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Russian Reports: Malfunction May Have Caused Plane Crash

by VOA News

   Teams investigating the loss of a Russian Tu-154 aircraft said
   Wednesday that they had found at least two flight recorders from the
   wreckage of the Christmas Day crash into the Black Sea, which killed
   all 92 people aboard.

   The Russian Defense Ministry said a second recorder had been found and
   analysis of its data had begun. The ministry also said 15 bodies had
   been found at the crash site, as well as hundreds of body fragments.

   The military passenger plane crashed early Sunday, two minutes after
   takeoff in good weather from the city of Sochi. It was carrying 68
   members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, a famous military choir, orchestra
   and dance group that was to give a New Year's performance for Russian
   airmen at the military base near Latakia.

   Specialists unload submersibles for underwater search, after a Russian
   military Tu-154 crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria on
   Sunday, at a port of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Russia, Dec.
   26, 2016.

   Russian reports, unconfirmed by the Defense Ministry, said the crash
   might have been caused by a malfunction in a set of flaps that guide
   the plane through takeoff and landing. The Life.ru website issued what
   it said was a transcript of a black box recording, citing an unnamed
   source among officials in charge of the search.

   The transcript, which has not been verified by the Russian government,
   says the pilots shouted something about the flaps and warned the plane
   was falling just before the recording ended abruptly.

   Officials said terrorism had not been ruled out as a cause of Sunday's
   crash, but that it was extremely unlikely.

   Flowers, candles and portraits are placed at a pier in honor of the
   victims of a military plane crash, in Sochi, Russia, Dec. 28, 2016.

   Also Wednesday, the Defense Ministry condemned the French satirical
   publication Charlie Hebdo for publishing cartoons making fun of the
   crash. Charlie Hebdo has been targeted by at least two terrorist
   attacks, in 2011 and 2015, presumably in connection with material it
   published.

   Older model

   On Monday, the Emergency Situations Ministry reported 45 ships and 135
   divers from across Russia had found parts of the jet about 1.5
   kilometers from shore and 25 meters under the sea.

   Russian media reports speculated on possible causes of the crash, such
   as a technical problem, human error or excessive weight.

   "The Tu-154 has not been manufactured for quite a while and the
   Ministry of Defense was practically the only user of the aircraft,"
   said Maxim Pyadushkin, managing director of [1]Air Transport Observer
   magazine. "But the Defense Ministry stated that it had passed through
   the capital maintenance. That means its condition was under control. We
   can't so far state whether there were some technical issues. The
   results of the investigation will show."

   Effect of Syrian intervention

   While Russian officials downplay the possibility of a terrorist attack,
   there are concerns that Russia's intervention in Syria has made it more
   of a target for extremists.

   A Russian Emergency Ministry diver inspects a fragment of a plane
   recovered from the Black Sea, outside Sochi, Russia, Dec. 27, 2016.

   Russia's ambassador to Turkey was assassinated December 20 in Ankara by
   a police officer apparently motivated by the Russia-backed assault on
   Aleppo by Syrian forces.

   Russia has defended its backing of Syrian forces as a fight against
   terrorism, while critics say rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar
   al-Assad were the main target.

   Some Russian media reports said victims of Sunday's crash were found in
   life jackets, indicating that a sudden explosion from a bomb was
   unlikely.

   "A version about a terrorist act is so far a mere assumption,"
   Pyadushkin said. "Only investigation could provide some proof. One
   would like to hope that the Russian aviation commission together with
   the military could conduct an efficient investigation of the
   catastrophe."

References

   1. http://www.ato.ru/