2 Russian planes down

BBC news reports early news of 2 russian jets down over russia. TU 158 if I
recall properly. (Isn't that the 727 look-alike ?)

No news on survivors yet.

nobody wrote:

BBC news reports early news of 2 russian jets down over russia. TU 158 if I
recall properly. (Isn't that the 727 look-alike ?)

No news on survivors yet.

It is the Tupolev 154 plane.

"nobody" wrote in message
...
BBC news reports early news of 2 russian jets down over russia. TU 158 if
I
recall properly. (Isn't that the 727 look-alike ?)

No news on survivors yet.

So what do you think happened, JF? I'm guessing sabotage, considering both
planes took off from the same airport and the second plane went down over
500 miles from the first.

"nobody" wrote in message
...
BBC news reports early news of 2 russian jets down over russia. TU 158 if
I
recall properly. (Isn't that the 727 look-alike ?)

No news on survivors yet.

So what do you think happened, JF? I'm guessing sabotage, considering both
planes took off from the same airport and the second plane went down over
500 miles from the first.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news...c&refer=europe

Russian Passenger Plane Crashes, One Is Missing, Interfax Says
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- A Russian passenger airplane crashed and
another is missing on flights from Moscow, Interfax reported, citing
the Russian Emergencies Ministry. The aircraft were carrying 86
people, the news agency said.

Radio contact with the aircraft was lost at 10:59 p.m. Moscow time,
Interfax cited Marina Ryklina, a ministry spokeswoman as saying. The
tail and parts of a TU-134 aircraft of Volga-Aviaexpress were found
early today in the Tula region about 180 kilometers (112 miles) south
of Moscow, Interfax said. The plane, carrying 34 passengers and eight
crew, was on its way to Volgograd. Details of casualties aren't known,
it said.

Contact was lost with a TU-154 plane of OAS Sibir with 44 people on
board near the southern city of Rostov-on-Don while flying to the
Black Sea resort of Sochi, Ryklina said, according to Interfax. The
plane hasn't been found, it said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Federal Security Service
to investigate the incidents, Interfax cited Alexei Gromov, a
spokesman, as saying. Yevegeniy Khorishko, a spokesman for the Russian
embassy in Washington, said in a telephone interview Russian reports
said the aircraft left Moscow's Demodedovo airport within three
minutes of each other.

(Interfax 8-25)

------------
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=6059880

One More Russian Passenger Plane Missing -Ifax
Tue Aug 24, 2004 05:51 PM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Air controllers on Tuesday lost contact with the
second airplane with 44 passengers on board, Interfax news agency
reported.
It quoted Emergencies ministry as saying contacts with Tu-154 flying
from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi were lost at 3 p.m. EDT
when it was expected to be 90 miles from the southern city of
Rostov-on-Don.

Earlier Russian news agencies said that around the same time one more
Russian passenger plane with more than 40 people on board went missing
near the town of Tula south of Moscow.

-------------
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_1877472.htm

MOSCOW, Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Another Russian passenger plane with 44
people on board crashed in southern Rostov region on Tuesday, Russian
news agencies reported.

Itar-Tass quoted a Russia's aviation committee official as saying that
the Tu-154 airliner crashed near the city of Rostov-on-Don, some 970
kilometers south of Moscow.

Interfax quoted the Emergencies Ministry as saying contacts with the
Tu-154 flying from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi were lost
at 22:59 Moscow time (1859 GMT) when it was expected to be 140
kilometers from the city.

Earlier the news agencies said that around the same time one more
Russian passenger plane with more than 40 people on board crashed in
the Tula region south of Moscow. Enditem

--------------
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2425220.htm

Witnesses saw blast before Russia plane crash-Ifax
24 Aug 2004 22:34:05 GMT

Source: Reuters

MOSCOW, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Witnesses saw an explosion on board a
Russian passenger plane just before it crashed late on Tuesday near
the town of Tula, Interfax news agency quoted local authorities as
saying on Wednesday.

The Emergencies Ministry said a three-engine TU-134 with 34 passengers
and eight crew flying from Moscow to Volgograd crashed near Tula. It
said another plane, a four-engine TU-154 with 44 passengers and eight
crew on board, went missing near the southern city of Rostov-on-Don

--------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/25/in...e/25crash.html

In Minutes, Two Planes From Moscow Are Lost
By C. J. CHIVERS

Published: August 25, 2004

MOSCOW, Wednesday, Aug. 25 - Two Russian passenger jets on domestic
flights apparently crashed nearly simultaneously after departing from
the same terminal in Moscow on Tuesday night. At least 88 people were
presumed dead.

