AT 5:50 ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 31, 2015, METROJET FLIGHT 9268 RECEIVED TAKEOFF CLEARANCE FROM SHARM EL-SHEIKH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, THE TRAVEL HUB FOR EGYPT’S BEST-KNOWN RED SEA TOURIST DESTINATION.
At the controls of the Russian plane was Valery Nemov, a pilot with more than 12,000 hours of flight time. He and his co-pilot, Sergei Trukachev, spooled the engines on the 18-year-old Airbus 321-200 nearly up to full power. It was two minutes before sunrise, but already a warm westerly breeze was blowing waves of heat off the sands of the Sinai Desert. Most of the 217 passengers were women and children taking a break in the Egyptian sun. Others on the flight had apparently enjoyed a final evening of Sharm el-Sheikh’s nightlife: Autopsy reports would later show signs of alcoholic intoxication in 20 of them, and three had traces of recreational drugs.