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Russian military plane carrying 91 on board, including famed army band, crashes into Black Sea

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ARussian military plane crashed on Sunday in the Black Sea as it made its way to Syria with 91 people onupdate-20161225-0522
icians 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).

It was conducting a routine flight to Russia's Hmeimim airbase outside the coastal Syrian city of Latakia, 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," the ministry said, adding that search and rescue groups had been dispatched earlier to locate the missing.

Among its 83 passengers were Russian servicemen as well as members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, the army's official musical group internationally known as the Red Army Choir, who were headed to Syria to participate in New Year celebrations at the airbase.

There were also eight crew members onboard, the ministry said.

Nine members of the media were among the passengers, with state-run channel Pervy Kanal saying three of its staff were onboard the flight.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the situation and was being kept updated on the search operations.

Russia's Investigative Committee said that 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 long-time ally President Bashar al-Assad since September 2015 and has taken steps to boost its presence in the country.

Mr Putin in October approved a law ratifying Moscow's deal with Damascus to deploy its forces in the country indefinitely, firming Russia's long-term presence in the country.

Russian warplanes have flown out of the Hmeimim base to conduct air strikes in Syria, and the base is also home to an S-400 air defence system.

6:28am
Fragments 'found in Black Sea'
Local news agencies are quoting the defence ministry as saying debris from the missing Russian military plane has been found in the Black Sea.

"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," the ministry said.



6:13am
Russia's involvement in Syria
6:02am
Crash site 'has been located'
Interfax has reported that the rescuers already have determined the location of the crash in the Black Sea, but there has been no official confirmation.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu is reportedly personally coordinating the rescue efforts, and President Vladimir Putin has received official reports on the incident.

5:48am
The plane that vanished
The plane that has vanished from radar is a Tu-154 - a Soviet-designed three-engine airliner, like the one that crashed while carrying the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński.

PD35492895_Reuters-POLAND-PRESIDENT-CRASH-medium_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq73XRigeDrYhraUSkjm8bPWzU8Uy1vbhUzydtAxGqq8A.jpg

A Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft CREDIT: REUTERS
5:38am
Plane 'carrying journalists and army choir'
According to RIA Novosti, Russia's Emergencies Ministry says the plane was carrying nine journalists along with musicians from the army choir of the Russian Armed Forces, the Alexandrov Ensemble.

The musicians were due to take part in a New Year's concert at the Russian airbase in Latakia, Syria, the ministry reportedly confirmed.

5:22am
Russian plane 'heading to Syria'
Reports suggest the plane was flying to Syria, where Russian jets have been engaged in an aerial campaign against rebels.

Rebels and residents on Saturday said Russian jets had stepped up strikes on several towns in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province and rural Aleppo two days after the evacuation of rebels from their last pocket in the northern city of Aleppo.

5:16am
Plane had '91 on board'
Russian news agencies quote Defence Ministry as saying military plane with 91 aboard has disappeared from radar.

The ministry said there were 83 passengers and 8 crew members on board, and that search and rescue groups had been dispatched to locate the missing Tu-154.

5:13am
Plane vanished '20 minutes after takeoff'
According to Interfax news agency, a source says the plane disappeared from radar 20 minutes after take-off at 5.20am local time (02:20 GMT). The said the aircraft vanished as it was manoeuvring over Russia's territorial waters.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...d-disappears-radar-near/#update-20161225-0522
 
A sad accident that too on 25th December.

RIP to those who lost lives.
 

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