At
the White House earlier in the day, administration officials said that
the United States had not yet made a determination about the cause of
the crash, which occurred after takeoff from the Egyptian resort city of
Sharm el Sheikh. But they added that the government had not excluded
the possibility of a bomb.
“We
can’t rule anything out, including the possibility of terrorism,” Josh
Earnest, the White House press secretary, told reporters in Washington.
In London on Thursday, Prime Minister David Cameron
said that “more likely than not a terrorist bomb” had brought down the
plane as he announced plans to bring British citizens back from Sharm el
Sheikh.
Mr.
Obama’s comments were the first direct indication by the president that
the downing of the Russian airliner might have been something other
than a technical malfunction. American officials have repeatedly
cautioned that the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Officials have noted that no American airlines fly to or from the airport in Egypt
where the Russian plane began its flight. And they said before the
crash, the Federal Aviation Administration had already issued guidance
to airlines to fly higher above the region.
Mr.
Obama’s comments came during a series of short interviews with five
radio stations across the country in which the president urged people to
sign up at HealthCare.gov for health insurance during the current open
enrollment period. During one of the interviews, Mr. Obama was asked
about the Russian plane.
In
recent days, administration officials have noted the differences
between the crash of the Russian plane and other airline disasters. In
this case, unlike the case last year of the missing Malaysian jetliner,
the United States does not have F.B.I. agents working directly on the
crash.
“Right
now there are not,” Mr. Earnest said Wednesday afternoon. “Right now
this is an Egyptian investigation. The Russians are involved in it.”
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Officials
have said American investigators were “in touch” with their
counterparts in other countries who are looking into the crash. But
without an American known to be on the flight — a presence that often
gives officials a reason to participate in the investigation of a crash —
there has been no reason for direct United States involvement, they
said.
The Russians and the Egyptians have also not asked for help from the United States in the investigation, officials said.
Mr.
Cameron made his remarks about the crash in an appearance at No. 10
Downing Street with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt.
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