Wreckage of the first plane, Volga AviaExpress Flight 1303, a
Tupolev-134 en route to Volgograd, was found near Kimovsk, in the Tula
region, about 100 miles south of Moscow, after disappearing from radar
at about 10:56 p.m.

The plane was reported to have carried at least 34 passengers and a
crew of 8. No survivors were found, according to initial reports.

Witnesses told the authorities that the plane had exploded before it
fell from the sky, according to the Interfax news service, which also
reported that a portion of the aircraft's tail and fuselage had been
discovered.

The second aircraft, Sibir Airlines Flight 1047, a Tupolev-154 bound
for Sochi, a Black Sea resort, disappeared from radar over the
Rostov-on-Don region, more than 300 miles south by southwest from
Moscow, three minutes after the first jet went down. A ground fire was
reported in the region, Zelenovka, early Wednesday.

The Sibir Airlines flight was initially reported to have carried 38
passengers and 8 crew members, although a later report said the plane
may have carried 6 more passengers, for a total of 52 people on board.

There was no immediate insight into the causes of the apparent
crashes. Sibir said it knew only that the flight had suddenly gone
missing. "Flight 1047 disappeared from the radar of air traffic
controllers at around 2300 hours," Yevgeny Selyanin, a spokesman for
the airline, said in a telephone interview.

Moscow has three commercial airports. Both planes left in clear
weather from the same field, Domodedovo, which has only one terminal
for all domestic flights - circumstances that raised the possibility
that terrorism was involved.

Russia has been engaged in a protracted war with Chechnya, a breakaway
republic from where terrorists have carried out several high-profile
attacks in recent years, and recently vowed more attacks.

A special election is scheduled this weekend to replace the former
Chechen president, Akhamd Kadyrov, who was assassinated in the spring.

While there was no clear evidence of terrorism in the hours after the
crashes, President Vladimir V. Putin, who has been vacationing and
working in Sochi, ordered the security agency F.S.B., one of the
successors to the K.G.B., to begin immediate investigations, a
presidential spokesman told Interfax.

When Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Andrey Denisov, was
told of the initial report of two near simultaneous crashes, he said,
"Now we have to see if there's terrorism," The Associated Press
reported.

In Washington, a senior State Department official said: "We are
obviously concerned by the news. We're following developments closely
and trying to determine the facts."

Tupolevs are the backbone of the Russian domestic passenger fleet, and
have been in service for more than three decades.

The Tupolev-134, used on shorter routes, can carry more than 90
passengers, depending on its configuration; the Tupolev-154 is a
medium-range jet that can carry more than 160 passengers.

------------
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_world_st...%3fformat=html

The wreckage of the second missing Russian plane has been found.
Two planes crashed, each with 40 people on board.

The planes were reported missing within minutes of each other late on
Tuesday night, and Russian news agencies said President Vladimir Putin
had ordered the FSB security service to investigate the incidents,
something it would normally do only when there are suspicious
circumstances.

Witnesses saw an explosion on board one of the planes just before it
crashed near Tula,150 km south of Moscow.

Local news agencies reported that security had been tightened at all
the country's airports after the incidents.

The suggestion that the incidents might have been deliberately caused
will raise concerns of possible political motivation.

The incidents come just days before a presidential election in
Chechyna where Moscow has been battling separatist rebels for a
decade. The rebels launched a major raid in the local capital Grozny
last week and have promised more attacks.

A ministry spokeswoman said a Tu-134 airliner with 34 passengers and
eight crew flying from Moscow to Volgograd crashed after contact with
it was lost at just before 11pm.

The ministry spokeswoman said the wreckage was found near the town of
Tula.

"Rescue teams are working at the site," she said. "We have no
information about possible survivors, but frankly speaking one could
hardly expect to find them after this kind of crash."

Just three minutes later, air traffic controllers lost contact with
another passenger plane -- a Tu-154 with 44 passengers and eight crew
on board -- flying from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Contact was lost as the plane was flying near the southern city of
Rostov-on-Don.

Both planes had taken off from Moscow's Domodedovo airport.

Russian air carrier Sibir has been quoted as saying it owned the plane
that went missing near Rostov-on-Don.

A company spokesman told the agency 38 passengers were on board the
plane, in operation since 1982.

The Emergencies ministry spokeswoman said a fire was seen at a
location where contact with Tu-154 was lost.

"But rescue teams have not reached the place and I cannot say now
whether it was the plane," she said. "We continue to refer to the
plane as missing for now."

Itar-Tass news agency quoted a Moscow air controllers' source as
saying that there had been no reports of any problems from the crew of
the Tu-134 before it crashed near Tula.

