Russian plane crash: Choir members on board, no sign of survivors: VIDEO
Russian plane crash: Choir members on board, no sign of survivors
Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia
VIDEO
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/25/asia/russian-military-jet-disappears
By Max Blau and Ashley Fantz, CNN
Updated 2154 GMT (0554 HKT) December 25, 2016
(CNN)A Russian military plane carrying members of the army's official choir traveling to perform in Syria has crashed in the Black Sea near Sochi. There are apparently no survivors, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The ensemble was "flying to congratulate Russian air force pilots in Syria with the New Year," ministry spokesman Igor Konashekov said.
A Tupolev Tu-154 plane that was carrying 92 people, including 84 passengers and eight crew members, disappeared from radar Sunday morning local time after taking off from the Adler airport, state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The plane took off from Moscow and was headed to the Russian Hmeymim airbase in Latakia, Syria, where Russia has a large military presence, for a concert ahead of New Year's Eve, a source told Russia's state news agency Tass.
The 'Red Army' choir loved by Russia
Ten bodies have been brought on board a rescue vessel, according to the search and rescue team working the area of the crash, Konashekov said. One body believed to be among the victims was found more than three miles off the Sochi shore, Konashenkov said.
Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia
One of the people aboard that flight was Liza Glinka, a famous Russian human rights activist, according to CNN affiliate RBC. She was bringing medicine and other supplies to a local hospital in Syria, her colleague and friend Dr. Sergey Kurkov told RBC.
"We are shocked. I've talked to her on the phone just recently, just before it happened. She was a saint. She helped everybody," he said, adding that he's known her for 20 years. "She was kind, she was fair. It is such a huge loss for me. She talked to us. She argued with us. She was my teacher. She was like a family for me."
The first bodies of victims from the crashed flight are expected to arrive in Moscow on Monday morning, said Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov, according to RIA Novosti.
The Russian Tu-154 could have crashed because of a technical malfunction or pilot error but not terrorism, said Viktor Ozerov, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, according to Russia's Sputnik news agency.
"I rule out version of the terror attack completely. It is the aircraft of the Ministry of Defense, the airspace of the Russian Federation, there cannot be such a version," Ozerov is quoted as saying. "The plane had to make a U-turn after takeoff over the sea (and) may (have taken) the wrong direction."
En route to Latakia, the plane landed in Sochi to refuel, the Defense Ministry's press service told Russia's Interfax news agency.
According to RIA Novosti, the Defense Ministry said it found debris from the Tu-154 in the Black Sea one mile from Sochi. Four ships and five helicopters have combed the crash site, Konashenkov said, according to Tass.
More than 100 divers with special equipment will be deployed, and a group of medical and psychological professionals will be on hand to help relatives, he said.
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/25/asia/russian-military-jet-disappears
