Air disasters timeline

航空事故时间线

A commission headed by Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov is to leave for Egypt on Saturday afternoon.

由交通部长马克西姆索科洛夫带领的事故委员会在星期六下午前往埃及。

A criminal case has also been opened against the airline, Kogalymavia, for "violation¹ of rules of flight and preparation for them", Russia's Ria news agency reported.

据俄罗斯RIA新闻社报道，针对Kogalymavia航空公司“违反飞行规则”也已经成立刑事案件。

Russian authorities say it was carrying 217 passengers, 138 of them women and 17 children aged between 2 and 17. Most were tourists. There were seven crews on board.

俄罗斯当局称，这架航班搭载217名乘客，其中有138名妇女和17名年龄在2到17岁的儿童，大部分乘客都是游客。机上还有七名机组人员。

Egyptian officials investigating the scene said there were no survivors².

埃及官员对现场调查后称没有幸存者。

A centre to help relatives of the passengers has been set up at Pulkovo airport, Tass news agency quoted St Petersburg city officials as saying.

俄塔社援引圣彼得堡市官员的话称，一个遇难者亲属帮助中心已经在机场设立。

Sudden altitude loss

突发失联

Initially³ there were conflicting reports about the fate of the plane, some suggesting it had disappeared over Cyprus.

起初，关于飞机去向的报道有一些争议，有些人认为它已在塞浦路斯上空消失了。

But the office of Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail confirmed in a statement that a "Russian civilian⁴ plane... crashed in the central Sinai". It added that Mr. Ismail had formed a crisis committee to deal with the crash.

但埃及总理谢里夫伊斯梅尔办公室在一份声明中证实，“俄罗斯民用飞机在西奈市中心坠毁”。它还说，伊斯梅尔先生已经成立了一个危机委员会来处理这一事件。

Media reports say at least 50 ambulances have been sent to the scene.

媒体报道称至少有50辆救护车被派到现场。

One official told Reuters news agency that at least 100 bodies had been found, and so far no survivors."I now see a tragic⁵ scene," the official said. "A lot of dead on the ground and many died whilst strapped⁶ to their seats." The plane split in two, with one part burning up and the other crashing into a rock, he added.

一位官员告诉路透社记者，至少有100具尸体被发现，迄今没有幸存者。“我现在看到了一个悲惨的场景，”该官员说，“地上有许多死者，很多人死在他们的座位上。”他补充说，这架飞机碎成了两段，一部分着火了，另一部分撞到了岩石上。

The Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said in a statement that flight KGL9268 left Sharm el-Sheikh at 06:51 Moscow time (03:51 GMT) and had been due into St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport at 12:10.

俄罗斯航天局在一份声明中说，KGL9268航班在06:51莫斯科时间（03:51 GMT）离开沙姆沙伊赫，本应预计在12:10抵达圣彼得堡市普尔科沃机场。

The authority added that the aircraft failed to make scheduled contact with Cyprus air traffic control 23 minutes after take-off and disappeared from the radar⁷.

当局还说，该飞机在起飞23分钟后未能与塞浦路斯航空交通管制取得联系，并从雷达上消失了。

Egypt's civilian aviation ministry⁸ said the plane had been at an altitude of 9,500m (31,000ft) when it disappeared.

埃及民航部说，飞机已经在海拔9500米（31000ft）时就消失了。

Live flight tracking service Flight Radar 24's Mikail Robertson confirmed the altitude. He told the BBC that the plane started to drop very fast, losing 1,500m in one minute before coverage⁹ was lost.

实时航班跟踪服务Flight Radar 24的米哈伊尔罗伯森证实了该高度。他告诉英国广播公司，飞机下降很快，在失联前一分钟已经降落了1500米。

Aviation official Ayman al-Mukadem said the pilot had reported technical difficulties before the plane went missing, the Associated Press reported.

美联社报道，宇航局官员Ayman al-Mukadem说飞机失踪前曾报告过技术困难。

The BBC's Orla Guerin in Cairo says it is likely there will be speculation¹⁰ about militant¹¹ involvement in the incident - Sinai has an active militant network, with local Jihadis who have allied¹² themselves to so-called Islamic State.

BBC驻开罗记者Oral Guerin说该事故很有可能与军事行动有关——西奈有一个活跃的军事网络，与当地所谓的伊斯兰国家圣战者联盟有关。

But the aircraft's altitude suggests that it could not have been struck from the ground, she adds.

但飞机的高度表明，它不可能被地面炮弹击中，她补充说。