Just days after a Russian airliner crashed in Egypt shortly after departure, clues are emerging and theories are taking shape as aviation analysts try to understood what happened.
While ideas of what could have caused the incident include an explosion, a fire on board, or a non-standard emergency, a new report shines light on the difficulties officials are facing in determining a singular cause.
Chris Owen, an explosives expert from Alford Technologies, said that ruling out an explosive simply because no evidence of one had been found, will be difficult.
Satellite data from the U.S. military reports a midair heat flash from the plane, leading some to believe there may have been an explosion, one U.S. official said.
"If a bomb is ruled out, it will likely be because another cause has been found," he continued, adding that while explosive residue could be found during lab testing, it would be faster to determine if an explosive was on board by considering the damage to plane parts.