government is within the best of their abilities trying to provide a steady flow of information. the minister of -- the emergency minister, the transport minister, the aviation minister all in egypt, all in an effort to get more information and to pass that on to the families quickly. >> cnn's international diplomatic editor nic robertson live for us in st. petersburg, russia. thank you so much for your reporting there. for a little more background about the plane itself, here are details for you. it's an airbus a 321-200. that's the largest member of the airbus twin-engine a-320 family. it can seat up to 240 passengers. it was put into service in 2012. this particular jet had 56,000 flight hours and made nearly 21,000 flights.