VOICE RECORDER RECOVERED FROM CRASHED PLANE
Irish News
May 24, 2006 Wednesday
Russian searchers have recovered the cockpit voice recorder from an
Armenian passenger jet that crashed in the Black Sea nearly three
weeks ago killing 113 passengers and crew.
Workers using a remote-controlled diving apparatus with a robotic arm
plucked the recorder from the sea floor nearly 1,640 feet beneath the
surface after removing a layer of silt up to two feet thick that had
hidden it from searchers.
The searchers said they hoped to also recover the flight data recorder
soon, which they believe is under silt nearby.
Officials hope the recorders will help determine the cause of the May 3
crash of the Armavia Airbus A-320, which plunged into the sea in heavy
rain and poor visibility as it approached the airport on a flight from
the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to the Russian resort city of Sochi.
“I think that what happened will be revealed,” Tatyana Anodina,
head of the Interstate Aviation Committee, the civil agency that
links Russia with 11 other former Soviet republics, said.
Ms Anodina said the cockpit voice recorder was damaged by the crash
and may have suffered from the harsh conditions beneath the silt.
However, she said she was confident that it would yield information
“very important to investigators”, including voices and other sounds
in the cockpit during the final minutes of the doomed flight.
Ms Anodina said the Interstate Aviation Committee would work with
French investigators and Armenian representatives to retrieve the
data but was usnure when they might have results.
Prosecutors almost immediately dismissed the possibility that
terrorists brought down the plane and officials point to rough weather
or pilot error as the likely cause.
However, officials from the manufacturer Armavia have suggested that
air traffic controllers may be at least partly to blame.
Ms Anodina described the recovery operation as “one of the most
difficult” worldwide.
A device normally used for geological research was brought in last
week for the search but the operation was disrupted by bad weather
until Friday.
When the weather cleared the device first combed a 65ft by 65ft
patch of the sea floor amid the wreckage near the coast where French
specialists had detected signals from the recorders.
The search area was widened after the recorders were not found but
the voice recorder was finally located late on Sunday under silt
in the initial search area after searchers attached a radio-signal
detection device to the apparatus.

THE FATE OF GUAM WILL BE DECIDED BY ILHAM ALIYEV
by Tatiana Ivzhenko
Translated by Elena Leonova
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, No. 101, May 24, 2006, EV
Agency WPS
What the Papers Say Part A (Russia)
May 24, 2006 Wednesday
Energy-rich Azerbaijan as a key player in an alternative to the CIS;
GUAM – the alliance of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova
– launched its new image and format yesterday. Decisions made
by President Ilkham Aliyev of Azerbaijan could either cement and
reinforce the alliance, or destroy it. Will he choose Russia or the
United States?
The GUAM summit that closed in Kiev yesterday, and the plans announced
there – predictably, not involving Russia – came as no surprise. The
presidents of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and Azerbaijan had planned
this meeting for a long time, and given the obviously pro-Western
course taken by Tbilisi, Kiev, and Chisinau, it wasn’t hard to guess
the meeting’s political direction.
At first sight, only President Ilkham Aliyev of Azerbaijan stood out
from the Kiev Quartet; there seemed to be no reason to suspect him
of lacking loyalty to Moscow. But he did attend this GUAM summit;
what’s more, he arrived before President Viktor Yushchenko’s guests
from Georgia and Moldova. And we can’t rule ought the possibility
that his presence could be decisive. GUAM launched its new image
and format yesterday. Eventually, Aliyev could either cement and
reinforce this with his energy resources, or destroy it. The former
scenario would happen if Baku follows the lead of Tbilisi, Kiev,
and Chisinau in regarding the United States as its chief partner. The
latter scenario would apply if Aliyev decides that alliance with Russia
is more advantageous or more promising. The Azeri leader’s dialogues
with Washington and Moscow have long been described by the media as
“political see-saws.” Aliyev has already shown that he can manipulate
his interlocutors, avoiding direct pressure but cleverly using “the
enemies of his friends” to achieve his own goals.
