Russians are anxiously waiting for the investigators to determine why their plane blew up in mid-air. Preliminary reports point to an on-board bomb. The Black Box confirmed the probability of a bomb on board; so did the flight recorder. ISIS took credit for the fete.  Sharm-el-Shiekh, the Egyptian seaside resort, a destination for many Russians, is now in lock-down. Investigators are swarming over the twelve square mile area looking for clues to why the doomed flight went down. The consensus is 99.9% that the plane was brought down by ISIS terrorists.

Of course Russia does not want to admit that terrorism was responsible for the plane imploding in mid-air. This would counter their close to the vest philosophy that their Syrian adventure is going well. However, the world knows differently. Egypt, also is trying to change the narrative here; their economy is dependent on tourism to a large extent. Knowing full well that terrorist endeavors will bring the travel industry to a halt. Both Russia and Egypt will most likely try to white wash the reason for the crash.

When it comes to security and reliability, Russian aircraft flunk the test. To a large degree flying a Russian aircraft is at your own risk.

31 October 2015; Metrojet A321-200; EI-ETJ; flight 7K9268; near Hasna, Egypt: The aircraft was on a nonscheduled international flight from Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt to St. Petersburg, Russia. Air traffic control lost contact with the flight about 23 minutes after departure, after the aircraft reached a cruising altitude of about 31,000 feet. The aircraft crashed in a remote area of the Sinai Peninsula shortly thereafter. All seven crew members and 217 passengers were killed. This is the second fatal crash for this airline. In January 2011, three passengers were killed after a Kolavia Tu154 caught fire shortly before takeoff . Metrojet operated as Kogalymavia or Kolavia until 2012.

Plane crashes for airlines of Russia
and the former Soviet Union

From Airsafe.com

The following is a list of plane crashes since 1990 involving jet airliners from Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union. These events include scheduled and non-scheduled airline flights and may include passenger fatalities due to hijackings, sabotage, or military action.

