Heat flash noted on crashed Sinai jet, no missile fire

Satellite imagery suggests the Russian aircraft which crashed Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula sustained a heat flash but was not brought down by a missile, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

An infrared surveillance satellite detected a "flash or explosion" in the same vicinity, a senior U.S. defense official said, adding the satellite saw no heat trail of a surface-to-air missile.

"The plane disintegrated at a very high altitude," the official added. "There was an explosion of some kind. There is no evidence a missile of any kind brought down the plane."