Plane crash prompts British PM to consider new travel advice for Red Sea resorts
UK security officials are considering whether to change travel advice for holidaymakers visiting the Red Sea after a Russian passenger jet crashed shortly after leaving Sharm El Sheikh.
Prime Minister David Cameron said officials were ‘looking very carefully’ at whether there was an ongoing safety risk to the 900,000 Britons who visit the region every year amid speculation the MetroJet Airbus was shot down.
But he said any change about security information would not be based on speculation about the causes of the crash.
Speaking in a TV interview, Cameron, who had earlier spoken with Russian president Vladimir Putin, said: "If anything changes, we don’t sit around and chew our pens and not act. If anything changes it will be announced very quickly.
"But as I say we must do it on the basis of evidence and not on speculation."
Passengers on the A321, which was heading for St Petersburg, were sucked from their seats through a hole when the tail blew off shortly after take-off, said latest reports.
The jet twice suddenly climbed nearly 3,000 feet in three seconds before plunging 3,000 feet moments later, then disappeared from air traffic control radar screens 23 minutes after leaving Sharm El Sheikh.
It crashed in the North Sinai peninsula, killing all 224 on board, including 17 children.
US officials claim an American infra-red satellite detected a heat flash on the route the aircraft was taking seconds before the plane crashed.
As the data didn’t show the heat flash travelling, it would suggest that the aircraft was not hit by a ground-to-air-missile, as the Russians have claimed. Instead, experts believe there might have been a bomb onboard or an explosion in a fuel tank or engine as a result of mechanical failure.
However, Metrojet has ruled out a technical fault or pilot error, indicating that a bomb or missile strike brought down the aircraft. Alexander Smirnov, the airline’s deputy general director, said: "The only possible explanation could be an external impact on the airplane."
The UK Foreign Office was already advising against travel to North Sinai and all but essential travel to South Sinai, with the exception of the tourist resorts in Sharm el Sheikh and along the Nile, where extra security measures are already in place.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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