92 feared dead as Russian plane with military band crashes en route to Syria

[Nemo1024]

Very sad news on this day:

https://www.rt.com/news/371623-russian-tu-154-disappears-radars/

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.

According to preliminary reports, the Tupolev transport plane had 92 people on board, including 84 passengers and eight crew members. It went missing over the Black Sea at 2:40 GMT shortly after refueling at an airport near Sochi.

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 a Christmas celebration with troops deployed there. The head of the choir, conductor and composer Valery Khalilov, is among the 65 members of the ensemble presumed dead in the accident.

Crews from Channel One Russia, NTV, and Zvezda (the official media outlet of the Russian Defense Ministry), each with three members, were on board as well, the outlets confirmed.

The passenger list released by the defense ministry also includes Elizaveta Glinka, a prominent charity activist and humanitarian worker. She is best known by her blogger nickname “Doctor Liza.” Some reports initially said she may have deplaned in Sochi, but the Presidential Council for Human Rights confirmed that she was on board.

Glinka was best known for aiding children with serious conditions like cancer, homeless people, and other vulnerable individuals. In the past few years, she organized humanitarian missions to conflict zones, including eastern Ukraine and Syria. For her efforts, she was awarded the Order of Friendship in 2012, the fifth highest state award in Russia.



Helicopters dispatched from Sochi to search for the aircraft have discovered the crash site, the ministry reported.

“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.

So far, no survivors have been found in the sea, local rescue services told Interfax.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed of the plane’s crash, the Kremlin said.

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[InvoKing]

Very sad news on this day:
https://www.rt.com/news/371623-russian-tu-154-disappears-radars/
-snip-

I read before few minutes in some media that the plane was kidnapped! and I was asking how could a military plane containing more than 80 soldiers be kidnapped!
And now the Russian channel talk about crushing in the black sea...
You will never know from where these people get their weird news from...
From a kidnap to a crush 

[OmegaStarScream]

Russia seem to have a lot of crazy stuff going on lately , this could be a normal accident but I doubt it. If the investigations shows that there is someone from the west or somewhere else involved then I guess we are closer then ever from the world war III.

[Fortify]

It is a tragedy and it is a shame it happened, but maybe they should take this class of plane out of service because it has an awful track record recently. Rather than spending a bit of money to prevent crashes they would rather it crashes before being replaced.

[Tyrantt]

One tragedy after another is following Russia... From Turkey taking down their airplane, to ambassador assassination and now this... I didn't heard anywhere that the airplane was hijacked, just that it went down as soon as it took off from Sochi.

[Sithara007]

The Russian mentality needs to be changed. They are trying to save money, by using outdated and inoperable aircraft. Too many crashes are occurring recently. Just a few days back, one of their aircraft crashed in to Tiksi.

[Gyro]

Sad so many died and probably because the plane was not maintained properly .. due to costs.

[BitcoinMarshal]

Sad so many died and probably because the plane was not maintained properly .. due to costs.

Its very sad we have many crashes in last few days and lost many loving peoples in them God help us and my deeply condolences for all families which are suffering from these crashes 

[criptix]

Sad so many died and probably because the plane was not maintained properly .. due to costs.

Na russian is the richest cuntry in the world dude!

Exploding space rockets and air vehicles are just propaganda from the western msm.

There doesnt even exist a word for debt in russian because we are so rich and powerful.

Hail putin 

[LTU_btc]

The Russian mentality needs to be changed. They are trying to save money, by using outdated and inoperable aircraft. Too many crashes are occurring recently. Just a few days back, one of their aircraft crashed in to Tiksi.

This airplane was very old, made over 30 years ago. But it was serviced on September this year, so everything had to be fine from technical part.
For my first mind about crash was, that is very similar to crash of russian airplane in Egypt last year.

[Sithara007]

The Russian mentality needs to be changed. They are trying to save money, by using outdated and inoperable aircraft. Too many crashes are occurring recently. Just a few days back, one of their aircraft crashed in to Tiksi.

This airplane was very old, made over 30 years ago. But it was serviced on September this year, so everything had to be fine from technical part.
For my first mind about crash was, that is very similar to crash of russian airplane in Egypt last year.

Considering how efficient and strict the security is at Russian airports (in military airports, it is even stricter), I would rule out a terrorist attack. This mishap was caused by either a human error, or a mechanical failure.

[iamTom123]

The Russian mentality needs to be changed. They are trying to save money, by using outdated and inoperable aircraft. Too many crashes are occurring recently. Just a few days back, one of their aircraft crashed in to Tiksi.

That can be so sad, if true. Maybe they are still harboring some kind of mentality dating back to the Cold War era. We are now modern times so they should upgrade to avoid the same incident again from happening. WE are talking of lives here that can not be taken back once they are gone for good.

[Drowzy]

The Russian mentality needs to be changed. They are trying to save money, by using outdated and inoperable aircraft. Too many crashes are occurring recently. Just a few days back, one of their aircraft crashed in to Tiksi.