Source: Reuters

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news...c&refer=europe

Russian Passenger Plane Crashes, One Is Missing, Interfax Says
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- A Russian passenger airplane crashed and
another is missing on flights from Moscow, Interfax reported, citing
the Russian Emergencies Ministry. The aircraft were carrying 86
people, the news agency said.

Radio contact with the aircraft was lost at 10:59 p.m. Moscow time,
Interfax cited Marina Ryklina, a ministry spokeswoman as saying. The
tail and parts of a TU-134 aircraft of Volga-Aviaexpress were found
early today in the Tula region about 180 kilometers (112 miles) south
of Moscow, Interfax said. The plane, carrying 34 passengers and eight
crew, was on its way to Volgograd. Details of casualties aren't known,
it said.

Contact was lost with a TU-154 plane of OAS Sibir with 44 people on
board near the southern city of Rostov-on-Don while flying to the
Black Sea resort of Sochi, Ryklina said, according to Interfax. The
plane hasn't been found, it said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Federal Security Service
to investigate the incidents, Interfax cited Alexei Gromov, a
spokesman, as saying. Yevegeniy Khorishko, a spokesman for the Russian
embassy in Washington, said in a telephone interview Russian reports
said the aircraft left Moscow's Demodedovo airport within three
minutes of each other.

(Interfax 8-25)

------------
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=6059880

One More Russian Passenger Plane Missing -Ifax
Tue Aug 24, 2004 05:51 PM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Air controllers on Tuesday lost contact with the
second airplane with 44 passengers on board, Interfax news agency
reported.
It quoted Emergencies ministry as saying contacts with Tu-154 flying
from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi were lost at 3 p.m. EDT
when it was expected to be 90 miles from the southern city of
Rostov-on-Don.

Earlier Russian news agencies said that around the same time one more
Russian passenger plane with more than 40 people on board went missing
near the town of Tula south of Moscow.

-------------
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_1877472.htm

MOSCOW, Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Another Russian passenger plane with 44
people on board crashed in southern Rostov region on Tuesday, Russian
news agencies reported.

Itar-Tass quoted a Russia's aviation committee official as saying that
the Tu-154 airliner crashed near the city of Rostov-on-Don, some 970
kilometers south of Moscow.

Interfax quoted the Emergencies Ministry as saying contacts with the
Tu-154 flying from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi were lost
at 22:59 Moscow time (1859 GMT) when it was expected to be 140
kilometers from the city.

Earlier the news agencies said that around the same time one more
Russian passenger plane with more than 40 people on board crashed in
the Tula region south of Moscow. Enditem

--------------
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2425220.htm

Witnesses saw blast before Russia plane crash-Ifax
24 Aug 2004 22:34:05 GMT

Source: Reuters

MOSCOW, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Witnesses saw an explosion on board a
Russian passenger plane just before it crashed late on Tuesday near
the town of Tula, Interfax news agency quoted local authorities as
saying on Wednesday.

The Emergencies Ministry said a three-engine TU-134 with 34 passengers
and eight crew flying from Moscow to Volgograd crashed near Tula. It
said another plane, a four-engine TU-154 with 44 passengers and eight
crew on board, went missing near the southern city of Rostov-on-Don

--------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/25/in...e/25crash.html

In Minutes, Two Planes From Moscow Are Lost
By C. J. CHIVERS

Published: August 25, 2004

MOSCOW, Wednesday, Aug. 25 - Two Russian passenger jets on domestic
flights apparently crashed nearly simultaneously after departing from
the same terminal in Moscow on Tuesday night. At least 88 people were
presumed dead.

Wreckage of the first plane, Volga AviaExpress Flight 1303, a
Tupolev-134 en route to Volgograd, was found near Kimovsk, in the Tula
region, about 100 miles south of Moscow, after disappearing from radar
at about 10:56 p.m.

The plane was reported to have carried at least 34 passengers and a
crew of 8. No survivors were found, according to initial reports.

Witnesses told the authorities that the plane had exploded before it
fell from the sky, according to the Interfax news service, which also
reported that a portion of the aircraft's tail and fuselage had been
discovered.

The second aircraft, Sibir Airlines Flight 1047, a Tupolev-154 bound
for Sochi, a Black Sea resort, disappeared from radar over the
Rostov-on-Don region, more than 300 miles south by southwest from
Moscow, three minutes after the first jet went down. A ground fire was
reported in the region, Zelenovka, early Wednesday.

The Sibir Airlines flight was initially reported to have carried 38
passengers and 8 crew members, although a later report said the plane
may have carried 6 more passengers, for a total of 52 people on board.

There was no immediate insight into the causes of the apparent
crashes. Sibir said it knew only that the flight had suddenly gone
missing. "Flight 1047 disappeared from the radar of air traffic
controllers at around 2300 hours," Yevgeny Selyanin, a spokesman for
the airline, said in a telephone interview.

