UNCERTAINTY ABOUT PLANE CRASH IS NOT DIMINISHING
Lragir.am
04 May 06
According to our sources, about a day and a half passed from the
crash of A320, and much more questions have occurred than answers
have been given. Particularly, it became known that two people did
not fly because after checking in and submitting the luggage it
turned out that they did not have visas in their passports. However,
the plane took off on time, which means that the luggage of those two
passengers was not returned. Next, investigation is carried out along
with the work of rescuers, and the fuel collected from the surface of
water. Hardly 15 liters of fuel was reported to have been collected,
whereas the Armenian officials assure that the plane had about 10
tons of fuel. It is known that fuel is very expensive in Yerevan,
and in a number of cases an airlines fuel up for one destination only.
At least 5 countries are related with the crash and the related
developments: Armenia, Georgia, Russia, France and the United
States. Presently, each of them is trying to prove that they are not to
blame for the accident. Therefore, Georgia is willing to provide the
recording of the conversation of the Armenian pilots and the Georgian
dispatchers when the plane was flying via Georgia. Our source assures
that when the Georgian party attempted to deliver the recording to
the ambassador of Armenia, the ambassador “disappeared.” Thanks
to the consistency of the Georgian party, the representatives of
the office of the Attorney General of Armenia arrived in Georgia to
take the recording. There is yet another suspicion; according to the
requirements of the airport of Sochi, when a plane makes a second
attempt to land, it has to depart from the coast maximum 4 km. The
Armenian plane plunged into the sea 4-5 km from the coast.

PRESS SECRETARY OF THE GEORGIAN AIR NAVIGATION SERVICE: THE PLANE WAS NOT IN AN EMERGENCY STATE
AmRadio.am
04.05.2006 17:10
The flight from Yerevan to Sochi lasts 50-55 minutes. The Sochi
airport is in the city of Adler at the Russian-Georgian border,
i.e. most part of the flight passes through Georgian air space.
To understand the reasons of the May 3 crash of the “A-320” airplane
over the Black Sea it is important to know the conversations between
the crew and the air traffic control officers of Georgia.
In a phone talk with “Radiolur” correspondent Tatul Hakobyan Press
Secretary of the Georgian Air Navigation Service Tea Gedabadze
thoroughly presented the record of the conversations between the crew
of the “A-320” and the Georgian air traffic control officers.
“At 21:15 GMT or 1:15 local time the Armenian plane was normally
flying in the Georgian sky. The pilot informs that the Sochi airport
is closed because of unfavorable weather conditions. We ask to check
the reserve of fuel in the plane. They respond the fuel will suffice
for two more hours. We return back to Yerevan,” Tea Gedabadze tells.
Therefore, learning about the bad weather conditions in Sochi, the
crew took the decision to return to Yerevan.
21.26 GMT they resumed connection with Sochi, and the pilot said,
“In five minutes we’ll receive information from Russia and will decide
whether we are continuing the flight or returning to Yerevan.”
Tea Gedabadze notes that Georgian air traffic control officers have no
connection with their Russian colleagues, an the Armenian pilots were
informing them about the conversation with dispatchers of Rostov,
“Most probably Rostov told the crew of the Armenian plane that
the weather conditions improved. By 21.58 they left the air space
of Georgia. During our last conversation the pilot said good-bye,
till new return. After that the Armenian “A-320″ disappeared from
the radiolocation station.”
Could the Armenian airplane land in Sukhumi, the nearest airport
to Sochi.
“They did not need landing. When they learned that because of bad
weather it is impossible to land in Sochi they decided to return to
Yerevan. They have not asked for the permission to land. You see,
everything was normal. The plane was not in an emergency state,” Press
Secretary of the Air Navigation Service of Georgia Tea Gedabadze said.

RA GOVERNMENT TO PAY 1.5 MILLION DRAMS TO FAMILIES OF THE AIR CRASH VICTIMS
ArmRadio.am
04.05.2006 16:09
According to governmental decision, families of the victims of
the air crash in Sochi will be paid 1.5 million drams. Besides,
with the assistance of a number of businessmen the government has
opened a bank account, and those who so desire can provide their
financial assistance to families of the dead, said Hovik Abrahamyan,
RA Minister of Territorial Administration after the governmental
sitting presided over by Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan. According
to Mr. Abrahamyan, the identified bodies of the dead passengers will
be brought to Armenia at about 10 p.m.

ARMAVIA OWNER: FAMILY OF EACH KILLED IN CRASH WILL RECEIVE ABOUT $20,000
Yerevan, May 4. ArmInfo. The owner of 100 pct stake of Armavia airline
Mikhail Baghdasarov says Airbus A320 flying from Yerevan to Sochi
was in good repair.
Baghdasarov says the aircraft underwent full-scale repair in Belgium
in April. The fuelling before the flight would be enough for a return
flight. The crew comprised only high-skilled specialists. If the
initial command to return was fulfilled, no problems would emerge,
Baghdasaryan believes. Both the aircraft and the passengers were
insured by the Armenian company. The latter, in its turn, reinsured
its risks in London. The family of each killed person will receive
about $20,000, Baghdasarov says, adding that “it is impossible to
recoup such losses.”

