A source in Russia`s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) told RIA Novosti the Kogalymavia Flight 9268 carrying 217 passengeers and 7 crew members took off from Sharm El-Sheikh at 3:31 GMT and vanished from the radars after 23 minutes of flight. Some media reports suggest the airliner crashed in Sinai peninsula.
Initial reports were conflicting, with the head of Egypt`s central air traffic accident authority saying the airliner was safe.
"The… Russian airline had told us that the Russian plane we lost contact with is safe and that it has contacted Turkish air traffic control and is passing through Turkish skies now," Ayman al-Muqaddam said in a statement.
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