1. 13 January 1990; Aeroflot Tupolev 134A; near Pervouralsk, Russia: The aircraft had an onboard fire while in cruise between Tyrmen and Ufa. The crew made a forced landing about two miles (three km) from Pervouralsk. Four of the six crew members and 23 of the 65 passengers were killed.
2. 1 August 1990; Aeroflot Yak-40; Pavlodar, Kazakhstan: The aircraft was inbound to Stepanakert when the aircraft impacted cloud shrouded high ground about 14 miles (22 km) from the airport. All four crew members and 26 passengers were killed.
3. 13 September 1990; Aeroflot Yak-42, Sverdlovsk, Russia: The aircraft touched down about one mile (1.6 km) short of the runway during a night approach. One of the five crew members and three of the 124 passengers were killed.
4. 23 May 1991; Aeroflot Tupolev 154B; St. Petersburg, Russia:The aircraft touched down just short of the runway at an excessive sink rate and during rainy conditions. None of the seven crew members and 13 of the 174 passengers were killed.
5. 7 November 1991; Azerbaijan Airlines Yak-40; near Makhachkala, Russia: The aircraft was inbound from Elista in poor weather when it impacted high ground. All four crew members and 47 passengers were killed.
6. 27 August 1992; Aeroflot Tupolev Tu134A; Ivanovo, Russia:The aircraft impacted about two miles (three km) short of the runway after an excessively steep and fast approach. All seven crew members and 77 passengers were killed.
7. 27 August 1993; Tajik Air Yak-40; Khorog, Tajikistan : The aircraft was departing for Dushanbe and the crew was attempting to abort the takeoff. After an unsuccessful aborted takeoff, the aircraft overran the runway and fell into a river. All five crew members and 77 of the 81 passengers were killed. The Yak-40 is normally configured for about 28 passengers.
8. 21 September 1993; Transair Georgia Tupolev Tu134A; near Sukhumi, Georgia : The charter aircraft departed from Sochi, Russia and was on final approach when it was hit by a missile. The aircraft crashed into the sea about 2.5 miles (four km) from the airport. All five crew members and 22 passengers were killed.
9. 3 January 1994; Biakalavia Tupolev Tu154M, near Irkutsk, Russia: Shortly after takeoff on a flight to Moscow, a failure in the number two engine damaged fuel lines and started a fire near the engine. The aircraft lost control and crashed due to subsequent damage to the flight control hydraulics system. All nine crew members and 115 passengers were killed.
10. 22 March 1994; Russian International Airways A310; near Novokuznetsk, Russia: Lost control and crashed after the captain had allowed at least one child to manipulate the flight controls. All 12 crew and 63 passengers were killed
    Fatal A310 Events
11. 26 September 1994; Cheremshanka Airlines Yak-40; near Vanavara, Russia: The aircraft was inbound to Tura on a flight from Krasnoyarsk when bad weather forced the crew to fly to an alternate airport at Vanavara. The aircraft ran out of fuel en route and the crew unsuccessfully attempted a forced landing. All four crew members and 24 passengers were killed.
12. 12 May 1995; Azerbaijan Airlines Tupolev Tu134A; near Nahicevan, Azerbaijan: Both engines failed shortly after takeoff and the crew made a forced landing about four miles (six km) from the airport. Two of the six crew members and 50 of the 76 passengers were killed.
13. 7 December 1995; Khabarovsk Air Tupolev Tu154B, 200 km east of Khabarovsk, Russia: The aircraft crashed in a remote, mountainous part of the Russian far east. The aircraft was in cruise at 31,500 feet and disappeared from radar shortly after making a routine air traffic control report. All 89 passengers and 8 crew were killed.
14. 29 August 1996; Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu154; Spitsbergen, Norway: The aircraft was on a charter flight transporting Russian miners and their families to Spitsbergen when the aircraft crashed on a mountain about 6 miles (10 km) from Longyearbyen airport. All 14 crew members and 127 passengers were killed.
15. 26 October 1996; Tyumenaviatrans Yak-40, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia: The aircraft crashed into three helicopters while landing in a snowstorm after the crew apparently mistook the helipad for the nearby airport runway. Five of the 26 passengers and four crew were killed.
16. 15 December 1997; Tajikistan Airlines Tupolev 154B; Sharjah, United Arab Emirates: The aircraft was on approach to Sharjah after a flight from Khodzhent, Tajikistan when it crashed in a river about 8 miles (13 km) from the airport. Eight of the nine crew members and all 77 passengers were killed.
17. 17 December 1997; AeroSvit Yak-42; near Salonica, Greece:The aircraft was inbound from Odessa, Ukraine to Salonica and was in a holding pattern when it impacted high ground. All eight crew members and 62 passengers were killed.
18. 15 March 2001; Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu154; Medina, Saudi Arabia: The aircraft was hijacked by three men about 30 minutes after departing Istanbul, Turkey on a flight to Moscow, Russia. After being diverted to Medina, Saudi Arabia, the hijackers entered negotiations with Saudi Arabian authorities and released some of the hostages. The following day, commandos stormed the aircraft and freed the rest of the hostages. One of the 12 crew members and one of the 159 passengers were killed by the hijackers. One hijacker was killed and the other two were captured.
19. 3 July 2001; Vladivostok Avia Tupolev Tu154; near Irkutsk, Russia: The plane crashed about 34 kilometers (21 miles) from Irkutsk in the Siberian region of Russia, while on a domestic flight from Yekaterinburg in western Russia to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast of Russia. The aircraft was making a third approach to Irkutsk, a scheduled refueling stop, when it crashed. All nine crew members and 136 passengers were killed.

    21 September 2001; Aeroflot Ilyushin Il86; flight 521; Dubai, UAE: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Moscow to Dubai, and had a gear up landing in Dubai. The gear up landing occurred because the flight crew neglected to reset a circuit breaker. The aircraft caught fire, but all the passengers and crew were able to evacuate the airliner. None of the 15 crew members or 322 passengers were killed.

