No ‘direct evidence’ of terrorism in Egypt crash: US

Moscow: A top US intelligence official has said there is no direct evidence of terrorism in the crash of a Russian passenger jet in Egypt that killed all 224 people on board, after the airline said it came down due to "external" factors.

Analysis of the plane´s "black boxes" is expected to begin on Tuesday, according to Egyptian officials. Russia´s aviation authority has said the devices, which could solve the mystery of what happened to the doomed jet, are in good condition.

Both Cairo and Moscow have played down a claim by Egypt´s Islamic State group (IS) branch that it brought down the Kogalymavia Airbus A-321 which was bound for St Petersburg in Russia from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Monday he could not rule out IS involvement in Saturday´s crash, but thought it "unlikely".

"We don´t have any direct evidence of any terrorist involvement yet," he said.

Investigators are examining all possible causes as they comb the remote crash site in the Sinai peninsula as part of an Egyptian-led probe into the disaster that also involves experts from Russia, Airbus, and Ireland, where the aircraft was registered.

Senior Kogalymavia executive Alexander Smirnov said that "no technical failures" could account for why the Airbus 321 would have broken up in mid-air.

"The only explanation is some kind of external action," Smirnov told a news conference in Moscow, without elaborating, adding that the doomed jet was in "excellent technical condition".

He said the firm had ruled out a technical fault or human error and that the plane had sustained "significant damage to its construction that did not allow it to continue the flight."

"The crew totally lost control and for that reason there was not one attempt to get in contact and report on the accident situation on board," Smirnov said. The plane was "flying out of control -- that is, it wasn´t flying, it was falling."