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Russian and Israeli investigators alike have ruled out a missile attack as the cause of the crash of Siberian Airlines 1812 into the Black Sea, but now believe the plane was destroyed by a bomb detonated by a hand-held radio transmitter, according to DEBKA-Net-Weekly.
The bomb was planted in the ceiling of the passenger cabin before it left Nosibirsk for Tel Aviv, DEBKA’s intelligence sources report.
All 67 Israeli passengers were killed Thursday in the crash, along with 11 crew members.
The earlier theory of a stray Ukrainian missile having downed the Tel Aviv-Novosibirsk Tu 154 has been ruled out by Russian and Israeli investigators, according to the report.
The bomb, it is believed, was most likely planted last Wednesday by a terrorist attached to a Siberian airport technical crew. One such ‘electrician’ reportedly pulled out a number of ceiling tiles and spent some time checking the wiring, before the Tu-154 took off for Tel Aviv. He was not seen again.
If this is confirmed, then the doomed plane carried the bomb from Novosibirsk to Tel Aviv and took off again, without any of the security inspectors – Israeli or Russian – checking the interior of the plane’s fuselage.
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