간) 밝혔다.
AP통신 등에 따르면 이집트 현장에서 사고 원인을 조사하는 알렉산드르 네라드 코 러시아 항공청장은 이날 사고 항공기의 잔해가 넓은 지역에 흩어져 있는 것을 볼 때 항공기가 높은 고도의 공중에서 부서진 것으로 보인다고 말했다.
네라드코 청장은 그러나 "조사가 진행 중"이라며 추락 원인에 대한 언급을 자제 했다.
또한 빅토르 소첸코 러시아 정부간항공위원회 위원장은 "분해는 공중에서 발생 했으며 잔해가 20㎢가량 광범위한 지역에 흩어졌다. 그러나 결론에 대해 말하기에는 너무 이르다"고 말했다고 로이터통신도 전했다.
이 위원회는 러시아와 소비에트연방 국가들의 연합체인 독립국가연합(CIS) 정부 들을 대표하는 기구다.
월스트리트저널(WSJ)도 여객기 꼬리 부분이 나머지 동체와 떨어진 곳에서 발견 됐으며, 이는 공중에서 이 부분이 떨어져 나갔을 가능성을 시사한다고 관계자들을 인용해 보도했다.
여러 중동 항공사는 예방조치 차원에서 항공기 운항 경로에서 시나이반도를 제 외하기로 했다.
카타르항공, 쿠웨이트 저가항공인 자지라항공, 바레인 걸프항공은 시나이반도 상공을 피해 운항할 계획이라고 각각 로이터통신에 보낸 이메일에서 밝혔다.
여객기가 공중에서 분해됐다는 것은 이 여객기가 격추됐을 가능성을 높이는 것 으로 해석될 수 있지만, 러시아와 이집트 당국은 사고 원인을 단정하기에 이른 상태 라며 확대 해석을 경계하고 있다.
압델 파타 엘시시 이집트 대통령은 군을 포함한 정부 최고위 관료들에게 "원인 에 대한 추측을 삼가는 것은 대단히 중요하다"며 조사에는 수개월 시간이 걸릴 것이 라고 말했다.
그러나 격추나 테러에 의한 폭발 가능성을 거론하는 언론 보도는 이어지고 있다 .
모스크바에서 항공 연구소를 이끄는 알렉산드르 프리들얀드는 방송 인터뷰에서 항공기가 높은 고도에서 빠른 속도로 낙하한 것은 화물칸 내 폭탄 폭발에 의해 타격 을 받았기 때문일 수 있다고 말했다.
그는 또 다른 가능성으로는 전력시스템 오작동에 따른 화재나 엔진 폐쇄를 꼽았 다.
이 여객기는 사고 당시 조금씩 고도를 높여 3만3천피트(약 1만58ｍ) 이상까지 올라갔다가 약 22초 뒤에 6천피트(약 1천829ｍ)가량 추락했다고 WSJ은 한 상업 웹사 이트의 레이더 자료를 인용해 전했다.
보잉 엔지니어 출신 항공안전 전문가인 토드 커티스는 공중분해의 원인으로 통 상 악천후, 공중에서의 충돌, 폭탄·미사일과 같은 외부 위협 등 3가지를 꼽았다고 AP통신은 전했다.
그는 이 세 가지 경우가 아니라면 당국이 구조적 결함을 일으키는 기내 화재나 부식과 같은 덜 흔한 경우를 조사해야 한다고 덧붙였다.
기체 잔해가 발견된 시나이 북부는 최근 몇 달 동안 극단주의 무장세력(IS)에 충성을 맹세한 현지 이슬람 반군들과 이집트 당국이 수년째 대치하는 곳이다.
반대로 기술적 결함 쪽을 염두에 둔 보도도 있다.
타스통신은 "러시아 내 여객기의 30% 정도는 안전 측면에서 '미심쩍은' 상태"라 는 바딤 솔로브요프 러시아 의원의 발언을 전했다.
솔로브요프 의원은 "물론 대부분 항공기가 정상적인 상태지만, 의심의 여지가 있는 항공기는 즉각 점검해 운항을 중단해야 한다"며 "그래야 이런 비극을 더는 겪 지 않을 것"이라고 말했다.
앞서 러시아 코갈림아비아(메트로젯) 항공 소송 에어버스 A321 여객기는 지난달 31일(현지시간) 오전 이집트 시나이반도 남부 휴양지 샤름엘셰이크에서 이륙해 러시 아로 향하던 중 시나이반도 북부에서 추락했다.
탑승자 224명 전원이 숨진 이번 사고를 놓고 IS가 자신들이 여객기를 격추했다 고 주장한 반면, 이집트와 러시아 당국은 이를 일축하며 기술 결함에 무게를 두는 상황이다.
한편 러시아 정부는 러시아인 희생자들의 시신 운구를 시작했다고 밝혔다.
러시아 긴급상황부 관계자들은 희생자 시신을 실은 항공기 한 대가 카이로에서 이륙했으며, 신원확인 절차는 도착지인 상트페테르부르크에서 할 예정이라고 타스통 신에 밝혔다.
