Two black boxes found from crashed Russian plane

Both black boxes of the plane that crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Saturday with the loss of all 224 people on board, had been found, Mohamed Hossam Kemal, the civil aviation minister, told a news conference, Russian newspaper Izvestia reported. 

Russian Federal Air Transport Agency and the Interstate Aviation Committee are said to be involved in investigating the causes of the crash of the Russian airplane, according to a report.

The cause of the crash is not yet clear but Egyptian officials have said technical failure is likely to be the problem. Egyptian media has reported that the pilot radioed about technical problems and told air traffic controllers he needed to make an emergency landing.

The plane was trying to land at the airport in the city of Al-Arish, in northern Sinai, when it crashed in the mountainous Hasana region, it was said.

It is known that before disappearing from radar screens, the plane was descending rapidly, at a speed of about 2 kilometers a minute.

Almost everyone on board the Airbus-A321 operated by the Moscow-based Metrojet airline was Russian. Ukraine said four of its citizens were passengers.