Putin's terror fears as Russian jets were grounded hours before military crash
RUSSIAN aviation chiefs grounded an entire fleet of the country's newest passenger airliners on Friday just hours before a military jet crashed over the Black Sea killing 92 people.
Now as President Valdimir Putin has called for a far reaching investigation into the crash which killed a popular military band, Moscow is admitting that the downing of the jet which was headed for Syria could well have been a target of terrorism after the country's transport minister says all possible causes for the military plane crash are being considered.
The head of the Government's aviation agency instructed the country's newest model of civilian airliner, the Sukhoi Superjet 100, to be taken out of service two days ago claiming it was concerned about safety aspects.
The manufacturer, Sukhoi, makes military jets now flying over Syria.
The Russian national airline Aeroflot also canceled 21 flights scheduled on domestic routes yesterday amid safety concerns.
The TU-154 aircraft belonging to the Russian Defense Ministry disappeared from radars after its takeoff from Sochi, in Russia.
The flight – carrying 84 passengers and eight crew – vanished "between 5 and 7km after takeoff" over the Black Sea.
It was carrying 68 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, nine journalists, and eight crew, as well as several servicemen.
It crashed en route to Syria where the band had been going to perform during the New Year concert.
The plane was last detected at about 5.20am local time – 2.20am GMT – over Russian territorial waters.
The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed there were no survivors.
Hundreds of families are mourning the loss of their loved ones
It comes less than a week after the Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was assassinated in cold blood by an off duty policeman in the capital Ankara as he attended a function at an Art Gallery.
Now Russian aviation experts tonight voiced the fear that the Tu-154 was downed by terrorists, despite initial denials from senior Moscow figures that this could be the cause.
Major Andrey Krasnoperov, a top air force instructor pilot, said: "It is too suspicious that the aircraft after take off and during the gain in altitude... disappears from radar screens.
"This means that the engines were running correctly, the fuel was normal.
"If it had happened on the rise, the reason could be the fuel."
He feared that the crash of the three-engine Tupolev maybe similar to the Sinai air crash of October 2015 when an Airbus A321-231 bound from from Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, Egypt to Pulkovo Airport, St Petersburg disappeared from the sky.
In this case, Russian officials refused to believe it was terrorism before British intelligence gave them key clues pointing towards this.
"The plane, as it was in Sharm el-Sheikh, immediately lost speed and fell into spin position, uncontrolled," he said.
There have been vigils in Russia after the crash that killed a choir and orchestra
"In this case, the pilot was just at such overload, which happens in such cases, that he cannot report to air traffic control, nor even switch on the distress signal.
"Imagine, the plane starts to rotate heavily. So I think there was destruction of the aircraft, like in Sharm el-Sheikh."
The debris was scattered over a large distance, he said.
He feared a bomb was planted among the musical instruments carried on this flight.
"Believe me, such a dispersal of fragments happens only when the aircraft is destroyed in the air," he said.
"There is not a technical failure, no way."
Military analyst Alexander Golts said: "The connection to the plane was broken instantly, fragments were scattered over ten kilometres - this means we cannot completely exclude the version of an attack."
Anatoly Tsyganok, head of the Centre for Military Forecasting, worried that the plane was compromised while it was on the ground ahead of the flight.
He feared that the "chemical composition of the fuel was made unusable".
However, in the immediate aftermath of the flight Viktor Ozerov, head of the Russian senate's defence committee, said: "I completely rule out the version of a terrorist act."
And a source close to the investigation said "the collision of the aircraft with a (sea)surface caused a 'water hammer'."
This "resulted in the wide spread of the wreckage".
He insisted: "Chkalovsky airfield (from where the aircraft took off in Moscow region) is a well-guarded military facility.
"It is not possible to get there to put a bomb on board.
"In turn, the Sochi airport is dual-use (civil and military) and is protected in emergency mode.
"The penetration of unauthorised persons, or carrying through by any of employees of unauthorised items, is excluded."
(Source : express.co.uk)
Now as President Valdimir Putin has called for a far reaching investigation into the crash which killed a popular military band, Moscow is admitting that the downing of the jet which was headed for Syria could well have been a target of terrorism after the country's transport minister says all possible causes for the military plane crash are being considered.
The head of the Government's aviation agency instructed the country's newest model of civilian airliner, the Sukhoi Superjet 100, to be taken out of service two days ago claiming it was concerned about safety aspects.
The manufacturer, Sukhoi, makes military jets now flying over Syria.
The Russian national airline Aeroflot also canceled 21 flights scheduled on domestic routes yesterday amid safety concerns.
President Putin has called for an immediate investigation into the crash
The TU-154 aircraft belonging to the Russian Defense Ministry disappeared from radars after its takeoff from Sochi, in Russia.
The flight – carrying 84 passengers and eight crew – vanished "between 5 and 7km after takeoff" over the Black Sea.
It was carrying 68 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, nine journalists, and eight crew, as well as several servicemen.
It crashed en route to Syria where the band had been going to perform during the New Year concert.
The plane was last detected at about 5.20am local time – 2.20am GMT – over Russian territorial waters.
The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed there were no survivors.
It comes less than a week after the Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov was assassinated in cold blood by an off duty policeman in the capital Ankara as he attended a function at an Art Gallery.
Now Russian aviation experts tonight voiced the fear that the Tu-154 was downed by terrorists, despite initial denials from senior Moscow figures that this could be the cause.
Major Andrey Krasnoperov, a top air force instructor pilot, said: "It is too suspicious that the aircraft after take off and during the gain in altitude... disappears from radar screens.
"This means that the engines were running correctly, the fuel was normal.
"If it had happened on the rise, the reason could be the fuel."
He feared that the crash of the three-engine Tupolev maybe similar to the Sinai air crash of October 2015 when an Airbus A321-231 bound from from Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, Egypt to Pulkovo Airport, St Petersburg disappeared from the sky.
In this case, Russian officials refused to believe it was terrorism before British intelligence gave them key clues pointing towards this.
"The plane, as it was in Sharm el-Sheikh, immediately lost speed and fell into spin position, uncontrolled," he said.
"In this case, the pilot was just at such overload, which happens in such cases, that he cannot report to air traffic control, nor even switch on the distress signal.
"Imagine, the plane starts to rotate heavily. So I think there was destruction of the aircraft, like in Sharm el-Sheikh."
The debris was scattered over a large distance, he said.
He feared a bomb was planted among the musical instruments carried on this flight.
"Believe me, such a dispersal of fragments happens only when the aircraft is destroyed in the air," he said.
"There is not a technical failure, no way."
Military analyst Alexander Golts said: "The connection to the plane was broken instantly, fragments were scattered over ten kilometres - this means we cannot completely exclude the version of an attack."
Anatoly Tsyganok, head of the Centre for Military Forecasting, worried that the plane was compromised while it was on the ground ahead of the flight.
He feared that the "chemical composition of the fuel was made unusable".
However, in the immediate aftermath of the flight Viktor Ozerov, head of the Russian senate's defence committee, said: "I completely rule out the version of a terrorist act."
And a source close to the investigation said "the collision of the aircraft with a (sea)surface caused a 'water hammer'."
This "resulted in the wide spread of the wreckage".
He insisted: "Chkalovsky airfield (from where the aircraft took off in Moscow region) is a well-guarded military facility.
"It is not possible to get there to put a bomb on board.
"In turn, the Sochi airport is dual-use (civil and military) and is protected in emergency mode.
"The penetration of unauthorised persons, or carrying through by any of employees of unauthorised items, is excluded."
(Source : express.co.uk)
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