A British passenger jet came close to being hit by a rocket as it came in to land at Egypt's Sharm al-Sheikh in August, British media reported yesterday, although the UK government said it concluded the incident was not a deliberate attack.

The pilot of the Thomson flight from London to Egypt took evasive action after spotting the missile coming towards the plane as it flew to the Red Sea resort, the Daily Mail reported.

The rocket was believed to have come within 300m of the plane, an unnamed source told the paper.

British tourists managing to leave the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh. Photo: Reuters

Britain confirmed the incident had occurred but played down its significance as investigators try to pin down the cause of a Russian passenger plane crash over Egypt’s Sinai. Western officials believe it was brought down by a bomb after taking off from Sharm al-Sheikh on October 31.

“We investigated the reported incident at the time and concluded that it was not a targeted attack and was likely to be connected to routine exercises being conducted by the Egyptian military in the area at the time,” the Department for Transport said in a statement.

A government source also said the rocket was not thought to have come as close as the report suggested.

British Prime Minister David Cameron last week halted flights to and from the Egyptian resort on concerns that the Russian jet had been downed by a bomb.

Flights resumed on Friday to bring home stranded tourists in the resort, where about 20,000 Britons were on holiday.

However, the operation descended into chaos on Friday when only eight of the 29 flights left Sharm al-Sheikh because Egypt said Britain’s insistence that passengers returned without all their luggage meant the airport was unable to cope.

Meanwhile, Egypt is checking video footage at Sharm al-Sheikh airport for any suspicious activity linked to the Russian plane crash in Sinai, officials said yesterday, in the clearest sign yet that they believe it could have been targeted by militants.

The government has repeatedly said it would be premature to blame Islamic State fighters in Sinai for the crash, despite Western suspicions that the plane was brought down by a bomb and a claim by the Islamist militants that they were responsible.

News that officials were reviewing camera footage at the airport came shortly before investigators who have examined the plane’s black boxes were due to speak about their work so far.

The rocket was believed to have come within 300m of the plane

“We want to determine if, for instance, anyone sneaked past security officials or the metal detectors. We are also trying to determine if there was any unusual activity among policemen or airport staff,” one of the officials told Reuters.

An Islamic State affiliate called Sinai Province has claimed responsibility for the crash of the Airbus A321 operated by a Russian carrier that was bringing holidaymakers home from the Sinai Peninsula resort one week ago.

All 224 people on board were killed in what the militants described as revenge for Russian air strikes against Islamist fighters in Syria, where Islamic State controls large areas in the east and north of the country.

Russia, Turkey and several European countries have suspended flights to Sharm al-Sheikh and the US has imposed new air travel security requirements in the wake of the crash.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said it would be wrong to speculate on the cause until findings were delivered, and suggested countries now flagging the likelihood that militants were behind the crash should have heeded Egypt’s repeated calls for coordination to combat militants.

“The spread of terrorism, which we have for a long time called on our partners to tackle more seriously, did not get through to many of the parties which are now exposed and which are currently working for the interests of their citizens to face this danger,” Shoukry told a news conference.

He also expressed frustration that foreign intelligence about the cause of the crash had not been passed on to Cairo.

“The information we have heard about has not been shared with Egyptian security agencies in detail,” he said. “We were expecting that the technical information would be provided to us.”

An Egyptian source close to the investigation of the Russian plane’s black boxes said on Wednesday the cause of the crash was believed to be an explosion, but it was not clear whether that was the result of a bomb.

Western intelligence sources have said British and US spies intercepted “chatter” from suspected militants suggesting that a bomb, possibly hidden in luggage in the hold, downed the plane.

US television network NBC said some communications between Islamic State leaders in Syria and the Sinai Peninsula included boasts about bringing down the jet. “They were clearly celebrating,” it quoted US officials as saying.