Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Investigators study recorder from Russian jet crash
SOCHI, Russia — Investigators recovered the flightdata recorder from a crashed Russian military plane Tuesday and began reviewing its contents to learn why the jet went down moments after takeoff, killing all 92 aboard.
The Tu-154 crashed into the Black Sea early Sunday two minutes after departing in good weather from the city of Sochi. The plane was carrying members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, widely known as the Red Army Choir, to a concert at a Russian military base in Syria.
The main flight recorder was flown to Moscow, where experts started analyzing it, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said. Preliminary findings could be available as early as Wednesday, according to some aviation experts.
The top Russian investigative agency said it had taken samples from a fuel tank used to fill the plane, which flew from Moscow’s Chkalovsky military airport and stopped in Sochi for refueling.
The agency also said it found a witness who filmed the crash but offered no details.
Online publication Life.ru published what it described as a script of cockpit conversation, with one pilot yelling about a problem with the plane’s flaps and then shouting: “Commander, we are falling!”
The Interfax news agency reported that the flaps were not functioning in sync, causing the jet to lose speed and triggering an aerodynamic stall. It also said that the preliminary analysis of the flight recorder pointed to pilot error.
The government has sought to quell speculation that the crash might have been caused by a bomb planted on board or a portable air-defense missile.