Russian military Tu-154 aircraft disappears from radar after take-off in Sochi
Russian plane with military band lost en route to Syria
(35 minutes later)
Russian air traffic controllers have lost contact with a Tu-154 airliner with 91 people on board, which disappeared from radar shortly after take-off in Sochi, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed in a statement.
Rescue helicopters have discovered debris in the Black Sea from a Russian military transport plane which went off radar en route to Syria. Most of the passengers on the Tu-154 were members of the famous Alexandrov Ensemble army choir.
LIVE UPDATES: Russian military plane with 91 on board disappears en route to Syria
LIVE UPDATES: Russian military plane with 91 on board disappears en route to Syria
Ninety-one people were on board the aircraft, including 83 passengers and eight crew members, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
According to preliminary reports, the Tupolev transport plane had 91 people on board, including 83 passengers and eight crew members. It went missing over the Black Sea at 2:40 GMT shortly after refueling at an airport near Sochi.
The plane took off from Sochi Adler Airport on a “planned flight” and failed to check in with the control tower at 5:40am Moscow time, the ministry said, adding that all rescue services in the region have been deployed to search for the missing plane.
Most of the passengers on board were members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, the official choir of the Russian Armed Forces, the Russian Defense Ministry said. They were travelling from Moscow to the Russian military base Khmeimim near Latakia, Syria, to take part in Christmas celebration with the troops deployed there.
"According to preliminary data, a Russian Defense Ministry Tu-154 disappeared from radar screens after departing from Sochi," a source in the country's Emergencies Ministry told RIA Novosti earlier.
Crews from Channel One Russia and Zvezda (the official media outlet of the Russian Defense Ministry), were on board as well, a source in the defense ministry told RIA Novosti.
Nine journalists along with musicians from the army choir of the Russian Armed Forces, the Alexandrov Ensemble, were aboard the plane, the ministry confirmed. The musicians were due to take part in a New Year's concert at the Russian airbase in Latakia, Syria.
Helicopters dispatched from Sochi to search for the aircraft have discovered the crash site, the ministry reported.
“Alexandrov Ensemble singers made up the majority of the missing passengers of the Tu-154,” a defense source told RIA, adding that 90 members of the choir were supposed to be flown to Syria on two Russian military planes.
“Hull fragments of the Tu-154 plane operated by the Defense Ministry have been found about 1.5 km off the Black Sea coast of Sochi at a depth of 50-70 meters,” the ministry said in a statement.
“According to preliminary data, the missing Tu-154 arrived in Sochi from Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow for refueling. It is likely that it crashed in the mountainous area of the Krasnodar region,” another source told RIA.
So far, no survivors have been found in the sea, local rescue services told Interfax.
Meanwhile, another source familiar with the matter told Interfax that the plane went off radar when the Tu-154 was maneuvering in Russian airspace over the Black Sea, shortly after take off.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed of the plane’s crash, the Kremlin said.
“The plane disappeared from radar approximately 20 minutes after takeoff,” another source told RIA, adding that the plane departed at 5:20am local time and failed to check in with the tower at 5:40am.
TASS reports that weather conditions in the regions were “favorable” to aviation. No civilian flights have been cancelled yet.
The Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviation) told RIA Novosti that the flight was “not civilian”.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu is coordinating the search efforts via videoconferencing. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been alerted of the incident and is getting live updates on the search and rescue effort.
Sources on the ground told RIA that technical failure and/or human error are being considered as potential causes of the accident. Meanwhile, TASS reports that weather conditions in Sochi are “favorable” to aviation. No civilian flights have been cancelled.