20. 4 October 2001; Sibir Airlines Tupolev Tu154M; Black Sea near Adler, Russia: The plane crashed about 184 kilometers (114 miles) from southern Russia in the Black Sea, shortly after the aircraft exploded in flight. The aircraft had departed from Tel Aviv, Israel on a charter flight to Novosibirsk, Russia and was at cruise altitude when the explosion occurred. The reason for the in-flight explosion, which was witnessed by another airliner flight crew, is not known. However, various pieces of evidence point to in inadvertent strike by a Ukrainian military missile. All 12 crew members and 64 passengers were killed.
21. 1 July 2002; Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev Tu154; near Üeberlingen, Germany: The aircraft collided with a DHL 757 while both aircraft were flying at about 36,000 feet (about 11,000 meters). Debris from both aircraft fell in an area near Lake Constance on the German-Swiss border. Both crew members on the DHL 757 and the 57 passengers and 12 crew members on the Tupolev 154 were killed. The 57 passengers on the Tupolev 154 included 52 children and teenagers. The 757 departed Bahrain and was continuing on to Brussels after a stop in Bergamo in northern Italy. The Tupolev 154 was on a trip from Moscow to Barcelona and had made a stopover in Munich shortly before the accident.
    Fatal Midair Collision Events
    Fatal 757 Events
    Wikipedia entry about this event
22. 8 May 2003; Ilyushin 76, near Kinshasa, Congo: The aircraft, operated by the Ukraine government, was about 45 minutes into a non-scheduled domestic flight from Kinshasa to Lubumbashi with several hundred passengers when in the cargo hold area when the rear cargo ramp reportedly came open, leading to a rapid depressurization and the loss of dozens of passengers. The crew was able to return to Kinshasa and land. Reports from different news organizations give a varying number of passengers and victims. While no crew fatalities were mentioned and some passengers survived, the number of passengers killed ranged from less than 10 to over 200. This was a non-airline aircraft being used to carry passengers.
23. 26 May 2003; Ukrainian-Mediterranean Airlines Yak-42D, near Macka, Turkey: The aircraft, chartered by NATO’s Maintenance and Supply Agency, had departed Kabul, Afghanistan and was inbound for a scheduled refueling stop at Trabzon airport when it crashed into high ground near Macka, Turkey. There was heavy fog in the area and the aircraft had attempted several landings prior to the crash. All 13 crew members and 62 passengers were killed. The passengers were all Spanish peacekeeping forces returning from a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
24. 13 January 2004; Uzbekistan Airways Yak-42, Tashkent, Uzbekistan: The aircraft was on a domestic flight from Termez to Tashkent and crashed during final approach. There was heavy fog in the area of the airport at the time of the crash. All five crew members and 32 passengers were killed, including the senior United Nations representative in Uzbekistan.
25. 24 August 2004; Volga-Aviaexpress Tupolev Tu134A; near Buchalki, Russia: The aircraft departed Moscow Domodedovo Airport (DME) about 2230 on a scheduled flight to Volgograd in southern Russia. This aircraft took off about 10 minutes before a Sibir Airlines Tupolev 154B which also crashed the same evening after departing the same airport. The aircraft broke up in flight and crashed, about thirty minutes after takeoff and within minutes of the in flight breakup of the Sibir Airlines aircraft. At least one witness reported hearing several explosions at about the time of the breakup. Wreckage from this aircraft was found in the Tula region, near the village of Buchalki, about 125 miles (200 km) from Moscow. Investigators have found traces of explosive residue on both aircraft, and are investigating the possibility that these events were due to sabotage. The two aircraft were separated by about 500 miles (800 km) at the time of their respective crashes. All seven crew members and 34 passengers were killed.
26. 24 August 2004; Sibir Airlines Tupolev Tu154B; near Rostov-on-Don, Russia: The aircraft departed Moscow Domodedovo Airport (DME) about 2240 on a scheduled flight to Sochi near the Black Sea. This aircraft took off about 10 minutes after a Volga-Aviaexpress Tupolev 134A which also crashed the same evening after departing the same airport. The aircraft broke up in flight and crashed, about 20 minutes after takeoff and within minutes of the in flight breakup of the Volga-Aviaexpress aircraft. According to Sibir Airlines, shortly before the crash, an emergency signal was sent from the aircraft. Wreckage from this aircraft was found near Rostov-on-Don, about 600 miles (960 km) from Moscow. Investigators have found traces of explosive residue on both aircraft, and are investigating the possibility that these events were due to sabotage. All eight crew members and 38 passengers were killed.

    Note: The last time that two aircraft departing from the same airport on the same day were both involved in a fatal event was 11 September 2001 when an American Airlines 767 and United Airlines 767 were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center towers.

