Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 27 december 2016
Kremlin plays down terror attack possibility in jet crash

VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV chief of the FSB special forc- signed in the late 1960s. The
VERONIKA SILCHENKO es unit, also hinted at secu- plane that crashed Sunday
Associated Press rity breaches at Chkalovsky was built in 1983, and un-
SOCHI, Russia (AP) — The and said that even a much derwent factory check-ups
Kremlin on Monday played more secure Sochi airport and maintenance in 2014
down the possibility that a could be vulnerable. as well as earlier this year.
terror attack might have “It’s possible to penetrate While the Tu-154 is no lon-
downed a Syria-bound any facility. It depends on ger used by Russian airlines
Russian plane, killing all 92 your skills,” Gusak told Do- because it’s too noisy and
people on board, as the zhd TV. fuel-hungry, the Russian
nation observed a day of Russian planes have been military has continued to
mourning for the victims, in- brought down previously in operate it. The plane has
cluding most members of a terror attacks. been popular with crews
world famous military choir. In October 2015, a Rus- who appreciate its maneu-
The Tu-154 owned by the sian passenger plane was verability and ruggedness.
Russian Defense Ministry Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Kazakh President brought down by a bomb Flags were at half-staff
crashed into the Black Sea Nursultan Nazarbayev speak to the media as they arrive to at- over Egypt, killing all 224 across Russia on Monday,
tend a Session of Collective Security Council on Monday, Dec.
early Sunday two minutes 26, 2016 in St.Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016. people aboard. Officials nationwide television sta-
after taking off in good Associated Press said the explosive device tions canceled their enter-
weather from the city of But some aviation experts Russian air traffic control- was planted in the plane’s tainment programs and the
Sochi. The plane was car- pointed that the crew’s fail- ler, told RIA Novosti, adding luggage compartment. A Cabinet began its session
rying members of the Al- ure to communicate any that an “external impact” local affiliate of the Islamic with a moment of silence
exandrov Ensemble, often technical problem and a was the most likely reason. State group claimed re- as part of the nationwide
referred to as the Red Army large area over which frag- Russia’s main domestic se- sponsibility. mourning. People piled
Choir, to a New Year’s con- ments of the plane were curity and counter-terrorism In August 2004, two Rus- up red and white carna-
cert at a Russian military scattered point at a pos- agency, the FSB, said it has sian planes were blown tions outside the Moscow
base in Syria. up on the same day by office of the Alexandrov
sible explosion on board. found “no indications or
Evidence of a bombing of facts pointing at the possi- suicide bombers, killing 89 Ensemble, popular across
About 3,500 people, 43 a Syria-bound military flight bility of a terror attack or an people. A Chechen war- the world for its fiery perfor-
ships and 182 divers have would badly embarrass the act of sabotage on board lord claimed responsibility mances.
been sweeping a vast crash Kremlin, highlighting Rus- the plane.” for the twin attacks, which Vadim Ananyev, a soloist
site for bodies of the victims sia’s extreme vulnerability The plane departed from were made possible by lax who stayed home with his
and debris, and dozens of to attacks even as it boasts the Chkalovsky military air- security at a Moscow air- family, said he was devas-
drones and several sub- its success in Syria after port just outside Moscow port. tated.
mersibles also have been Aleppo fell into President and stopped in Sochi for “I have lost my friends and
involved in the search. Bashar Assad’s hands. refueling early Sunday. The While ruling out an attack colleagues, all killed, all five
Rescue teams so far have President Vladimir Putin’s FSB said border guards and in Sunday’s crash, the FSB soloists,” Ananyev told The
recovered 11 bodies and spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, military servicemen were said that investigators are Associated Press. “I have
numerous body fragments, told reporters that an at- protecting the plane as it looking into bad fuel, pilot known these people for 30
which have been flown to tack isn’t a likely scenario. sat on the tarmac in Sochi, error, alien objects stuck in years. I know their wives
Moscow for identification. Transport Minister Maxim and the chief pilot along the engines or equipment and children. I feel terrible
Divers have located parts Sokolov, who oversaw the with the flight engineer per- failure. for the children and for all
of the plane’s fuselage rescue efforts, said investi- sonally monitored the refu- John Goglia, a former U.S. that I have lost.”
and other fragments, but gators were looking into a eling. The agency said that National Transportation Ananyev said he had re-
the search for the jet’s possible technical fault or a border guard officer and Safety Board member and ceived condolences from
flight recorders will likely pilot error as the most likely a customs official were the aviation safety expert, ar- all over Russia and from
prove challenging as they reasons behind the crash. only ones to briefly come gued that while pilot error abroad.
lack underwater locator But some experts remained on board in Sochi. or bad fuel “would be high “We were loved all over
beacons for easy spotting skeptical, noting that the Some Russian media on my list,” they wouldn’t the world, never mind the
common in more modern crew would have reported pointed at lax security at have prevented the pilot political situation,” he said.
planes. any technical glitch. Chkalovsky outside Mos- from alerting traffic con- In Rome, Pope Francis led
Officials sought to squelch “Possible malfunctions ... cow where the plane was trollers to the situation. He thousands of faithful in si-
speculation that the crash certainly wouldn’t have based, saying that it’s quite also noted that the Tu-154 lent prayer for the plane
might have been caused prevented the crew from porous compared to civil- has been “a pretty reliable crash victims and noted
by a bomb planted on reporting them,” Vitaly ian airports. platform.” that the Russian army choir
board or a portable air de- Andreyev, a former senior Alexander Gusak, a former The Tu-154 is a Soviet-built had performed in 2004 at
fense missile. three-engine airliner de- the Vatican.q