In March, when President Vladimir Putin visited Baku for the opening
ceremony of Russia Year in Azerbaijan, Aliyev gave Moscow assurances of
loyalty and partnership. At around the same time, Azeri Deputy Foreign
Minister Araz Azimov announced that his country has no intention of
“joining a coalition against anyone, and wishes to establish neighborly
relations with all countries in the region.”
Within a few days, Aliyev met with the presidents of Kazakhstan
and Georgia, promising each of them participation in the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil transport project, which bypasses Russia. The
first of these meetings (with President Nursultan Nazarbayev of
Kazakhstan) emphasized the role of the CIS in developing cooperation;
the second meeting (with President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia)
emphasized the significance of regional associations like GUAM.
Aliyev followed this up by giving a demonstratively warm reception
to the Iranian defense minister, and then paid a visit to Washington.
Within a few days, Azerbaijan effectively offered its chief partners
some terms that required reciprocal moves. Then Aliyev could examine
the offers and choose an ally.
Judging by a number of Aliyev’s statements, the stance taken by the
United States and Russia on Nagorno-Karabakh regulation plays the
decisive role here.
Sergei Markedonov, department head at the Russian Institute of
Political and Military Analysis, commented as follows on what Aliyev
said in Washington: “To all appearances, Baku’s primary concern is
to restore its sovereignty over the rebel territory, with the help
of a strong ally. The chances of American-Azeri cooperation becoming
stronger depend entirely on the US stance on Nagorno-Karabakh, and
whether Washington is prepared to put some pressure on Armenia.” If
there’s a “breakthrough” on Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan is prepared
to become more amenable on the Iran issue.
The US government is probably giving some serious thought to this
proposed configuration. At any rate, the impossible became reality
during Aliyev’s visit to Washington: he didn’t receive a single
reminder about human rights abuses or failure to observe democratic
standards, even though courts in Baku were convicting opposition
members even as the Washington talks were under way, and that had
been considered the main issue in American-Azeri relations.
It may be suggested that the topic of resolving “frozen conflicts”
was included among the urgent priority issues on the GUAM summit
agenda at the instigation of the United States. Thus, Washington could
temporarily fill the niche of chief parner and ally, not only for
Azerbaijan, but also for Georgia and Moldova. And Ukraine, in these
circumstances, could aspire to the politically rewarding mission of
“chief peacemaker.”
The twist, however, is that this whole construct is based on
Azerbaijan’s energy resources; presumably, Baku is supposed to use
them to safeguard its partners against pressure from Russia. The
question of whether this is advantageous for Azerbaijan isn’t being
considered as yet – but it could arise at any moment if Russia gives
Azerbaijan an alliance guarantee with regard to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Note that mistrust arose when Russia started withdrawing its troops
from Georgia; Baku started fearing that some of those forces might be
transferred to Armenia. This was one of the major issues at Aliyev’s
talks with Putin.
Judging by the outcome of those talks, Putin didn’t give Aliyev any
assurances. Putin prefers to play his own political chess-games, in
which Aliyev might not be an important piece at all. Based on this
possibility, we might speculate that the Kremlin is simply waiting for
the right moment to intervene in somebody else’s game. In that case,
Aliyev will soon receive a partnership offer he can’t refuse.
He would immediately lose enthusiasm for the United States and its
creature, GUAM – thus threatening the main component of the new
organization: the energy component.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SECOND BLACK BOX RECORDER FROM CRASHED ARMENIAN AIRBUS RECOVERED
Agence France Presse — English
May 23, 2006 Tuesday 11:56 PM GMT
The second black box flight recorder from an Armenian Airbus passenger
plane that crashed in the Black Sea earlier this month was recovered
from the sea bed overnight,the Russian transport ministry said
Wednesday.