27. 3 February 2005; Kam Air 737-200; near Kabul, Afghanistan:The aircraft was approaching Kabul on a domestic flight from Herat when it crashed in mountainous terrain about 20 miles (32 km) from its destination. The aircraft was scheduled domestic flight from Herat to Kabul and was diverted from landing at Kabul due to the effects of a severe snowstorm. The crew had sought clearance to land in Peshawar, Pakistan prior to losing contact with air traffic control. All eight crew members and 96 passengers were killed. Although this was a domestic flight within Afghanistan, the airline was based in Kyrgyzstan.
    Boeing 737 plane crashes
28. 3 May 2006; Armavia Airlines A320; near Sochi, Russia:
    The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Yerevan, Armenia to Sochi. At the time of the crash, visibility was limited due to darkness, a low overcast cloud layer, and light rain showers. The crew reportedly abandoned the first landing attempt due to the weather conditions. While the crew was maneuvering for a second landing attempt on a different runway, the aircraft crashed into the Black Sea about 6 km (3.8 miles) from the airport.
    All eight crew members and 105 passengers were killed.
    A320 plane crashes
29. 9 July 2006; Sibir Airlines A310-300; Irkutsk, Russia: The aircraft was on a scheduled flight from Moscow to Irkutsk. Weather at Irkutsk included a low overcast, rain, and thunderstorms in the area. The aircraft landed on the runway, but was unable to stop on the runway. After departing the runway, the aircraft collided with a concrete structure, broke up, and caught fire. Five of the eight crew members, and 119 of the 195 passengers were killed.
    Fatal A310 Events
30. 22 August 2006; Pulkovo Airlines Tupolev Tu154M; near Donetsk, Ukraine: The aircraft departed on a scheduled domestic flight from Anapa to St. Petersburg. About 30 minutes after takeoff and at an altitude of about 36,000 feet (11,000 meters), the crew reported an emergency. Another transmission was reportedly received before the aircraft crashed. The crash occurred about 30 miles (48 km) north of the Ukrainian city of Donetsk. All 10 crew members and 160 passengers were killed.
31. 17 March 2007; UTair Tupolev Tu134A; Samara, Russia: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Surgut to Samara. During approach, visibility was limited due to weather conditions. The aircraft touched down about 400 meters short of the runway, broke up, and caught fire. All seven crew members survived, but six of the 50 passengers were killed.
32. 24 August 2008; Itek Air 737-200; Flight 6895; Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to Tehran, Iran . About 10 minutes after takeoff, the crew turned back to the departure airport and also reported some kind of technical problem and h, and reportedly departed the runway and collided with several buildings in a nearby neighborhood. There were about 83 passengers and seven crew on the aircraft, including 17 members Kyrgyzstan’s national basketball youth team. Seven team members reportedly survived. At least 65 of those on board, including five of the seven crew members, were killed.

    Itek Air had been banned from operating in the EU according to a list published on 24 July 2008.
    Fatal events involving the 737
    More about this event

33. 14 September 2008; Aeroflot-Nord 737-500; flight 821; near Perm, Russia: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Moscow to Perm, Russia. Contact with the aircraft was lost shortly before landing when the aircraft was about 3,600 feet, or about 1100 meters, above the ground. The aircraft was completely destroyed in the crash, coming down outside of the city of Perm and near the tracks of the Trans-Siberian Railway. All 82 passengers and six crew members were killed in the crash. There were seven children, including one infant, among the passengers. More details are provided in the video below:

    Additional Podcast Links
    Audio: MP3 Video: iPod/MP4 |  WMV | YouTube
    For more videos, visit the AirSafe.com YouTube channel.
    AirFleets.net History of the Accident Aircraft

    7 September 2010; Alrosa Mirny Air Enterprise; Tu154M; RA-85684; flight 514, Izhma, Russia: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Udachny to Moscow, Russia. While en route at about FL347 near over Usinsk, Russia, the aircraft experienced a complete electrical failure that resulted in a loss of navigational equipment, fuel pumps, and flaps. The crew was able to make a successful emergency landing on an abandoned runway at the Izhma, Russia airport. None of the nine crew members or 72 passengers were injured. Because there were no passengers on the aircraft, this crash was not counted as a fatal event as defined by AirSafe.com.
    More details on this accident

