Russian military plane carrying Red Army Choir members crashes in the Black Sea

A Russian military plane carrying Red Army Choir members crashed in the Black Sea on Sunday. The TU-154 aircraft, which was heading to Syria, disappeared from radar two minutes after taking off at 50:40 a.m. Moscow time (12:40 p.m. AEST). The 84 passengers and eight crew members were not expected to survive.

The plane had crashed shortly after take-off from the southern city of Sochi where it had been refuelling. Its debris was found 1.5 km from the coast near Sochi at 50 to 70 metres depth.

The plane carried more than 60 members of the Alexandrov ensemble, the official army choice of the Russian armed forces, who were flying to Syria to congratulate Russia’s Aerospace Forces at the Hmeymim air base. Choir head Valery Khalilov was in the list of passengers.

Spravedlivaya Pomoshch (Fair Aid) charity fund head Elizaveta Glinka, also known as Dr Liza, was among the passengers, as well as reporters from Channel One, Zvezda and NTV.

The Russian Defence Ministry has sent four ships and five helicopters to the plane crash site off the Black Sea for the search. The Emergencies Ministry will also send an Il-76 plane with rescuers and divers, Russian news agency TASS reports.

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin has ordered Prime Ministry Dmitry Medvedev to launch an investigation commission of the plane crash. Therefore, a criminal probe has been opened to determine whether there was “violation of rules of flights safety or preparation for them.”

Sputnik News has cited a source claiming that technical malfunction or pilot error could be possible reasons for the crash.

Investigation is ongoing.