The instrument will give investigators technical details of the doomed
flight, according to the Interfax news agency.
All 113 passengers and crew died when the Armavia airlines Airbus A320,
which had taken off from Yerevan, crashed May 3 during its approach
to Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi. Eighty-five of the victims
were Armenians, many of them on family visits.
The other flight recorder, with voice recordings, was pulled out
on Monday.
There has so far been no official word on the possible cause of
the crash.

COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER FROM ARMENIAN CRASH RECOVERED
Airline Industry Information
May 23, 2006
Airline Industry Information-©1997-2006 M2 Communications LTD
The cockpit voice recorder of the Armenian passenger aircraft that
crashed in the Black Sea on 3 May has been located and recovered.
The aircraft, which was operated by Armavia, crashed in heavy rain
and poor visibility as it was approaching the airport in Adler. A
total of 113 people are thought to have died in the crash.
According to The Associated Press, workers were able to use a
remote-controlled diving apparatus with a robotic arm to recover the
recorder from the sea floor.
Tatyana Anodina, head of the Interstate Aviation Committee, reportedly
stated that the cockpit voice recorder had been damaged in the crash
and may have suffered from the conditions beneath the silt.
–Boundary_(ID_MIZiSCxgDAVaVGBSTRJ8Tw)–

ON THIS DAY … IN 1701: CAPTAIN KIDD WAS HANGED IN LONDON FOR CAPTURING ARMENIAN SHIP
The Evening Standard (London)
May 23, 2006 Tuesday
He was born in 1645 in Scotland and spent three decades as an honest,
hardworking ship captain.
Kidd married and settled in New York in 1691 and began working as a
privateer in the Caribbean, essentially attacking foreign ships on
behalf of the British government. In 1695 he was given a free reign
to attack pirate and French ships that endangered British colonial
holdings.
But he was given a crew that included many criminals, including
former pirates. Their voyage was beset by bad luck when their ship,
Adventure Galley, sprang several leaks and an outbreak of cholera
wiped out a third of the crew. The remainder of the ship’s complement
grew increasingly mutinous and Kidd became more violent.
In 1698, he took an Armenian ship loaded with booty, despite the
vessel being British-owned.
When word reached Britain, the British East India Company declared
Kidd a pirate. He was arrested on his return to New York and sent to
London to stand trial for piracy and murder. The belief that he left
behind a buried treasure contributed to his legend.

SACK HER MAYOR
by Paula Maud
Hume Moreland Leader (Australia)
May 24, 2006 Wednesday
HOV Edition
MAYOR Adem Atmaca is calling for a State Government MP to stand down
or lose her position as parliamentary secretary after an inflammatory
attack on Turkey last week.
Jika Jika MP Jenny Mikakos stirred up ethnic divisions within the Labor
Party and the community when she called on the Turkish Government to
acknowledge crimes against Pontic Greeks earlier last century.
Greek-background Ms Mikakos told parliament that more than 353,000
Greeks, 1.5 million Armenians and 750,000 Assyrians died when Turkish
nationalists embraced a “Turkey for the Turks” policy between 1916
and 1923.
“Unlike Germany which has taken responsibility for the Jewish
Holocaust, Turkey has never apologised to its victims,” she said.
Speaking after returning from the Anzac Day ceremony in Gallipoli, Cr
Atmaca said Ms Mikakos should be working in the interests of Victorians
and not other foreign governments. Cr Atmaca, of Turkish background,
said there was no need for hate speeches in parliament and voters in
Jika Jika should ask themselves how Ms Mikakos was serving them by
bringing this subject up.
Cr Atmaca said he would say the same regardless of what ethnic group
was being “attacked”.
“Politicians should be showing that living in harmony is in the best
interests of Victorians,” Cr Atmaca said.
Ms Mikakos did not respond to the Leader’s calls about her speech.

