GEORGIA TO GIVE ARMENIA RECORDING OF CONVERSATIONS WITH CREW OF CRASHED PLANE

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 04 2006

TBILISI, MAY 4, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On May 4, the
Georgaeronavigation company will give the Armenian side the recording
of the conversation between the crew of the Armenian plane crashed in
the Black Sea and Georgian flying control officers. Company Director
Georgi Karbelashvili reported this to radio Liberty. “In essence,
the Georgian flying control officers have the whole recording of
the plane’s flight with the exception of the last 5-10 minutes when
the plane disappeared from the radars’ screens. But until 4:00 pm
by Yerevan’s time no one had applied to the Georgian side with the
request to get this recording,” the company director said. “We did
not publicize any information. But when the Russian media started to
give some information, we got in touch with the Armenian Ambassador
to Georgia, Armenian Deputy of Georgian Parliament Van Bayburd,
convened a press conference. We are guided by international laws
and rules. According to them, all countries that take part in the
implementation of the flight give the information they have. The
Russian side cannot carry on an investigation without Georgia and
Armenia,” Karbelashvili emphasized. The company director was especially
surprised at the circumstance that Russia has formed an investigation
group but has not taken any step in the direction of receiving this
important imformation from the Georgian side. “We do not say who is to
blame. It is not our business. We only say that we have an important
information: the recording of 90% of the flight that can be useful
for finding out the reasons of the crash,” Karbelashvili declared.

“If you listen to the recording, the flying control officers of Rostov
make very unpleasant expressions there, but now I do not want to speak
about it, let your ambassador decide whether it is worth publishing
them,” Georgi Karbelashvili said without going into the details of
what he meant.