Russian Plane Crash: All 224 People Aboard Killed

A Russian plane crashed broke up "in the air" and crashed in Egypt Saturday, according to an investigator, leaving all 224 people on board killed. While the bodies are being flown to family members in Russia, investigators are now examining the plane's two black boxes to determine whether a mechanical failure or a bomb explosion was the reason for the Russian plane crash.

Russian officials said that by late Sunday, 162 bodies from Cairo are already being transported to Saint Petersburg. The plane with the passengers' remains landed around 0200 GMT, according to the AFP.

There is still no clear reason as to how the Flight 9268 suddenly dropped off the radar in clear weather 23 minutes following take-off, reported CNN.

The black boxes are now being examined however, but President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has released a statement asking for patience regarding the Russian plane crash. The statement followed a claim from Islamic State jihadist group (IS) that they bombed the A-321 in Egypt as revenge for Russia's intervention in Syria.

On Saturday, hours following the tragedy, Egypt and Russia quickly claimed that the aircraft suffered from mechanical failure. However, on Sunday, both countries have retaliated their claims of technical failure. Officials are now considering it possible that the Airbus A321 had been brought down with a bomb planted on board, according to The Telegraph.

On Sunday, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that it is too soon to tell what caused the Russian plane crash, adding that an "extensive and complicated technical study" is due.

An Egyptian official recently told The Telegraph that going down with a bomb was a possibility. The official also said claiming mechanical failure as the reason was too soon. Because the pilot had not made a distress call during the flight, a sudden calamity such as a bomb is a possibility for the crash.

In lieu of its claim that it bombed the jet down, Isil recently released a grainy video taken with a mobile phone which purportedly shows the minutes before the Russian plane went down.

The video's authenticity has not been verified.

"The statement does not say they shot it down, but that they destroyed it," said former French intelligence agent Yves Trotignon noting that Isil's vague descriptions of putting the plane down. "You could imagine explosives on board, or sabotage."

On Sunday following the Russian plane crash, Germany warned airliners to cross the same route that the Flight 9268 took until a positive cause has been confirmed.