Tens of thousands of tourists were stranded in Egypt on Friday following last week’s deadly crash of a Russian jetliner — which flight recorders reveal was brought down by an explosion.
A cockpit voice recorder aboard Metrojet Flight 9268 “distinctly shows the sound of an explosion during the flight,” an investigator told France 2 TV.
And a flight-data recorder stopped working about 24 minutes after takeoff and captured no sign of mechanical failure, Agence France-Presse reported.
“Everything is normal, absolutely normal during the flight, and suddenly nothing,” a source close to the case told the AFP.
It also emerged that a British airplane carrying 189 passengers was nearly hit by a rocket as it prepared to land at Sharm el-Sheik’s airport two months before the jet crash, which killed all 224 aboard.
“[The pilot] ordered that the flight turn to the left to avoid the rocket, which was about 1,000 feet away,” a source told the Daily Mail, adding that crew on the Thomson Airways flight were told the missile was from an Egyptian military exercise.
Up to 70,000 Russian tourists were stuck in Egypt, including Sharm el-Sheik, after Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended all flights to the country Friday following the Oct. 31 crash, which was believed to have been the work of terrorists.
Thousands more British tourists vacationing in Sharm el-Sheik have also been left in limbo — largely because of their luggage.
Only eight of 29 rescue flights sent to return Brits home were approved for takeoff on Friday.
British officials ordered that all luggage travel separately from passengers as a safety precaution, and Egypt’s civil aviation minister blamed that restriction for severe delays, saying the airport can’t handle all the baggage.
The number of flights allowed out will continue to be restricted Saturday, EasyJet airline said.
Empty aircraft are also being sent to Egypt to take Russian tourists home. That process could take more than a month.
Travelers who did make it out recalled a troubling scene at the Sharm el-Sheik airport, with travelers getting little information and some trying to force their way through security by claiming to be “important Egyptians.”
“We haven’t been given information about how we should repack our stuff,” said London businessman James Farrar. “We hear there are restrictions on what we can take in your hand luggage, as well.”
US and British authorities believe a bomb planted by ISIS-affiliated terrorists in the luggage hold of the plane caused the crash. ISIS has taken credit on social media.
The US Homeland Security Department announced Friday that it will step up security measures, such as expanded screening, in certain foreign airports as a result.