Relatives mourn, searchers comb site after jet crashes

Thursday, August 24, 2006 Officials said the remains of 170 victims had been found. SUKHA BALKA, Ukraine (AP) — Investigators focused Wednesday on weather conditions, including lightning and turbulence, as the possible cause of the crash of a Russian jetliner in a swampy field in eastern Ukraine, killing all 170 people aboard. Stunned relatives mourned the victims of the third airline catastrophe this year in the former Soviet Union, raising new concerns about the state of the Russian aviation industry. Searchers found the two flight recorders amid the blackened debris of the Pulkovo Airlines Tu-154 jetliner, Transport Minister Mykola Rudkovsky said. The discovery raised hopes that authorities would also soon determine what sent the aircraft into its doomed dive Tuesday. Experts ruled out terrorism and officials have focused on weather conditions. Rudkovsky said that weather had been severe at the time. The storm brought heavy wind and rain to the Donetsk region, 400 miles southeast of Kiev, temporarily knocking out power to some residents and turning the sky so dark that street lights automatically switched on. Other officials suggested the plane might have been struck by lightning, or hit strong turbulence, causing the 39-year-old pilot to lose control. Mykola Kulbida, head of Ukraine's meteorology center, was quoted by the Kommersant newspaper as saying that strong cumulonimbus clouds reached as high as 42,000 to 47,000 feet, which meant planes would have no alternative but to pass through them. Disappeared The plane was flying from Anapa to St. Petersburg, Russia, when it disappeared from radar screens after making at least three distress calls. Ukrainian officials said the pilot asked to make an emergency landing, and received permission to change course by about 12 miles to escape the storm. Some officials said there were reports of a fire on board, although others denied that. Fragments of the plane were found scattered around rolling fields and a small forest near the village of Sukha Balka, north of Donetsk. Emergency officials said the remains of 170 victims had been found, and they predicted that DNA testing would likely be needed to make identifications. Nearly 200 relatives were headed to the site to help and Orthodox priests were to hold a service today. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.