또한 막심 소콜로프 러시아 교통부 장관은 방송 인터뷰에서 추락 장소에서 발견 된 항공기 기록과 음성녹음장치(CVR)를 어디에서 개봉해 해독할지 아직 결정하지 않 았다고 말했다. (연합)
<관련 영문 기사>
Official: Russian jet broke up at high altitude over Egypt
The Russian jetliner that crashed shortly after takeoff from an Egyptian resort city broke up at high altitude, scattering fragments of wreckage over a wide area in the Sinai Peninsula, Russia’s top aviation official said Sunday as search teams raced to recover the bodies of the 224 people who died.
Meanwhile in Russia, an outpouring of grief gripped the historic city of St. Petersburg, home of many of the victims. President Vladimir Putin declared a nationwide day of mourning, and flags flew at half-staff.
Aviation experts joined the searchers in a remote part of the Sinai, seeking any clues to what caused the Metrojet Airbus A321-200 to plummet abruptly from 31,000 feet just 23 minutes after it departed from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh bound for St. Petersburg.
Aviation experts and the search teams were combing an area of 16 square kilometers (more than 6 square miles) to find bodies and pieces of the jet.
By midday, 163 bodies had been recovered, according to the Egyptian government. Some of the dead were expected to be flown to Russia later Sunday.
In St. Petersburg, hundreds of mourners brought flowers, pictures of the victims, stuffed animals and paper planes to the city’s airport. Others went to churches and lit candles in memory of the dead.
Elena Vikhareva had no relatives aboard the flight, but she went with her son to lay flowers, saying that pain was “piercing” her heart.
Vladimir Povarov and a friend did the same, explaining that they couldn’t “remain indifferent.”
The large area over which fragments were found indicates the jet disintegrated while flying high, said Alexander Neradko, head of Russia’s federal aviation agency. He would not comment on any possible reason for the crash, citing the ongoing investigation.
Neradko was in Egypt to inspect the crash site along with Russia’s emergency and transport ministers.
Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov thanked Egyptian authorities for their help and said work on analyzing the data and cockpit voice recorders had not yet begun.
An Egyptian ground service official who carried out a preflight inspection of the plane said the aircraft appeared to be in good shape. Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, he said he was a member of a technical inspection team that included two Russians.
“We are all shocked. It was a good plane. Everything checked out in 35 minutes,” the official told The Associated Press on Sunday. The closest the plane came to being in trouble, he said, was three months ago when the pilot aborted takeoff halfway through because of a system error. “That’s almost routine though,” he said.
However, a Russian TV channel late Saturday quoted the wife of the co-pilot as saying her husband had complained about the plane’s condition. Natalya Trukhacheva, identified as the wife of Sergei Trukhachev, said a daughter “called him up before he flew out. He complained before the flight that the technical condition of the aircraft left much to be desired.”
An Egyptian official had previously said that before the plane lost contact with air traffic controllers, the pilot radioed that the aircraft was experiencing technical problems and that he intended to try to land at the nearest airport.
Most airline accidents occur in the early or late stages of a flight, around takeoff or landing, according to Todd Curtis, a former safety engineer with Boeing.
“Once you’re in cruise, many of the risks that exist at lower altitudes, from bird strikes to running into things, don’t happen,” said Curtis, who is now director of the Airsafe.com Foundation. “And ultimately, when you have a problem in cruise, you typically have time to fix it."
When planes do break up in midair it’s usually because of one of three factors: a catastrophic weather event, a midair collision or an external threat, such as a bomb or a missile.
With no indication that those events played a role in the crash, Curtis said investigators will be looking at more unusual events, such as an on-board fire or corrosion that caused a structural failure.
The flight recorders will provide key information, including the plane’s airspeed and whether it was on autopilot.
“The good news is with the recorders in hand, both the French and Russian investigators should have a good idea in very short time what did occur,” said Jim Hall, former chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
Alexander Smirnov, Metrojet’s deputy director, described the A321 as a reliable aircraft that would not fall into a spin even if the pilots made a grave error because automatic systems correct crew mistakes.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi cautioned that the cause of the crash may not be known for months.
“It’s very important that this issue is left alone and its causes are not speculated on,” he told a gathering of top government officials, members of the military and security forces. The investigation “will take a long time” and “needs very advanced technologies.”
A local affiliate of the extremist Islamic State group claimed it brought down the aircraft, which crashed in the same general area of northern Sinai where the Egyptian military and security forces have battled militants for years.
The claim, in a statement posted on social media, provided no supporting evidence. The militants are not known to be capable of downing an aircraft at cruising altitude, although there have been persistent media reports that they have acquired Russian shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft missiles that are effective against low-flying warplanes or helicopters.
Lufthansa, Air France, Dubai-based Emirates and Qatar Airways said they would suspend flights over the Sinai until the reason for the crash is known. British Airways, EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic said they were operating as usual in the region and would not comment on flight paths.
Germany’s transport ministry warned the country’s airlines on Sunday not to follow the same route taken by the Russian plane before it crashed.
A ministry spokesman, who did not give his name in keeping with department policy, said an existing flight warning for northern Sinai because of the Islamic insurgency would be kept in place.
Russia’s air-safety regulator on Sunday ordered Moscow-based Metrojet to temporarily suspend flights. The transport safety watchdog, known as Rostransnadzor, said Metrojet needed to thoroughly analyze the situation and weigh all risks before authorities decide on Monday whether to lift the suspension.
Despite the order, Metrojet continued operating its six remaining A321s, saying the regulator order meant that planes would be checked one by one and continue flying if they passed inspections. (AP)
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