The latest on the crash of a Russian aircraft with 92 people on board en route to Russia's air base in Syria
Published: Sun 25 Dec 2016, 8:07 AM
Updated: Sun 25 Dec 2016, 9:33 PM
A Russian Defence Ministry TU-154 plane that had disappeared from radar over the Black Sea with 92 people on board has crashed, the Interfax news agency reported on Sunday, citing an unidentified source.
A rescue team had found the crash site in the Black Sea near the coast of the Sochi, Interfax said.
The Latest on the crash of a Russian aircraft with 92 people on board en route to Russia's air base in Syria:
1: 55 pm
No survivors have been spotted in the Black Sea at the crash site of a Russian military TU-154 plane, Major-General Igor Konashenkov told reporters.
1: 30 pm
Russian Human Rights Commission confirms Dr. Elizaveta Glinka AKA "Dr. Liza" among victims of Tu-154 crash
1: 15 pm
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to probe the crash of a Syria-bound military plane carrying 92 people including more than 60 Red Army Choir members, the Kremlin said Sunday.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to form and head a state commission to investigative the crash of the Tu-154 plane in Sochi," the Kremlin said in a statement, adding that Putin expressed his deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the crash.
12:30 pm
A Russian official says the crash of a Russian military passenger plane into the Black Sea could have been caused by a technical malfunction or a crew error, but he believes it could not have been terrorism because the plane was operated by the military.
Viktor Ozerov, head of the defence affairs committee at the upper house of Russian parliament, says in remarks carried by the state news agency RIA Novosti that he "totally excludes" terrorism as a possible cause of the crash.
12:15 pm
First video of rescue operation:
Ministry of Defence releases list of passengers on board the ill-fated plane:
11:55 am
Russia's Investigative Committee said a criminal probe had been launched to determine whether violations of air transportation safety had led to the crash.
Investigators are currently questioning the technical personnel responsible for preparing the plane for take-off, the committee said.
Tu-154 aircraft have been involved in a number of accidents in the past.
In April 2010 many high-ranking Polish officials, including then president Lech Kaczynski, were killed when a Tu-154 airliner went down in thick fog while approaching the Smolensk airport in western Russia.
Moscow has been conducting a bombing campaign in Syria in support of Assad since September 2015 and has taken steps to boost its presence in the country.
In October, Putin approved a law ratifying Moscow's deal with Damascus to deploy its forces in the country indefinitely, firming up Russia's long-term presence in Syria.
Russian warplanes have flown out of the Hmeimim base to conduct air strikes, and the base is also home to an S-400 air defence system.
11:45 am
Nine Russian journalists, including a TV crew from Channel One, were also among the passengers.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was personally coordinating the rescue efforts, and President Vladimir Putin has received official reports on the incident.
Personal documents belonging to some of those on board have also been found. There was no word of survivors.
11:12 am
Body found in Black Sea after Russian military plane crash.
There were 92 on board, confirms Ministry of Defence.
"The body of a person killed as a result the crash of the Russian defence ministry's Tu-154 was found six kilometres off the coast of Sochi," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told agencies. "The body was taken on board of a rescue ship."
11:00 am
The 92 aboard mostly included musicians who were heading to celebrate the New Year with troops.
Local news agencies, citing the defence ministry, said the Tu-154 plane had crashed shortly after taking off from the southern city of Adler, south of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, at 5:40 am local time (0240 GMT).
10:45 am
"According to preliminary findings, the missing TU-154 arrived in Sochi from Chkalovsky airport in Moscow region for refuelling. Most likely, it crashed in mountainous area of Krasnodar territory," an Emergencies Ministry official told Sputnik.
The source said the disappeared plane was heading to Syria's Hmeimim airbase.
The possible reasons for the crash could be technical malfunction or pilot error.
10:15 am
According to reports by Russian media, the plane crashed over the Black Sea. The fragments of the missing military plane were found in Black Sea off Sochi coast, local news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying Sunday.
The ministry said:
"Fragments of the Tu-154 plane of the Russian defence ministry were found 1.5 kilometres from the Black Sea coast of the city of Sochi at a depth of 50 to 70 metres."
9:45 am
The people onboard included journalists, military personnel, musicians, the source said.
The ministry said the plane was carrying the famous Alexandrov military band for a concert at the Russian air base in Syria.
9:30 am
The plane was carrying 84 passengers and 8 crew members, plane had allegedly been heading to Latakia province in Syria.
Initially it was reported that the plane was carrying some 70 people.
9:10 am
Russian news agencies reported that the Russian aircraft had disappeared from radar soon after taking off from Sochi, a Black Sea resort town.
The aircraft is not a civilian one and was en route to the Syrian port city of Latakia, an Emergency Ministry source told Sputnik News Agency. It lost contact with land over the Black Sea.
"The jet disappeared from radars about 20 minutes after takeoff, it departed (from Sochi) at 5.20 a.m., and the contact was lost at about 5.40 am," he said.
Popular flight tracking profile on Twitter, flightradar24 tweeted this alert:
The Tu-154 is a three-engine medium-range airliner produced by Russian aerospace and defence company Tupolev. It is one of the fastest civilian aircraft in use and widely used in extreme Arctic conditions.
Inputs from AFP, IANS, Reuters
(Representational image)
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