BLACK SEA CRASH PLANE BLACK BOXES MAY NOT BE FOUND – MINISTER

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 19 2006

MOSCOW, May 19 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s transport minister admitted
Friday that the flight recorders from an Armenian airliner that
crashed May 3 off Russia’s Black Sea coast may never be found.

“In crashes like this there is the probability that the black boxes
will not be found,” Igor Levitin said.

Levitin said experts with deep-sea equipment were combing an area of
20 square meters where signals from the radio beacons on the black
boxes had been detected, but admitted that the beacons could have
become detached on impact.

All 113 people on board died when an Airbus A-320 operated by Armenia’s
Armavia flying from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, came down in stormy
weather six kilometers (3.7 miles) from Adler airport, which services
the popular Russian resort of Sochi.