COMMISSION FINISHES DECIPHERING BLACK BOX FROM BLACK SEA PLANE

RIA Novosti, Russia
June 8 2006

MOSCOW, June 8 (RIA Novosti) – An intergovernmental commission has
finished work to decipher the cockpit voice recorder from an Armenian
A-320 passenger jet that crashed in the Black Sea May 3, Russia’s
Transportation Ministry said.

The ministry said in a press release that the recorder had captured 33
minutes of exchanges between the pilot of the plane and air traffic
controllers at Russia’s southern Adler airport, which services the
popular resort of Sochi.

“It was established that most of the conversation between crewmembers
took place in the Armenian language. Armenian embassy representatives
helped translate the talks into Russian and verified the translation,”
the ministry said.

The statement also said the transcript would not be published in
line with the standards and practices of the International Civil
Aviation Organization.

The Transportation Ministry also said the commission was continuing
work on deciphering the flight data recorder.

All 113 people on board the plane, including 8 crewmembers, died in
the tragedy.