SOCHI, May 20. /TASS/. Russian Transport Ministry believes that it is too early to make any conclusions regarding flight safety in Egypt after EgyptAir’s A320 crash in the Southern Mediterranean on Thursday, Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov told the media on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit.
"As far as yesterday’s disaster is concerned, it was another in a series of tragic events, but it is too early to say anything about the causes that resulted in the Egyptian liner’s crash. Without having sufficient information it would be wrong to pass any judgements concerning Egypt or any other countries and air carriers. We are to have authentic information first and then look at the causes and derive the proper conclusions."
Sokolov said Russia’s aviation authorities maintained a continued dialog with their Egyptian counterparts and that dialogue was constructive.
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The latest inspection was carried out in the second half of last month. Its findings were handed over to the Egyptian counterparts and were now working on the critical remarks made by Russian specialists.
"As soon as they are prepared to take the next step, including the establishment of certain safety rules at their airports and the acquisition of certain equipment, we will certainly dispatch our specialists at once to evaluate the efforts our of Egyptian colleagues," Sokolov said.
The ill-fortunate A320 liner disappeared from radar screens en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19 about 280 kilometers off the coast of Egypt. There were 66 people on board: 56 passengers, including three children, and ten crew. According to the list of passengers published by the air carrier, the passengers were from twelve countries. None of them was Russian.