Parts of the crashed jet fell over an area about 8 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide (5 miles long by 2.5 miles wide), Alexander Neradko, the head of the Russian Federal Aviation Authority, said in an interview with Rossiya-24 state television. Evidence suggests the plane broke apart at high altitude, he said. Viktor Sorochenko, executive director of the Interstate Aviation Committee, which includes nearly a dozen ex-Soviet states including Russia, gave a similar appraisal while saying it was too early to say what had caused the disaster, according to Interfax.

The Metrojet Airbus A321 crashed on Saturday just 23 minutes after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, bound for St. Petersburg. Egyptian officials have indicated technical issues were the cause, and have dismissed a claim of responsibility issued by the Islamic State's Sinai affiliate. The flight's "black box" recorders have been recovered and are being studied.