Russian Federation begins day of mourning for crash victims

As NPR’s Lucian Kim tells our newscast from Moscow, the plane was reportedly carrying members of a military choir, the famed Alexandrov Ensemble, who were to perform in a holiday concert for Russian service members deployed in Syria. All of those on board, which included journalists, musicians and military personnel, are presumed dead. The airplane was technically fit, the Defense Ministry said.

Terrorism was not a likely cause of the crash, Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov said in a call with reporters Monday.

From there it was meant to land at the Hmeymim air base in Syria where the choir would entertain military personnel.

Tragedy struck on Sunday when a Russian plane crashed into the Black Sea, leaving no survivors.

“The jet disappeared from radars about 20 minutes after takeoff, it departed (from Sochi) at 5.20 a.m., and the contact was lost at about 5.40 a.m.”, he said. “For its part, the airport in Sochi is a dual-purpose one and has increased security”.

The probe is focusing on a pilot error, a technical fault, bad fuel and a foreign object in the engine as four main scenarios, it added.

The Black Sea search area, which covers over 10 square kilometers, is plagued by underwater currents that can carry debris and body fragments into the open sea.

Emergency crews found fragments of the plane about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) from shore.

Ensemble members Ralina Gilmanova, 22, and Mikhail had gotten engaged a year ago and were due to marry soon.

Why the plane crashed is not yet known.

Valery Khalilov, the choir’s conductor, perished in the crash. “It’s hard to grasp the scale of that tragedy”, Alexander Kibovsky, Moscow city’s culture department head said in televised remarks. She was transporting medical supplies to Syria, on behalf of the UN’s Human Rights Council.

Putin expressed his condolences to relatives of the victims, and he declared Monday a national day of mourning.

“We were loved all over the world, never mind the political situation”, he said. “But we are sure that kindness, compassion and charity are stronger than any weapon”.

In April 2010, a Tu-154 plane crashed in Smolensk, western Russian Federation, killing all 96 people on board, including Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

Tu-154 aircraft have been involved in a number of accidents and are no longer used by commercial airlines in Russian Federation. The pilot had managed to land the plane safely.