GREAT BRITAIN READY TO HELP RUSSIA FIND FRAGMENTS OF THE ARMENIAN A320
ArmRadio.am
06.05.2006 12:38
Great Britain is ready to help Russia to find the fragment of the
Armenian A320 plane in the Black Sea, if such request is submitted,
UK Foreign Ministry representative told RIA Novosti.
“We are always ready to help our Russian colleagues in such situations.
However, the Russian side has not requested assistance so far,”
the official said.
CLOUDS AND BIRDS DOWNED AIRBUS
by Sergey Mashkin
378
May 05, 2006
Investigation
Recovery work continued yesterday at the Black Sea site of the crash
of the Airbus A-320 belonging to Armavia Airlines. The bodies of
several victims and fragments of the plane were recovered on the
water’s surface. Russian divers are unable to reach the flight
recorders, which are lying on the seabed at a depth of about 600
meters. Transportation Minister Igor Levitin said that Russia may
ask of the assistance of foreign specialists to recover them.
Later yesterday evening, the remains of 20 of the 112 persons who
perished on that flight were returned to Yerevan. Those were the people
whose relatives were able to identify them. The other bodies recovered
from the Black Sea will require identification by DNA testing. Blood
samples have already been taken from relatives for that purpose. It
is assumed that some of the victims will be buried today, which has
been declared a day of mourning in Russia and Armenia.
The causes of the crash remain unknown. Prosecutor’s Office
investigators listening to the recordings of the pilot’s conversations
with the dispatcher at the Adler airport have not reached a
conclusion. They noted that both the pilot and the dispatcher spoke
of the bad weather conditions at the airport.
The Adler dispatchers confirm that information.
“Landing conditions at our airport were much more difficult than at
nearby Anapa and Mineralnye Vody,” one dispatcher said. “The runway
is located in a mountainous area not far from the sea. There were low,
tattered clouds and constant wind off the sea. That is what the pilot
had to land the A-320 in.
Usually pilots circle the airport waiting for the clouds to lighten
up before entering them. Five or six rotations is considered the norm
for us.”
When the plane flew in Georgian territory on its way to Sochi, the
local dispatcher informed the pilot that the clouds at the airport
of destination were lower than 100 meters, which meant that landing
was prohibited. Therefore, Capt. Grigory Grigoryan decided to return
to Yerevan.
The pilot received a new weather forecast some time after turning
around.
“Now they’ve said 150 [m. cloud height] on 1500 [m. visibility]
at 2:00,” the pilot told the dispatcher as he headed back toward
Adler. However, by the time of the flight’s descent, the weather had
turned worse again and the cloud sunk to 100 m. The pilot nonetheless
approached for a landing at Adler at 2:05. Descending to 170-200 m.,
he saw that there was no break in the clouds.
The plane began to ascend again to circle the airport and wait for
a window in the clouds. It takes about eight minutes to make a full
circle around the Adler airport. At 2:15, the plane disappeared from
the screen of the airport’s locator. Specialists think that the crash
occurred a minute or two before that.
Pilots who have landed Airbus A-320 models at Adler say that, at
the moment of the landing and crash, the plane was being pilot by a
person, not the computer. The A-320 is capable of automatic takeoff
and landing, but the Adler airport is not equipped with navigational
equipment to orient the plane’s computer. Therefore the pilot has
to land by a light beacon located beyond the runway. The plane’s
automatic direction finder indicates the direction of the beacon,
but with very low accuracy, so the pilot has to visually his course.
This is done at the moment the plane emerges from the clouds.
Besides the weather and navigational difficulties at the Adler
airport, there was another problem. According to airport personnel,
migrating birds have occupied one of the two runways – the reserve
runway – there. “We didn’t chase them away for fear of bird flu,”
an airport employee said. “All the more since the air traffic is
low now.” It is possible that, at the moment of the A-32o’s landing,
weather conditions were better on the reserve runway.
Russian Transportation Minister Igor Levitin stated yesterday that
large fragments of the airplane with the flight recorders have been
located on the seafloor. “We have no experience raising objects
from that depth in that aquatic medium,” the minister said. “And
there is no equipment for it in the Black Sea region.” He aid that
it was possible that Russia would turn to specialists from other
countries. Representatives of the French and British embassies stated
that their countries were ready to help with the deep-sea work,
should they receive an official request. The Emergencies Ministry
continues to say that it will be able to handle the work itself.