KOCHARYAN THANKS PUTIN FOR HELP IN SOLVING PLANE CRASH MYSTERY
ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 24, 2006 Wednesday 12:33 PM EST
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan telephoned President Vladimir
Putin on Wednesday to thank Russian authorities for the effective and
large-scale participation of various services and agencies in the
operation to find and lift flight data recorders from the Armenian
Airbus-320 passenger plane that crashed in the Black Sea off Sochi
at the beginning of May.
Putin expressed hope that the lifting of the “black boxes” from
the crashed plane, which had become possible due to unique work of
top-level specialists, will shed light on the causes of the accident.
Of 113 people who were abroad the plane, 51 bodies have been found.
The Airbus A-320 of the Armenian airline Armavia plunged into the
Black Sea as it was making a landing manoeuvre in the early hours of
May 3. The accident claimed the lives of 113 people.

AGREEMENT ON KARABAKH MAY BE REACHED – DIPLOMAT
by Viktor Shulman
ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 24, 2006 Wednesday
There are chances to reach agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh, according
to a statement adopted by co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group on
Wednesday.
The co-chairmen made the statement on the results of their
consultations in Baku.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said the Minsk Group
co-chairmen (Russia, France and the United States) are convinced
that the conflict “may be settled by peaceful means. Moreover, both
countries (Armenia and Azerbaijan) should prepare the public for
peace and not for war.”
The co-chairmen met Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev and
Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov. “Our discussions in Baku were
constructive. Tomorrow we’ll fly to Yerevan for talks with Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan and Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan. We
hope for progress,” Karasin said.

IAC SAYS OPERATION TO LIFT A-320 FLIGHT RECORDERS “UNPRECEDENTED”
by Dmitry Nezdorovin
ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 24, 2006 Wednesday
The Interstate Aviation Committee said the operation to find and lift
flight data recorders from the Armenian Airbus-320 passenger plane that
crashed into the Black Sea at the beginning of May was “unprecedented.”
“I have been working at the Interstate Aviation Committee for 20 years
and haven’t heard of any operation that ended successfully under such
harsh conditions as on the Black Sea bed,” committee head Tatyana
Anodina said on Wednesday.
In her words, about 2,000 planes of the Airbus-320 type are operating
around the world, and everybody wants to get full and objective data
about the accident as soon as possible.
According to Anodina, two black boxes from the crashed plane record
conversations in the cockpit and plane system data. “Unfortunately
the voice recorder was seriously damaged but the data recorder,
according to preliminary information, is in excellent condition.
Recordings will be analysed in Russia, using equipment from France
where the Airbus-320 airliner was designed,” she said.
With the second black box lifted from the seabed last night, the
operation to find and recover the flight data recorders was completed.
Transport Minister Igor Levitin said the operation was “unique.”
“Never before have Russian specialists lifted sunken objects from
such depths in the aggressive hydrogen sulphide environment,” he said
on Wednesday.
“The Russian equipment that was used has no analogues and therefore
work in this direction must continue,” he added.
The minister expressed condolences to the families of the plane crash
victims. “A sour feeling remains because we have not been able to
lift anything from the seabed but black boxes,” he said.
The first flight data recorder was lifted on Monday. It had taken
about 20 hours to identify and lift the flight data recorder, a
Transport Ministry official told Itar-Tass.
“The black box was found on Sunday at about 7.50 p.m. Moscow time
(1550 GMT) at a depth of 500 metres, but its version did not match
the one French specialists were looking for. It had a different size
and weight.
During the night, the images of the black box from the seabed were
transmitted to France where Airbus officials confirmed it belonged
to the crashed plane.
Specialists then started reprogramming the manipulator that was to
be used for lifting the black box. The lifting proceeded in three
stages and involved not only the robot but also a network in which
the recorder was placed.
“The black box was lifted in the net from the seabed to 17 metres
from the surface, where a diver picked it up to prevent it from being
carried away by currents,” the official said.
