A Metrojet official said Monday that neither mechanical failure nor human error was to blame for the plane crash in Egypt over the weekend.

CNN reports Kogalymavia Flight 9268 crashed due to an "external influence," according to an executive from the Russian airline.

"We exclude technical problems and reject human error," airline official Alexander Smirnov said. The executive did not specify the exact cause of the crash.

Flight 9268 was headed from Egypt to St. Petersburg on Saturday, when the plane inexplicably dropped from radar 23 minutes after takeoff. The Airbus A321-200 later broke apart in midair, landing in the Sinai Peninsula and killing all 224 people onboard.

Smirnov told reporters that crew did not issue any warnings prior to the crash. Flight and voice data recordings have been located, but have not yet been decoded.

According to USA Today, U.S. director of national intelligence James Clapper has pointed to a claim made by an Islamic State affiliate group taking responsibility for the crash. However, Egyptian and Russian officials have dismissed the claim, and no evidence of terrorist involvement has yet been revealed.

"It would be wrong to articulate any preliminary guesses or voice statements that are not based on anything," said Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Russian government, to RT news. "At least let the investigators produce some results first."

Of the plane's victims, 217 were passengers and seven were flight crew members. All but five were Russian nationals.

There were 25 children onboard the flight. Russian media said the crash resulted in a large number of orphans as well, whose parents left them behind with relatives while on vacation.

President Vladimir Putin gave his condolences to the victims' families and thanked those who provided support in this tragic time.

"I want to thank the people of St. Petersburg for the way they have responded. The whole country has seen this, everyone in Russia, and I want to thank you for your words of sympathy and condolence," Putin said in a meeting with the Russian transport minister. "In such tragic hours, it is certainly very important to feel the support of those close to you and know you have the entire country's sympathy over this terrible disaster."