Well you know what they say don't ya? They don't make em like they used to. Maybe the Russkies are just holding on to their old equipment like I'm holding onto my old washer and drier because they just keep working.

[juras54]

sympathy and condolences to all crashed in a plane crash

[Spoetnik]

It had Army Musicians and some reporters on board.
Rescue teams said they found the crash site in the ocean on the first press release.
It was a plane crash.. they happen.
But this is making news because of the conspiracy angle which is ripe for the taking.

I feel sorry for he families of all the people lost.
This is a tragedy no matter where they are from.

[Sithara007]

The Russian mentality needs to be changed. They are trying to save money, by using outdated and inoperable aircraft. Too many crashes are occurring recently. Just a few days back, one of their aircraft crashed in to Tiksi.

That can be so sad, if true. Maybe they are still harboring some kind of mentality dating back to the Cold War era. We are now modern times so they should upgrade to avoid the same incident again from happening. WE are talking of lives here that can not be taken back once they are gone for good.

We never hear about similar incidents in the Western nations. Even third world nations such as China and India have moved ahead of Russia as far as aircraft safety is concerned.

[Balthazar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H8si4ImrEw

God Bless America sung by the Russian Red Army Choir, FIMMQ 2011

Gregory Osipov and others were among the passengers.

[Nemo1024]

The Russian mentality needs to be changed. They are trying to save money, by using outdated and inoperable aircraft. Too many crashes are occurring recently. Just a few days back, one of their aircraft crashed in to Tiksi.

That can be so sad, if true. Maybe they are still harboring some kind of mentality dating back to the Cold War era. We are now modern times so they should upgrade to avoid the same incident again from happening. WE are talking of lives here that can not be taken back once they are gone for good.

We never hear about similar incidents in the Western nations. Even third world nations such as China and India have moved ahead of Russia as far as aircraft safety is concerned.

The above is trying to belittle the Russian reviving airplane industry in general. Tu-154, like any plane undergoes constant modernisation, with newer technology applied in newer editions. If you say the above about TU-154, then you with even greater vigour should be saying the same about Boeing and its 737 (remember the crash of FlyDubai's Boeing 737-800 at Rostov-on-Don on the 19th of March this year?), which is even worse off.
Tu-154 still has over 230 operational planes and has an average crash rate of 1 per 1 million flying hours.
Source: http://www.fearofflying.com/resources/safest-airliners-and-airline-safety.shtml

The liner that crashed in Tiksi was, indeed, an old IL-18. It is out of production and only a few are still flying for the military.

As for the general state of affairs, Russia is returning back, after a tremendous, near-death setback of the country in the Wild 90s. Also, when speaking about the number and frequency of the crashes, take into account the size of the country and the number of flights, as well as the fact that many of the remote regions are mostly reachable only by air transport.

So, when saying "too many crashes", please quantify "too many".

Take the following list, for example:
Civilian aerial disasters in Russia by year (in Russian - if you want to read it, use http://translate.yandex.com/ which is far better at translating Russian into English than Google, i.e. makes far fewer mistakes)

For 2016, 30 are listed in total, including helicopters, agricultural planes and small private 1-motor planes. In addition to Russian models, the list includes such makes as Eurocopter, Boeign, Bell, Robinson, Enstrom, Cessna.

Please find a similar list for the USA and multiply the number there by at least 3 to make it comparable to Russia.


While the official Russian statements are very cautious, all but ruling out terrorism, I am not convinced. There are just too many coincidences here:
- Prior assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey,
- The symbolic significance of the passengers - the famoue and much-loved Aleksander Ensemble, and the humanitarian activist Doctor Liza
- The timing as the flight was intended to celebrate victory in Aleppo over the US-backed terrorists and the delivery of humanitarian aid to a Syrian hospital by Doctor Liza.
- Conflicting witness reports, describing a bright flash
- The fact that the plane was a high-profile one, and recently underwent full check.

The flight recorders have been recovered and it will take 10 days to decode them, while the final report with the analysis of the crash will be ready in a month.

In the meantime, in memory of the Aleksandrov Ensemble singers, I have translated a documentary about the ensemble. The documentary is from 2008, and it gives a very good impression of their history and national significance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhyHvWeng-0

The complete transcript of the subtitles can be found at my blog:
http://stanislavs.org/the-singing-weapon-aleksandrov-ensemble-documentary-with-engsubs/

[Sithara007]

As for the general state of affairs, Russia is returning back, after a tremendous, near-death setback of the country in the Wild 90s. Also, when speaking about the number and frequency of the crashes, take into account the size of the country and the number of flights, as well as the fact that many of the remote regions are mostly reachable only by air transport.

So, when saying "too many crashes", please quantify "too many".

Yes... I agree that only a very small fraction of the Russian flights end up in mishaps. But even then, such incidents must be avoided. I don't understand why they continue to use aircraft, which is 30 or 40 years old. Human life is precious, and no amount of money can return it.