Russia plays down terror possibility

Associated Press

SOCHI, Russia

The Kremlin on Monday played down the possibility that a terror attack might have downed a Syria-bound Russian plane, killing all 92 people onboard, as the nation observed a day of mourning for the victims, including most members of a world-famous military choir.

The Tu-154, owned by the Russian Defense Ministry, crashed into the Black Sea early Sunday two minutes after taking off in good weather from the city of Sochi. The plane was carrying members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, often referred to as the Red Army Choir, to a New Year’s concert at a Russian military base in Syria.

About 3,500 people, 43 ships and 182 divers have been sweeping a vast crash site for bodies of the victims and debris, and dozens of drones and several submersibles also have been involved in the search. Rescue teams so far have recovered 11 bodies and numerous body fragments, which have been flown to Moscow for identification.

Divers have located parts of the plane’s fuselage and other fragments, but the search for the jet’s flight recorders likely will prove challenging as they lack underwater locator beacons for easy spotting common in more modern planes.

Officials sought to squelch speculation that the crash might have been caused by a bomb planted onboard or a portable air defense missile.

But some aviation experts pointed that the crew’s failure to communicate any technical problem and a large area over which fragments of the plane were scattered point at a possible explosion onboard.

Evidence of a bombing of a Syria-bound military flight would badly embarrass the Kremlin, highlighting Russia’s extreme vulnerability to attacks even as it boasts its success in Syria after Aleppo fell into Syrian President Bashar Assad’s hands.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that an attack isn’t a likely scenario. Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov, who oversaw the rescue efforts, said investigators were looking into a possible technical fault or pilot error as the most likely reasons behind the crash.

But some experts remained skeptical, noting that the crew would have reported any technical glitch.