Tragedy struck on Saturday as a plane crashed in a mountainous region of Egypt, killing all 224 people on board after losing radio contact near cruising altitude.

As investigations kick into top gear it has emerged that the plane, an Airbus A321, broke up in mid-air with the debris scattered over an area of eight square miles. It turns out the plane in question, 18 years old with 21 000 flights under its belt, does have something in its past that has made investigators sit up and take notice. Here’s the Daily Beast:

What does, however, jump out from this particular airplane’s record is an accident that it suffered on November 16, 2001, while landing at Cairo (while owned and operated by Middle East Airlines). As it touched down the nose was pointing at too high an angle and the tail hit the tarmac—heavily enough to cause substantial damage…

A Russian television reporter said that the remains of the tail of the Airbus were found three miles from the rest of the wreckage. Images of the tail section show a clear break near the site of the rear pressure bulkhead.

In the event of a failure of this bulkhead, the airplane would have suffered a sudden and potentially explosive decompression; at its final recorded altitude of 31,000 feet the difference between the pressure inside the cabin and the air outside would have been at the point where such a catastrophic failure would be most likely to occur. The wreckage shows no signs of a fire or an engine-related explosion.

Investigators have also ruled out any potential terror attack from the ground, despite the likes of ISIS trying to claim responsibility for the attacks. Sorry chaps, you’re not going to jump on this bandwagon.

[source:dailybeast]