Moscow has three commercial airports. Both planes left in clear
weather from the same field, Domodedovo, which has only one terminal
for all domestic flights - circumstances that raised the possibility
that terrorism was involved.

Russia has been engaged in a protracted war with Chechnya, a breakaway
republic from where terrorists have carried out several high-profile
attacks in recent years, and recently vowed more attacks.

A special election is scheduled this weekend to replace the former
Chechen president, Akhamd Kadyrov, who was assassinated in the spring.

While there was no clear evidence of terrorism in the hours after the
crashes, President Vladimir V. Putin, who has been vacationing and
working in Sochi, ordered the security agency F.S.B., one of the
successors to the K.G.B., to begin immediate investigations, a
presidential spokesman told Interfax.

When Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Andrey Denisov, was
told of the initial report of two near simultaneous crashes, he said,
"Now we have to see if there's terrorism," The Associated Press
reported.

In Washington, a senior State Department official said: "We are
obviously concerned by the news. We're following developments closely
and trying to determine the facts."

Tupolevs are the backbone of the Russian domestic passenger fleet, and
have been in service for more than three decades.

The Tupolev-134, used on shorter routes, can carry more than 90
passengers, depending on its configuration; the Tupolev-154 is a
medium-range jet that can carry more than 160 passengers.

------------
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_world_st...%3fformat=html

The wreckage of the second missing Russian plane has been found.
Two planes crashed, each with 40 people on board.

The planes were reported missing within minutes of each other late on
Tuesday night, and Russian news agencies said President Vladimir Putin
had ordered the FSB security service to investigate the incidents,
something it would normally do only when there are suspicious
circumstances.

Witnesses saw an explosion on board one of the planes just before it
crashed near Tula,150 km south of Moscow.

Local news agencies reported that security had been tightened at all
the country's airports after the incidents.

The suggestion that the incidents might have been deliberately caused
will raise concerns of possible political motivation.

The incidents come just days before a presidential election in
Chechyna where Moscow has been battling separatist rebels for a
decade. The rebels launched a major raid in the local capital Grozny
last week and have promised more attacks.

A ministry spokeswoman said a Tu-134 airliner with 34 passengers and
eight crew flying from Moscow to Volgograd crashed after contact with
it was lost at just before 11pm.

The ministry spokeswoman said the wreckage was found near the town of
Tula.

"Rescue teams are working at the site," she said. "We have no
information about possible survivors, but frankly speaking one could
hardly expect to find them after this kind of crash."

Just three minutes later, air traffic controllers lost contact with
another passenger plane -- a Tu-154 with 44 passengers and eight crew
on board -- flying from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Contact was lost as the plane was flying near the southern city of
Rostov-on-Don.

Both planes had taken off from Moscow's Domodedovo airport.

Russian air carrier Sibir has been quoted as saying it owned the plane
that went missing near Rostov-on-Don.

A company spokesman told the agency 38 passengers were on board the
plane, in operation since 1982.

The Emergencies ministry spokeswoman said a fire was seen at a
location where contact with Tu-154 was lost.

"But rescue teams have not reached the place and I cannot say now
whether it was the plane," she said. "We continue to refer to the
plane as missing for now."

Itar-Tass news agency quoted a Moscow air controllers' source as
saying that there had been no reports of any problems from the crew of
the Tu-134 before it crashed near Tula.

Source: Reuters

Fly Guy wrote:

Contact was lost with a TU-154 plane of OAS Sibir with 44 people on
board near the southern city of Rostov-on-Don while flying to the
Black Sea resort of Sochi...

President Vladimir V. Putin, who has been vacationing and
working in Sochi ...

Speaking of terrorists trying to take over commercial planes and
flying them into resorts where VIP's are staying, what's the latest
info about the 737 operated by Egyptian-run Flash Airlines which
crashed shortly after take-off from Sharm el-Sheik in eary January
this year?

I can't find a thing about it on the net. Have the crack Egyptian
accident investigation authorities discovered a technical reason for
the crash?

Fly Guy wrote:

Contact was lost with a TU-154 plane of OAS Sibir with 44 people on
board near the southern city of Rostov-on-Don while flying to the
Black Sea resort of Sochi...

President Vladimir V. Putin, who has been vacationing and
working in Sochi ...

Speaking of terrorists trying to take over commercial planes and
flying them into resorts where VIP's are staying, what's the latest
info about the 737 operated by Egyptian-run Flash Airlines which
crashed shortly after take-off from Sharm el-Sheik in eary January
this year?

I can't find a thing about it on the net. Have the crack Egyptian
accident investigation authorities discovered a technical reason for
the crash?