Fears were growing today that a bomb could have destroyed the Russian holiday jet that crashed in Egypt killing all 224 people on board.

The Airbus A321 broke up mid-air shortly after takeoff from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, scattering wreckage over a wide area in Sinai.

Terrorism and aviation experts believe a bomb may have been responsible, citing the fact there was no distress call and that the fuselage skin had peeled outwards possibly due to a 'force acting outwards from within'.

A top official at Russian airline Metrojet also blamed 'external activity' for the disaster, insisting the jet was in 'excellent' condition and that the pilots 'totally' lost control of the aircraft.

Alexander Smirnov, the deputy general director of Metrojet’s parent company Kogalymavia, told reporters in Moscow today that the cause of the crash 'could only have been a mechanical impact on the plane' in the air.

Data from the plane's black box recorders also revealed that the aircraft was not struck from the outside and confirmed the pilots did not make a distress call before it disappeared from radar, a source in the committee analysing the devices has said.

Russia's emergency situations minister has examined the black boxes and says they are in a good condition.

Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there are not yet any grounds to rule out any theory for the crash, when replying to a question about whether a terrorist attack could be to blame.

Meanwhile, Russia's Investigative Committee said 130 bodies and 40 body parts were flown back to St Petersburg, the intended destination of the doomed flight.

Russian news agencies say the government will be dispatching a second plane to bring back more remains later in the day.

A Russian government plane is seen at St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport early today after bringing home the bodies of 144 victims of the passenger jet that crashed in Egypt killing everyone on board.