Wreckage of crashed Russian plane found in Black Sea
Wreckage from the Russian jet that crashed Sunday in the Black Sea, killing 92 people, has been discovered, the USA Today reports, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.
Divers Monday afternoon found several fragments of the plane about one mile away from the shore and 82 feet under the sea, the statement said. It said some of the debris has been recovered, and the divers were going back into the water to search for more.
Everyone onboard the Russian military’s Tu-154 plane are thought to have died Sunday morning when the jet crashed two minutes after take of from the southern city of Sochi en route to Syria, the Associated Press said.
Pilot error or a technical fault — but not terrorism — were likely to have caused the crash, Russia’s transport minister Maxim Sokolov said in a statement on Monday.
"This is a terrible tragedy and irreplaceable grief for the families of the victims," Sokolov said Sunday. "I express my deep condolences to the families and friends of the victims."
The nation held a day of mourning Monday for the victims. Flags flew at half-mast and TV stations removed entertainment shows from their schedules, Reuters reported.
In all, some 45 ships and more than 3,500 rescue workers are involved in the operation search for remains and plane debris, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Helicopters, drones and submersibles were being used to help spot bodies and debris.
Rescue teams had recovered 11 bodies as well as fragments of bodies. Those were flown to Moscow, where the remains will be identified.
The passengers included dozens of singers in Russia’s world-famous military choir, nine Russian journalists and Russian doctor known for her charity work in war zones, the AP reported.
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 plane debris was scattered over a wide area, the AP said.
“Possible malfunctions … certainly wouldn’t have prevented the crew from reporting them,” Vitaly Andreyev, a former senior Russian air traffic controller, told RIA Novosti.
The plane originated at Moscow’s military airport of Chkalovsky and stopped in Sochi for refueling before heading to Syria. Despite the Syrian connection, Sokolov said the government sees no need to heighten security measures at Russian airports.
Some choir members did not go to Syria for personal reasons, the AP said. Soloist Vadim Ananyev stayed behind to help his wife with the kids as they just had a new baby.
“I have lost my friends and colleagues, all killed, all five soloists - I feel in complete disarray,” Ananyev told the Associated Press. “It is such a shame. have known these people for 30 years. I know their wives and children. I feel terrible for the children and for all that I have lost.”
Ananyev said he had received condolences from all over Russia and from abroad. “We were loved all over the world, never mind the political situation,” he said.
Mourners stopped by the Sochi Adler airport on Monday to light candles at the airport’s chapel and lay flowers at an improvised shrine that featured photos of the plane and of some victims.
The Tu-154 is a Soviet-built three-engine airliner designed in the late 1960s, the AP reported. More than 1,000 have been built, and they have been used extensively in Russia and worldwide. The plane that crashed Sunday was built in 1983, and underwent factory check-ups and maintenance in 2014, the Defense Ministry said.
Tu-154 aircraft have been involved in a number of accidents in the past, including the April 2010 crash killing then-Polish president Lech Kaczynski and his delegation, Agence France-Press said. They are no longer used by commercial airlines in Russia.
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