航空公司官员称外部原因导致飞机失事

AS IT IS 2015-11-03 Officials Say ‘External Reasons’ Brought Plane Down 航空公司官员称外部原因导致飞机失事

Technical failure and human error did not cause Flight 7K9268 to crash, say senior officials at Metrojet.

But if they do know what caused the crash, they are not saying.

The Russian Metrojet plane disappeared from radar¹ on Saturday over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula about 20 minutes after it took off. It had reached a high altitude, officials said. It was flying from a vacation town in Egypt to St. Petersburg, Russia.

The plane broke apart in the sky, officials said. All 224 people on board died.

Nearly all the passengers were Russian tourists. Three Ukrainians were also among the dead.

The crash was the worst in Russia’s flying history.

Emergency crews have recovered both the plane's black boxes. The boxes record flight data and pilot communications. The information on the black boxes has not yet been released.

Airline says the plane and crew are not to blame

A top Metrojet official rejected the idea that a 2001 repair to the plane's tail could have caused the crash. However, poor repairs to older planes have caused similar crashes. 

No technical failures could cause a plane to break up in the air, Metrojet’s deputy director told reporters in Moscow.

"The plane wasn't flying, it was falling," Aleksander Smirnov said.

Smirnov pointed² out that the crew lost total control. No one on the plane called for help. He said the crew did not make a mistake. 

Smirnov said the only way to explain the crash is "some kind of external action."

But Russian government officials say it is too early for the airline to know if technical failure or human error might have caused the crash.

Terrorism?

The New York Times newspaper noted³ that Russia recently sent troops into Syria. Those troops defend President Bashar al-Assad and attack his opponents. They also attack the terrorist group, Islamic State.

That military action has made some call for a global jihad against Russia.

Militants⁴ who say they are linked to the Islamic State claim they shot down the plane. But aviation and military experts say they believe the group does not have missiles that could reach the plane's altitude of 9,100 meters.

James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, said Monday that "we don't have any direct evidence of any terrorist involvement yet'' in the crash.

But he noted that the Islamic State group has a significant presence in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. 

A spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin said officials were considering all ideas about what might have caused the crash. That included a terrorist attack, he said.

Meanwhile, investigators⁵ continue to examine the crash site and gather information. And, some airlines – including Air France, Lufthansa, Emirates and Qatar Airways⁶ – say they will stop flying over the Sinai Peninsula for safety reasons. 

Words in This Story

external – adj. coming from outside

aviation – n. the business or practice of flying airplanes, helicopters, etc.

altitude – n. the height of something (such as an airplane) above the level of the sea

1 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。