Russia invites France to join retrieval of Airbus fragments

Interfax, Russia
May 7 2006

MOSCOW. May 7 (Interfax) – The government commission handling the
effects of the crash of an A-320 of Armenian Airlines has invited
experts from the French civil aviation safety authority to participate
in the retrieval of fragments of the Airbus that crashed near Sochi
on May 3.

“We invited French experts to participate in the retrieval of aircraft
fragments,” commission chairman and Transport Minister Igor Levitin
told the Moscow press on Sunday.

He said Russia would not cope without French equipment. “We must define
more precisely the whereabouts of the fragments that interest us,”
he said.

Levitin said the commission is energetically studying the experience
of lifting the fragments of the ship that sank in Sharm El Sheikh.

“The retrieval of fragments took 18 days,” he added.

He expected the French side to deliver the necessary equipment in
the nearest future. ml