Egyptian minister of civil aviation Hossam Kamal said the voice recorder of the Russian A321 plane will be sent to Germany on 22 February for spectral analysis in order to identify reasons for the crash.
Kamal added that the final seven seconds in the recording require spectral analysis in specialised labs to determine the nature of the sound that was heard prior to the plane crash. He added that he welcomes any information about the accident, according to the official agency MENA.
The wreckage of the Russian plane was moved to Cairo International Airport this week for further studies.
Last October, a Russian A321 plane was downed in Sinai, killing all 224 passengers and crew members on board. “Islamic State” claimed responsibility for the incident.
Egypt initially declared that there was no evidence that the plane was brought down due to a “terrorist act”. However, Moscow has claimed that terrorists were responsible for the deaths, after its investigation committee said explosive material was found in the remains.
Russia issued an immediate suspension of all commercial flights to and from Egypt, pending a report on the state of security procedures at Egyptian airports.
Earlier this month, Russian Ambassador to Egypt Serge Kirpichenko said Russia strongly believes the accident was caused by a terrorist act.
“Moscow is confident in its belief that what happened to the Russian plane was a terror act, and the current investigation is being carried out accordingly,” Kirpichenko told state-owned MENA.
“The explosion of the aeroplane was a great misfortune; life cannot be compensated,” he added.
The ambassador however refused to comment on the latest reports on the identity of the attackers, saying: “I don’t want to comment on any news published in media outlets … These reports are not credible.”
