Cameron: Bomb 'more likely than not' caused plane crash
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister David Cameron declared Thursday it was "more likely than not" that a bomb brought down a Metrojet flight packed with Russian vacationers — a scenario that Russian and Egyptian officials dismissed as premature speculation.
The radical Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for bringing down the plane in the Sinai, a claim rejected by Russian and Egyptian officials as not credible.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, insisted that investigators were working on all possible theories as to why the Airbus A321-200 crashed Saturday in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula just 23 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh.
Egypt, meanwhile, condemned the British travel ban as an overreaction, with its minister of civil aviation, Hossam Kamal, insisting that the country's airports meet international security standards.
The company has ruled out a pilot error or a technical fault as a possible cause of the crash, drawing criticism from Russian officials for speaking with such certainty too soon.
Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, said a bomb could be placed on a plane in an endless number of ways, including by someone with airside access or by those on catering teams or maintenance crews.
Another U.S. official briefed on the Metrojet crash told the AP on Wednesday that intercepted communications played a role in the tentative conclusion that the Islamic State group's Sinai affiliate had planted an explosive device on the flight.
Russia's top aviation official, Alexander Neradko, said investigators are pursuing several theories as to why the plane crashed, including looking for traces of explosives on victims' bodies, their baggage and on the plane debris as well as studying other "aspects linked to a possible terrorist attack."
Rescue teams have retrieved 140 bodies and more than 100 body parts combing a 40-square kilometer (15.4-square mile) area and hoped to finish their search for remains and wreckage by Thursday evening.