71 killed in Russian jet crash; cause a mystery

Airport previously had caused security concerns

MOSCOW — A Russian airliner that had just taken off from the country’s second-busiest airport crashed Sunday, killing all 71 people aboard and scattering jagged chunks of wreckage across a snowy field outside Moscow.

The pilots of the An-148 regional jet did not report any problems before the twin-engine aircraft plunged into the field about 25 miles from Domodedovo Airport, authorities said.

The Saratov Airlines flight disappeared from radar just minutes after departure for the city of Orsk, 1,000 miles to the southeast.

The 65 passengers ranged in age from 5 to 79, according to a list posted by the Russian Emergencies Ministry, which did not give their nationalities. Six crew members also were aboard.

Emergency workers combed through the field while investigators descended on the airport to search for clues to what brought the jet down. One of the flight recorders was recovered, Russian news reports said, but it was not immediately clear if it was the data or voice recorder.

The airport has been the focus of security concerns in the past. Security lapses came under criticism in 2004, after Chechen suicide bombers destroyed two airliners that took off from the airport on the same evening, killing 90 people. A 2011 bombing in the arrivals area killed 37 people.

Investigators searched the airline’s main office in Saratov, reports said.

In Washington, The Trump administration has expressed sympathy for the families of the 71 people killed in the crash. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the U.S. “is deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of those on board Saratov Airlines Flight 703.”

Russia’s Investigative Committee said all possible causes were being considered. Some reports suggested there were questions about whether the plane had been properly de-iced. Moderate snow had been falling in much of Moscow.

Airline spokeswoman Elena Voronova told the state news agency

RIA Novosti that one of the pilots had more than 5,000 hours of flying time, 2,800 of them in an An-148. The other had 812 hours of experience, largely in that model plane.

The plane entered service in 2010 for a different airline but was held out of service for two years because of a parts shortage, Tass said.