EQUIPMENT TO RECOVER BLACK SEA AIRBUS RECORDERS ARRIVES AT PORT

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 15 2006

SOCHI, May 15 (RIA Novosti) – Equipment to recover what are believed
to be the flight recorders from an Armenian airliner that crashed
in the Black Sea has been delivered to the scene, a Russian official
said Monday.

The black boxes are seen as the key to discovering why the Airbus
crashed May 3 six kilometers (3.7 miles) off the Russian coast with
the loss of all 113 people on board.

“The equipment has been loaded on a vessel,” the official from the
Emergency Situations Ministry said. “Today, it will be fixed, tuned
and tested.”

On Saturday, recovery teams said a deep-sea search vehicle had recorded
images of objects believed to be the flight recorders and other parts
of the airliner.

The objects were located using the same coordinates as the radio
signals presumed to be coming from the flight recorders.

Transportation Minister Igor Levitin, who is overseeing the recovery
effort, said Saturday the recovery of the objects would start May 16,
adding that the effort could take two or three days, depending on
the weather.

He said the objects were at a depth of 496 meters (1,627 feet) and
at a distance of five meters (16 feet) from each other.

The Airbus A-320 operated by Armenia’s Armavia was flying from the
Armenian capital, Yerevan, to Adler airport, which services the
popular Russian resort of Sochi, when it came down in stormy weather.