SOCHI, Russia: A Russian military Tupolev-154 plane with 83 passengers including musicians and journalists and nine crew on board crashed in Black Sea 20 minutes after take-off from Sochi.
Debris from the plane has been found at a depth of 50-70 meters, 1.5 kilometers from the shore, the information department of the Russian Defense Ministry stated
The plane apparently fell into the Black Sea, TASS reports citing a source at the local security forces.
The crash happened while the plane was ascending, and the crew didn’t signal anything was wrong, a source told Interfax.
Sources said that Russian air traffic controllers had lost contact with the plane 20 minutes after took off from Sochi, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed in a statement.
According to preliminary information the plane had 82 passengers on board and nine crew members.
“The plane disappeared from radar approximately 20 minutes after takeoff,” another source told RIA, adding that the plane departed at 5:20am local time and failed to check in with the tower at 5:40am.
The Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviation) told RIA Novosti that the flight was “not civilian”.
