WHO IS GOING TO DEFEND PILOTS?
Hakob Badalyan

Lragir.am
20 June 06

Gradually, even quite unexpectedly, the cause of the crash of the
Armenian plane is getting an official formulation. It was unexpected
because in the beginning the dynamics of the search for A320,
which crashed near Sochi on May 3, did not promise that the black
boxes of the plane would be retrieved from the bottom of the sea
and deciphered. Before lifting the recorders, they had announced
that it is impossible to lift the recorders from the bottom but very
soon the black boxes were retrieved. Before deciphering it had been
announced that it would take 2 months. However, both recorders have
been deciphered within only a month. Even official releases are made,
which directly serve the goal of confirming that the cause was the
mistake of the pilot. Why are the Russians in a hurry? And why aren’t
the Armenians in a hurry to react to the information published so
far? Does the government of Armenia have only one duty before its
citizens – to organize funerals?

Generally, the participation of Armenia to the investigation of the
plane crash is rather strange. It appears that official Yerevan was
interested in the crash on the first few days, and then everything
was managed by official Moscow. The crash was in Russia, but the
aircraft of the Armenian airlines crashed, and the passengers were
mainly citizens of Armenia.

It was notable that after the deciphering of the recorder the Russian
minister of transport Levitin announced that Armenian specialists
would also participate in deciphering because the talk of the crew
is in Armenian. Hence, the Armenian specialists’ role in deciphering
was that of a translator, and if the crew had spoken Russian, the
Armenian specialists might not even have been informed about the
deciphering. Although, maybe it is worthwhile to thank the Russians
that they informed Armenia about retrieving the recorders from the
sea, because the Armenian state and non-state TV companies stayed in
Sochi until the retrieval of the black boxes and returned home before
the retrieval. Whereas it appeared very important how many times
"the Russians threw the net" to get the recorders.

The interest of the Armenian government arouses doubts. There is
a striking contrast between the reaction on the first few days and
the present silence. The prime minister says they are informed about
the investigation but they do not tell anything because nothing was
published officially. On May 3, hours past the crash, Serge Sargsyan,
the secretary of the National Security Council, the minister of
defense of Armenia, arrived in Sochi. It is, in fact, a top-level
reaction. Whereas, now it is difficult to imagine a more figurative
silence. Whereas, defending the citizens of Armenia is concerned,
moreover, citizens who cannot defend themselves anymore because they
died in the plane crash. And the victims are blamed for the crash,
by promoting slowly but tenaciously the suggestion that the crew made
a mistake, which is already acquiring a clearly official coloring. And
the national security is concerned.

The question has already gone beyond the scope of raising funds for
the families of victims, and it appears that there is nobody competent
for this new scope. And if there is such a person, they are already
interested in another scope where a plane would not reach. It may
run out of fuel or not find the destination.