Metrojet Flight 9268 was an international chartered passenger flight,[1] operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia (branded as Metrojet). On 31 October 2015, at 06:13 local time EST (04:13 UTC),[2] an Airbus A321-231 operating the flight was destroyed by a bomb above the northern Sinai Peninsula following its departure from Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, Egypt en route to Pulkovo Airport, Saint Petersburg, Russia.[3][4][5] All 224 passengers and crew on board were killed.[6][7] The cause of the crash was most likely an onboard explosive device[8][9][10] as concluded by Russian investigators.[11] Most of the people aboard the flight were tourists. There were 212 Russians, four Ukrainians, and one Belarusian passenger. There were also 7 crew members on board.[6] Investigators believe that a bomb was put on the aircraft at Sharm El Sheikh, with the goal of causing airlines to suspend flights to that airport.[12] Shortly after the crash, the Islamic State's Sinai Branch, previously known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, claimed responsibility for the incident, which occurred in the vicinity of the Sinai insurgency.[13][14] ISIL claimed responsibility on Twitter, on video, and in a statement by Abu Osama al-Masri, the leader of the group's Sinai branch.[15][16] ISIL posted pictures of what it said was the bomb in Dabiq, its online magazine.[17] By 4 November 2015, British and American authorities suspected that a bomb was responsible for the crash.[18] On 8 November 2015, an anonymous member of the Egyptian investigation team said the investigators were "90 percent sure" that the jet was brought down by a bomb. Lead investigator Ayman al-Muqaddam said that other possible causes of the crash included a fuel explosion, metal fatigue, and lithium batteries overheating.[12] The Russian Federal Security Service announced on 17 November 2015 that they were sure that it was a terrorist attack, caused by an improvised bomb containing the equivalent of up to 1 kilogram (2.2 lb)