President Obama Calls Bomb Theory On Russian Plane "Possible"
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A government official told Eyewitness News Thursday evening that the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) will likely ramp up security screenings at major airports for passengers flying overseas.
The official said the increased security measures are in response to the Russian flight that crashed in Egypt, killing 224 people on board.
The wreckage covered hundreds of yards in the desert and just days after the crash, President Obama weighed in on the tragedy to KIRO radio in Seattle.
"I think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board and we're taking that very seriously," Obama said.
The President and other intelligence officials have yet to say with certainty that a bomb did indeed cause the plane to go down. The flight data recorder is still being analyzed. An American satellite captured heat flashes when the plane crashed. These are images consistent with an explosion, an official told CBS News.
Philadelphia aviation attorney Arthur Wolk specializes plane crashes and has for decades.
"I'm certainly not ruling out a bomb. That would be my first choice as the potential cause of this accident but once I heard there was a tail strike in the maintenance history of the plane, now I'd want to have a very close look at where airplane broke," Wolk told Eyewitness News.
Wolk says a tail strike happens when a plane takes off or lands and the tail structure is damaged. He tells Eyewitness News proper maintenance could be the issue if a tail strike wasn't fixed. Intelligence officials have intercepted chatter from members of ISIS, claiming responsibility for the attack, but an ISIS involvement has not been officially confirmed.
The Department of Homeland Security is expected to announce additional security procedures on Friday.