HUMAN FACTOR
Aram Abrahamian
Aravot.am
04 May 06
Human factor exists in every tragedy. In the crash of Armavia A320
airplane exists, too. But it isn’t right to detect constantly that
human factor and solve some problems by it.
For example, it can be a temptation to use this tragedy for squaring
accounts with “Armavia”. Frankly speaking I don’t cherish kindly
feelings to that Airline and its owner. But in this case it can be
proved that just ”Armavia” is responsible for the crash, for example
it has sent for flight an airplane out of order or without sufficient
quantity of fuel, or has trusted the airplane in non-professional
pilots. As there aren’t any sufficient facts for those accusations
all those conversations will be sounded cynically.
But the circumstance but we shouldn’t find for guilty people, doesn’t
mean that we shouldn’t examine the tragedy at all. Even the earthquake
in’88 which caused hundreds of thousands victims also cause a lot of
problems in connection with “human factor”. I say, “even”, because
it seems from the first sight that the blind disaster of earthquake
wasn’t ruled by people. Anyways, people at that time were speaking
very fairly how they were constructing buildings at the beginning of
80-s. And why the earthquakes of the same strength didn’t cause such
victims in Los Angeles and Japan.
Human factor in case of A320 airplane crash has played its role besides
the bad weather. For example, some specialists think that the airplane
fell into storm but the Russian weather forecasters affirm that there
was no storm. Why nobody felt mortal danger in the plane and nobody
didn’t wear life jacket.
Why did the airplane disappear from radars at 2’15 am, and the lifeboat
found the pieces of the plane only after two ours. Perhaps it was
possible to find human lives in those two ours. And the most important
problem who is guilty for the fact that the airplane appeared in bad
weather conditions? Disaster is disaster but all kind of tragedies
happen because of criminal mistake, indifference, non-professionalism
of the people.
Let’s hope that all these questions will get entire answers. But today,
let’s grieve with the relatives of the victims and share their grief.
–Boundary_(ID_bBWj//VLQsDqpSkZLOY+lw)–
TWO BLACK BOXES OF CRASHED ARMENIAN JET DETECTED
Xinhua, China
2006-05-05 05:57:10
May 4 2006
MOSCOW, May 4 (Xinhua) — Two black boxes of Armenia’s Airbus A-320
which crashed off the Russian Black Sea coast on Wednesday morning have
been spotted by French experts, an official from Russia’s Emergency
Situations Ministry said on Thursday.
“French experts finished their work by finding black boxes. They
claim to have spotted two black boxes at a depth of 680 meters not
far away from each other,” Lieut. Gen. Sergei Kudinov, chief of the
Emergency Situations Ministry’s southern branch, was quoted by the
Interfax news agency as saying.
The Airbus A-320 of the Armenian airline belonging to the air company
Armavia crashed into the Black Sea near the southern Russian resort
town of Sochi on Tuesday, killing all 113 people onboard, including
six children and eight crew.
“As of today 28 bodies out of 48 withdrawn from water have been
identified,” Kudinov said. But no body was found on Thursday.
At the same time, rescuers have gathered three trucks of recovered
items and pieces of the aircraft on the surface.
“It is remarkable that among all the seat parts there were no safety
belts,” Kudinov said.
“As far as black boxes are concerned, taking into consideration world
experience, no one has ever raised them from such a depth.
Moreover, the harsh environment, hydrogen sulfide, should be taken
into consideration as well,” the official said.
In addition, there is nothing in the search zone at a depth from 60 to
200 meters, while sound locator is detecting “certain metal elements,
probably, of the airliner’s fuselage at a depth of 600 meters,”
Kudinov said.
Furthermore, an oil spot in the crash zone has split into several
parts, that are moving away from each other, he said, adding that
a vessel carrying sound locators will continue to work through the
night.
113 KILLED AS ARMENIAN AIRLINER CRASHES
By Steve Gutterman
AP
Published: 03 May 2006
An Armenian passenger plane carrying 113 people crashed early today
off Russia’s Black Sea coast as it was headed in for landing, killing
everyone on board, emergency officials said.
Armenian airline officials said they believed the crash was due to
the stormy weather, but Sergei Kubinov, the head of the southern
district office of Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry, said
that the age of the aircraft and technical factors could have been
involved. Investigators did not believe terrorism was a factor.
The Airbus A-320, which belonged to the Armenian airline Armavia,
disappeared from radar screens just under 4 miles from the shore
and crashed after making a turn and heading toward the Adler airport
near Sochi, Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov
said. Rescue officials in the ministry’s southern regional branch said
the 113 people aboard the plane, including six children, were killed.