    News report on emergency landing

    ---

34. 4 December 2010; Dagestan Airlines (also known as South East Airlines); Tu154M; RA-85744; flight 372; Moscow, Russia: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Moscow to Makhachkala, Russia. The aircraft departed from Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, and about eight minutes later, while the aircraft was climbing through an altitude of about 6,500 m (21,000 ft), there were reportedly problems involving the fuel system. When the aircraft was about 80 km away from the departure airport and at about 9,000 m (29,000 ft) altitude, two of the three engines flamed out and the crew elected to divert to Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. The aircraft experienced a hard landing near the runway, and broke up after striking a large earthen mound beyond the end of the runway. Two of the 160 passengers were killed, and all nine crew members survived.
35. 1 January 2011; Kolavia (currently operating as MetroJetMetroJet); Tu154M; RA-85588; flight 348; Surgut, Russia:The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Surgut to Moscow, Russia. An electrical problem led to a fire shortly before takeoff. All eight crew members survived, but three of the 126 passengers were killed.
36. 20 June 2011; RusAir; Tu134A; RA-65691; flight 7R-243; Petrozavodsk, Russia: The aircraft was on a domestic flight from Moscow (Domodedovo)to Petrozavodsk, Russia. The aircraft crashed on a roadway about one kilometer from the destination airport. Of the 43 passengers and nine crew members, 44 were killed and eight survived.
    Crash details at AirSafeNews.com
37. 7 September 2011; Yak Service Yak-42D; RA-42434; Yaroslavl, Russia: The aircraft was on a nonscheduled international flight from Yaroslavl, Russia to Minsk, Belarus when it crashed shortly after taking off from Yaroslavl Airport. The aircraft apparently ran off the runway took off several hundred meters beyond the end of the runway. After lifting off, the aircraft struck a radio mast about 450 meters from the end of the runway, and crashed at the edge of the Volga River. Seven of the eight crew members, and all 37 passengers were killed. Among the passengers were the coaching staff and players of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl professional hockey team. The team included several former NHL players as well as several members of the Russian national hockey team.

    This was the 16th jet airliner crash with a sole survivor since 1970. AirSafe.com has noted several other sole survivor airliner events involving prop-driven airliners.
    More information on this crash
    Sole survivor plane crashes

38. 2 April 2012; UTair ATR 72-200; VP-BYZ;flight 120; Tyumen, Russia: The aircraft was on scheduled domestic flight from Tyumen to Surgut, Russia. The airplane crashed broke up, and caught fire in a field about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) form the end of the departure runway. All four crew members and 27 of the 39 passengers were killed. This is the second fatal passenger jet crash involving this airline. The first was a 17 March 2007 crash of a UTair Tupolev Tu134A in Samara, Russia that killed six passengers.

    29 December 2012; Red Wings Airlines; Tupolev 204-100; RA-64047; flight 9268; Moscow, Russia: The aircraft was on an unscheduled repositioning flight from Pardubice, Czech Republic to Moscow, Russia. After touching down, the aircraft overran the runway, and collided with an embankment next to a highway, causing the aircraft to break up. While various pieces of aircraft wreckage struck cars on the adjacent highway, no one on the ground was killed (See video below). Five of the eight crew members were killed. It had been snowing prior to the crash, and there was a significant crosswind at the time of the landing. Because there were no passengers on the aircraft, this crash was not counted as a fatal event as defined by AirSafe.com.
39. 17 November 2013; Tartarstan Aircompany 737-500; VQ-BBN; flight 383; Kazan, Russia: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Moscow to Kazan, Russia, and crashed during a landing attempt. Early reports indicated that it was at least the second landing attempt. All 44 passengers and six crew members were killed in the crash and subsequent fire.
40. 31 October 2015; Metrojet A321-200; EI-ETJ; flight 7K9268; near Hasna, Egypt: The aircraft was on a nonscheduled international flight from Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt to St. Petersburg, Russia. Air traffic control lost contact with the flight about 23 minutes after departure, after the aircraft reached a cruising altitude of about 31,000 feet. The aircraft crashed in a remote area of the Sinai Peninsula shortly thereafter. All seven crew members and 217 passengers were killed. This is the second fatal crash for this airline. In January 2011, three passengers were killed after a Kolavia Tu154 caught fire shortly before takeoff . Metrojet operated as Kogalymavia or Kolavia until 2012.
    A320 plane crashes
    Flight tracking data
    More about this event

    ---