RF EMERGENCY SITUATIONS SERVICE: SEARCH OPERATIONS WHERE A320 CRASHED HELD IN TWO DIRECTIONS
Moscow, May 4. ArmInfo-RBC. Search operations in the area of the crash
in the Black Sea will be in two directions: at the spot and in the
bottom, Andrey Legoshin, Deputy Head of Russian ESS Operative Office,
told journalists.
A special a deep-sea robot was to be used to try to recover the
plane’s recorders, after the fuselage is found. The search operations
are coordinated by helicopters. Search and rescue teams had pulled
48 bodies from the water, 20 bodies were identified, including
a stewardess.
To recap, the wrecked Airbus A- 320 was carrying out U 8967 fight
Yerevan-Sochi. French specialists of Airbus Industry concern also
arrived in the place. Besides, the sonar system and deep-sea devices
were assembled. Investigation group of RF Prosecutor General’s Office
(PGO) headed by Vladimir Lisenko, Head of the RF PGP Department for
Investigation of Special Cases, is in the place of the crash. Besides,
arriving in the disaster place were Deputy Prosecutor General of RF
Nikolay Shepel, Krasnodar Regional Prosecutor Sergey Yeremin, and
other officials of the region. Preliminary data say that all the
133 passengers and the crew of Airbus A320 that crashed into the
Black Sea were killed. Among them were 26 citizens of Russia, one
citizen of Ukriane. Krasnodar Regional Prosecutor’s Office initiated
a criminal case on the Article 263.3 of RF Criminal Code (violation
of safe transportation and air transport exploitation rules resulting
in death of two and more people).
From: Baghdasarian

FRENCH FM CONDOLES WITH RELATIVES AND FRIENDS OF KILLED IN PLANE CRASH
Yerevan, May 4. ArmInfo. Foreign Minister of France Philippe
Douste-Blazy conveyes his deep condolence to the relatives and friends
of the killed in the crash of Airbus A320 flying from Yerevan to
Sochi on May 3 night, French Embassy to Armenia told ArmInfo.
In his message, the minister offered his support to the authorities
of Russia and Armenia.

RUSSIAN PROSECUTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE TAKES OVER THE CRIMINAL CASE ON CRASH OF ARMAVIA COMPANY AIRBUS
Yerevan, May 4. ArmInfo. The Special Investigation Department of
Russian Prosecutor Geeral’s Office took over the criminal case on
the crash of Airbus A320 of belonging to Armavia company near Sochi,
Official Representative of the department, Natalya Vishnyakova told
Interfax. 20 of 48 found bodies have been identified, several bodies
are already being transferred to relatives. Rescue operations at
the spot of the crash were resumed early in the morning on May 4,
N. Vishnyakova said.
RTR reports that three of the identified bodies of Armenian citizens
were not in the passenger list of Airbus A-320. 113 were killed in
the crash.

THE FIRST FLIGHT TRANSPORTING IDENTIFIED BODIES OF THE KILLED IN PLANE CRASH TO YEREVAN IS SCHEDULED FOR TONIGHT
Yerevan, May 4. ArmInfo. The first identified bodies of the killed in
the plane crashed near Sochi will be transported to Armenia tonight,
Press Secretary of Armenian Rescue Service Nikolay Grigoryan told
ArmInfo.
47 bodies were found as of the midday Yerevan time. The bodies
and body fragments can be identified. 20 bodies have already been
identified. However, no list of the identified bodies has been
published yet. A group of Armenian rescuers (10 people) arrived on
the spot yesterday, they are participating in the general search and
rescue operations, N. Grigoryan said.

ARMENIAN AND RUSSIAN PARTIES DID NOT APPLY TO GEORGIAN AIR NAVIGATION FOR ASSISTANCE
Tbilisi, May 4. ArmInfo-BSP. Either the Armenian or the Russian
parties had applied to the Georgian Air Navigation for the records
of the last talks of Georgian flying control officers and the crew
of the Armenian wrecked plane till the last moment, Novosti-Georgia
reports. Armenian Airbus A-320 belonging to Armavia company flying
from Yerevan to Sochi crashed into the Black Sea on May 3 near Sochi.
Georgy Karbelashvili, Head of Georgian Air Navigation, told journalists
those records could become an important evidence in the investigation
of the crash. Karbelashvili said he had already offered assistance
to the Armenian Ambassador to Georgia. He said the records show that
A-320 had been in the airspace of Georgia for about an hour, then
almost reaching the border with Russia the plane had to turn back
because of the bad weather. However, not reaching Kutaisi, the plane
again took the former course as the Russian flying control officer
informed the crew about the improving weather in Sochi. Karbelashvili
refutes the report that allegedly the crew was proposed to land in
Tbilisi airport. He said that under international navigation rules,
a crew is informed of all the possible airports for emergency landing
before the flight. In the given case, those were the airports in
Russia and Yerevan. The last words of the Armenian pilot to Georgian
flying control officers were: “Thank you, see you on the way back!” The
Airbus disappeared from the Georgian monitors at 2:05 AM Tbilisi time
and crashed into the sea in about 10 minutes.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AHMADINEJAD CONDOLES WITH ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ON PLANE CRASH
Yerevan, May 4. ArmInfo. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a message
to his Armenian counterpart on Wednesday expressed his condolences
over an Armenian plane crash in which all on board were killed,
the Iranian Embassy in Armenia reports.
According to a report of Presidential Office Media Department, the
president in his message to President Robert Kocharian asked for God’s
mercy and blessing for victims and patience for the bereaved families.