Wreckage from the plane was found not far from the shoreline, Beltsov
said, and salvage workers said the fuselage was found at a depth of
1,485 feet.
Search and rescue teams have pulled 18 bodies from the water, Kubinov
said; none were wearing life jackets, indicating they did not have
sufficient warning to prepare for an emergency landing.
Nineteen boats and divers were involved in the search, and a deep-sea
robot was to be used to try to recover the plane’s black box, he
said. The water temperature was 12 degrees Celsius (53 F).
The plane disappeared from radar screens at about 2.15am local time
(2215 GMT Tuesday) during a flight from Yerevan to Sochi, a resort
city on the Black Sea in southern Russia, Beltsov said.
He said that the plane went down while trying to make a repeat attempt
at an emergency landing. However, the Interfax news agency quoted
the Russian air control agency as saying that the plane’s crew had
not declared any emergency.
Armavia deputy commercial deputy Andrei Agadzhanov said in the Armenian
capital, Yerevan, that the crew had communicated with Sochi ground
controllers while the plane was flying over the Georgian capital,
Tbilisi. The ground controllers said there were poor weather conditions
but the plane could still land, the representative said. Just before
the landing, however, the ground controllers told the crew to make
another circle in the air before approaching the airport. Then the
plane crashed.
He said the crew was highly experienced, the airplane was in good
condition and that weather conditions were “certainly” the cause.
The Airbus A-320 was manufactured in 1995 and had been acquired on
leasing by the airline. The aircraft underwent full-scale servicing
a year ago.
The plane broke up on impact with the water, and wreckage was thrown
into a wide arc, Kubinov said.
Rough seas, driving rain and low visibility were hampering the search,
Russian news agencies reported.
There was no indication yet of the nationalities of the passengers
and crew.
Agadzhanov said that the airline’s deputy general director, Vyacheslav
Yaralov, had been aboard.
Relatives of those aboard the plane were gathering at the Yerevan
airport for a charter flight to Sochi.
US NOT IN FAVOR OF BUILDING NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN ARMENIA
Noyan Tapan
May 02 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. Issues related to construction of a
second nuclear power plant in Armenia were discussed at the 12th
sitting of the US-Armenia Task Force (USATF) in Yerevan on May
2. RA Minister of Finance and Economy Vardan Khachatrian stated
this at a press conference following the sitting. “The RA energy
minister presented clearly that if the operating Metsamor nuclear
power plant is closed, a new one must start operating on the same
day,” V. Khachatrian said. According to him, it is envisaged that
the second nuclear power plant should have a greater capacity of
1,000 megawatts. At the same time, as the finance minister noted,
the Armenian government must be able to obtain the necessary funds
for the construction of a new nuclear power plant and the closure of
the old one. Tom Adams, US Coordinator for Europe and Eurasia, said
that the US government is not in favor of the idea of building a new
nuclear plant in Armenia. In his words, taking the issue of security
into account, it would be more correct to find an alternative solution.
REPORTS: BAD WEATHER TO BLAME FOR CRASH OF ARMENIAN PLANE, SAY RUSSIAN EMERGENCY OFFICIALS
AP Worldstream
May 03, 2006
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said Wednesday that bad
weather was likely to blame for the crash of an Armenian passenger
airline off Russia’s Black Sea Coast that killed all 113 people on
board, news agencies reported.
The Airbus A-320, which belonged to the Armenian airline Armavia,
disappeared from radar screens just under 6 kilometers (3.7 miles)
from the shore and crashed after making a turn and heading toward
the Adler airport near the Russian resort of Sochi.
OKRUASHVILI SPEAKS OF RUSSIA, WINE, CONFLICTS
Civil Georgia, Georgia
May 2 2006
Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili has further stepped up
harsh-worded rhetoric against Russia and vowed to resign if Georgia
fails to restore control over breakaway South Ossetia by January
1, 2007.
At a political talk show aired by Imedi television on May 1 Okruashvili
spoke about relations with Russia and said while answering question
why Georgia remains in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
against the background of deteriorating ties with Russia that he will
respond to this question “in exactly one week.” He declined to make
more comments on the issue.
Dubbed as hawkish Defense Minister by the opponents and media,
33-year-old Irakli Okruashvili has increased his political weight after
the President charged him to promote Georgian wine on new markets,
observers say.
This new task has also triggered rumors that Okruashvili may be
promoted at the Prime Minister’s position. But Okruashvili has strongly
denied these speculations.
