Plane crash investigators say their focus is not on terrorism
Print Edition
PLANE fragments were dragged out of the Black Sea yesterday amid a massive search operation following the crash of a military aircraft. Meanwhile, Russian officials said their investigation would focus on technical faults or pilot error — not terrorism.
The nation held a day of mourning, laying flowers and lighting candles for the victims, who included dozens of singers in Russia’s world-famous military choir, nine Russian journalists and a Russian doctor known for her charity work in war zones.
All 84 passengers and eight crew on the Russian military’s Tu-154 plane are believed to have died on Sunday morning when it crashed two minutes after taking off from the southern city of Sochi en route to Syria.
Yesterday, more than 3,500 people on 45 ships — including 135 divers from across Russia — were sweeping a vast crash site in the Black Sea and along the shore. Ten helicopters, drones and two deep-water submersibles were being used to look for bodies and debris.
In the afternoon, divers found parts of the jet 1.6 kilometers from the shore and 25 meters below the surface, the emergency situations ministry said. Some was recovered and divers were going back into the water to search for more, it said, adding that the fuselage has not yet been found.
The plane’s black boxes have not been found either, Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov said. Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said the plane’s flight recorders did not have radio beacons.
Sokolov said terrorism was not among the main theories for the crash cause, and that authorities were looking into a possible technical fault or a pilot error.
In a later statement, intelligence agency FSB said it “has not found any signs or facts pointing to a possible terror attack or sabotage on board.”
11 bodies recovered
It was focusing on possibilities such as a pilot error, low fuel quality, objects getting in the engine or a technical fault.
Rescue teams have recovered 11 bodies as well as body fragments and flew them to Moscow yesterday, where the remains will be identified.
The plane began its flight from Moscow’s military airport of Chkalovsky. The FSB insisted the plane was under its surveillance and that only two people, both FSB officers, got onboard when the jet landed in Sochi for refueling.
Still, several aviation experts noted factors that could suggest a terror attack, such as the crew’s failure to report any malfunction and the fact that debris was scattered over a wide area.
The plane was taking the defense ministry’s choir, the Alexandrov Ensemble, to perform at a New Year concert at an airbase in Syria.
Yesterday, red and white carnations piled up outside the ensemble’s Moscow office. One singer who wasn’t on the plane said he was devastated at the loss of so many talented colleagues.
Soloist Vadim Ananyev had stayed behind as his wife had just given birth.
“I have lost my friends and colleagues, all killed, all five soloists — I feel in complete disarray,” he said.
Mourners also lit candles and brought flowers to Channel One and NTV, whose journalists were going to Syria to cover the concert, and to a charity founded by Dr Yelizaveta Glinka, who was on the plane taking medicines to Syria.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