The black box was found in an area of three meters by five metres at
a depth of 500 metres. It lay under 50 centimeters of silt.
The first “black box” was lifted from the seabed at about 3.05 p.m.
(1105 GMT). “The flight data recorder was found under a layer of
soil. The operation to lift it began at 09:00 Moscow time and lasted
six hours. The ‘black box’ has been sent to Moscow for deciphering.
The second data recorder may be not far from the place where the
first one was found,” the operational headquarters told Itar-Tass.
Anodina, said, “The found flight data recorder is badly damaged because
of strong impact and because of lying in an aggressive environment.”
She said data from the recorder would be analysed by a standard
procedure that will involve officials from Armenia, France, and Russia.
There were three flight data recorders aboard the plane but no signals
from the third one have ever been registered, which suggests that
its radio beacon was knocked off during the crash.
The operation to lift the flight data recorders started last Tuesday
but was interrupted by a strong side wind that constantly carried
away the ship, which is operating the RT-1000 apparatus, which is
conducting the search for the flight recorders.
Silt on the seabed complicated the work, covering the video camera
and the searchlights. The team had to raise the apparatus several
times to clean them. It takes 40 minutes for the apparatus to sink
and as much to come back to the surface.
Flight data recorders used on aircraft of the Airbus-320 type withstand
the depth of up to 6,000 meters for 30 days, experts from the French
air crash investigation bureau said.
They said that flight recorders’ radio beacons keep working during
a 30-day period.
One of the flight data recorders registers flight parameters, including
the speed, height and direction of the flight and the autopilot
operation, each second. The other gadget records conversations in
the cockpit.
Each flight recorder weighs 10 kilograms, including a seven-kilogram
armoured casing for the gadget. The casing can withstand water pressure
at a depth of 6,000 meters, the temperature of 1,100 degrees Celsius,
and the compression of 2.2 tonnes.
The bureau retrieved flight recorders from the depth of over 1,000
meters in the Red Sea in January 2004, when an Egyptian plane crashed
near the Sharm-el-Sheikh resort. The rescuers were using a Scorpio
deep-water apparatus.
Of 113 people who were abroad the plane, 51 bodies have been found
so far.
The Airbus A-320 of the Armenian airline Armavia plunged into the
Black Sea as it was making a landing manoeuvre in the early hours of
May 3. The accident claimed the lives of 113 people.

SECOND TRAIN WITH RUSSIAN MILITARY HARDWARE EN ROUTE FROM GEORGIA APPROACHING STATE BORDER
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
May 24, 2006 Wednesday 11:34 AM MSK
The second train with materiel of the 62nd Russian military base
being withdrawn from Georgia passed the Kyzyl station early on
Wednesday and is approaching the Azerbaijani- Russian border, Colonel
Vladimir Kuparadze, deputy commander of the Russian military force
in Transcaucasia, told Interfax-Military News Agency.
“The train has been moving as scheduled without any incidents, and we
believe that customs and border guard procedures on the state border
will be quick,” Kuparadze said.
“The train will bring to Russia 35 special automobiles, 36.5 tonnes
of ammunition, and other materiel of the 62nd military base stationed
in the Georgian town of Akhalkalaki,” he noted.
Kuparadze recalled that the first train with Russian materiel left
Georgia on May 15 and brought to Russia seven T-72 tanks, 12 APCs
and automobiles of the 62nd base.
“Before the end of 2006, 20 more trains with hardware, armaments and
materiel of Russian military bases, i.e. about 400 cars and flatcars,
are to leave Georgia to deliver up to 500 pieces of military hardware,”
he said.
The loading of the third train has ended in Batumi, Kuparadze went on.
“This train will bring part of special logistics support equipment and
other materiel of the 12th Russian military base in Batumi to Armenia,
where it will be added to the inventory of the 102nd military base
in Gyumri,” he noted.
The departure of the third train is scheduled for Sunday morning.