“My major goal, my purpose of being the Defense Minister, is
restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity. I have no other goal
more valuable than this and as soon as these two problems [the Abkhaz
and South Ossetian conflicts] are solved, I will no longer stay in
politics,” Okruashvili said while speaking on the political talk show
‘Pirvelebi’ (Leaders).
Okruashvili reiterated his late December statement and said that
Georgia will gain control over breakaway South Ossetia by January
1, 2007.
“If we fail to celebrate New Year in Tskhinvali on January, 2007 I
will no longer be the Defense Minister of Georgia,” Okruashvili said.
He said that the conflict in South Ossetia will be resolved through
peaceful means with the support of Georgia’s western partners.
“In a course of this year several very important events are scheduled;
these are: G8 summit, NATO summit in November and we will spare no
efforts to solve this problem through peaceful means with the help
of our friends, our partners and especially with the support of the
United States,” Okruashvili said.
After Okruashvili’s highly-controversial and harsh statements
towards Russia – like “even feces can be sold on Russian market” –
his opponents dubbed Okruashvili as “provoker.”
This statement has also triggered discontent among some Georgian
wine-producers, who are desperately trying to re-enter Russian market,
which was closed on March 27 after the Russian chief sanitary inspector
said Georgian wines contained pesticides.
But Okruashvili, who has just recently visited Ukraine in a capacity
of the Georgian wine promoter, says that the Georgian wine-makers
should forget about the Russian market and diversify foreign trade
to the western markets.
He said once again that the Russia is “low level consumer market” and
many Georgian wine companies should increase quality of their products.
Okruashvili admitted that his statements towards Russia are very
harsh-worded, “but this is the only language which is understood
by Russia.”
“Of course we should not talk like this not only with Russia, but
with anyone. But, unfortunately, this is the only language which is
understood by Russia, this is the only effective language on which we
can talk with Russia. I have learnt this from my two, or three years
of experience of having relations with them,” the Georgian Defense
Minister stated.
Okruashvili also admitted that one of the purposes of his controversial
statements was to trigger more international interest towards the
Georgia’s wine row with Russia.
“My statements about Russia and stir-up about this issue was caused
by an attempt to achieve a certain international effect. Now the
international community knows that this is a confrontation between
Georgia and Russia because someone among the Russian authorities
does not like the fact that Georgia has a significant increase in
economic growth rate… and they do not like that they have failed
to decrease this figure [growing economy] through imposing energy
blockade [referring to explosions of gas pipelines this January]
and through increase of gas price,” Okruashvili said.
He also accused Russian special services of masterminding provocations
in Georgia’s predominantly ethnic Armenian populated town of
Akhalkalaki in order to hinder Russian military base withdrawal
from there.
“A large rally is planned in Akhalkalaki on May 3 in an attempt to
hinder first stage of Russian military base withdrawal from there
and organizers of this [rally] are employees of the FSB [Russia’s
Federal Security Service],” Okruashvili said.
A small rally was held in the predominantly ethnic Armenian populated
town of Akhalkalaki on April 25 to protest against withdrawal of
Russian military base. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on April 26
that pullout of military hardware from the base was hindered because
of this protest rally.
ASHOT GALOYAN APPOINTED RA AMBASSADOR TO ESTONIA
ArmRadio.am
02.05.2006 13:48
With RA President Robert Kocharyan’s decree dated April 29, RA
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Poland Ashot Galoyan
was appointed RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to
Estonia.
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS General
Policemen killed in Moscow on duty to receive awards
MOSCOW April 28
Awards will be presented posthumously to the police officers who died
in Moscow on Friday while protecting an Armenian family.
“Senior officials of the Moscow central interior affairs department
said that the police officers who died heroically protecting an
Armenian family would receive awards,” Viktor Tsoi, Moscow mayor’s
spokesman, told Interfax.
“A woman who lives on Kirovogradskaya Street, 17/1 called the police
at 7:08 a.m. and said that she could hear somebody crying for help in
a neighboring apartment. Twenty-eight-year-old Senior Lieutenant
Andrei Ashurkov and 39-year-old police officer Sergei Rebrikov
arrived at the scene,” Tsoi said.
The burglars who were robbing the Armenian family’s apartment on the
ground floor saw a police car pulling up outside the building and
decided to stage an ambush, the press secretary said.
“The police officers were shot point blank by criminals wearing
masks, who fled immediately after the crime,” Tsoi said.
“None of the family members was injured,” he said.