The first of two flight data recorders belonging to the sunken military plane in the Black Sea has been raised to the surface, a source in the Russian security services told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
The flight parameter and cockpit voice recorder were presumed to be located in the tail assembly of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Tu-154.
“The first Tu-154 black box was found and raised to the surface at 8:48 a.m. [05:48 GMT],” the source said.
The Russian Defense Ministry’s Tu-154 aircraft en route to Syria from Moscow crashed soon after takeoff near Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi early on Sunday.
The plane was carrying 92 people including eight crew members, 64 musicians of the Alexandrov Ensemble, nine reporters, head of Spravedlivaya Pomoshch (Fair Aid) charity Elizaveta Glinka, and two federal civil servants.