SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) — Questions were raised Sunday about a charter airline’s safety standards after one of its planes crashed into the Red Sea, killing 148 people. Swiss authorities said they banned Flash Airlines 14 months ago after it flunked an inspection and an Italian passenger recalled a flight when an engine burst into flames.

The head of the airline said the aircraft had been in good condition before the crash. Officials suspect mechanical failure.

“I am 100 percent sure that the plane was fit for flying,” Mohamed Nour, chairman of Flash Airlines, told The Associated Press on Sunday. “Accidents happen. We are sorry for the losses of life but we shouldn’t jump into speculation.”

Search crews on military and civilian vessels continued efforts to recover bodies, the flight data recorder and the fuselage.

The extreme depth of the wreckage, believed to be resting in 2,600 feet of water, hampered recovery, and only small plane pieces and body parts from the shark-infested waters near the resort had been found.