Armenian Plane Was Close To Downed Russian Jet

[MosJan]

Armenian Plane Was Close To Downed Russian Jet

 

 

 

 

By Karine Kalantarian

 

An Armenian commercial airliner carrying out a regular flight from Ukraine flew in the vicinity a Russian passenger jet accidentally shot down over the Black Sea on Thursday. The crew of the Antonov-24 plane saw the Russian airliner traveling from Tel Aviv to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk explode in midair and crash into the sea, officials in Yerevan told RFE/RL.

 

The deputy head of Armenia's Civil Aviation Authority, Ara Abgarian, said the Armenian pilots saw flames, an explosion and then fragments of the aircraft plunging towards the waters of the Black Sea. He said the pilots then informed Russian air traffic controllers about the crash, which is believed to have killed all 76 people, mostly Israeli citizens, on board the Sibir Airlines jet

 

A Ukrainian navy official, Igor Larichev, told AFP that the plane was accidentally shot down by a Ukrainian missile fired during military exercises in nearby Crimea.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier said he suspects a terrorist attack. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma sent Putin his condolences, the presidential press service said.

 

The Armenian plane was flying on a regularly scheduled flight over the Black Sea from the Crimean city of Simferopol to Yerevan. Garik Hovannisian, a pilot of the Antonov-24, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying that his plane was at 6,300 meters (20,790 feet) above the Black Sea when the Tupolev-154 plane above him exploded.

 

"I saw the explosion on the plane, which was above me at an altitude of 11,000 meters (36,300 feet)," Hovannisian said. "The plane fell into the sea, and there was another explosion in the sea. After that I saw a big white spot on the sea and I had the impression that oil was burning."

 

A senior US military official suggested earlier in the day that the Tupolev-154 may have been downed by a surface-to-air missile fired during a military exercise in Ukraine. A Defense Department official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the AP a land-based surface-to-air missile were fired from the Crimean region of Ukraine. Ukraine is the only country known to be conducting military exercises in the Black Sea area, the official said.

 

Colonel Vyacheslav Sedov of the Russian Defense Ministry said the ministry heard reports about a stray missile hitting the plane but wouldn't make any immediate comment. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry had no official comment.

 

Russian officials said the plane went down in pieces 180 kilometers (114 miles) off the Russian coastal city of Adler, located on the Georgian border. After the crash, Israel suspended takeoffs of foreign flights from its main airport, Ben Gurion International near Tel Aviv.

[MosJan]

PILOTS OF «ARMENIAN AIRLINES» WERE QUESTIONED IN CONNECTION WITH THE CRASH OF RUSSIAN AIRPLANE TU-154

05.10.2001

 

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The pilots of the airplane An-24, which belongs to the airline «Armenian airlines» were questioned in connection with the crash of Russian airplane TU-154. The members of the crew and passengers of the Armenian airplane were the witnesses of the crash. The pilots were questioned by the officials of security service of «Armenian airlines», flight inspection and also the ministry of national security of Armenia. Armenian pilots also told the jounalists about the details of the crash of TU-154. Everything happened about 13.45-13.50. The crew head Ohanesyan tells that he noticed a flash. Then he saw the airplane parts flying in the air. In some seconds he saw the second flash. That was just over the water.

 

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