ARMENIAN PROSECUTORS DEPART FOR SOCHI TO IDENTIFY THE CAUSE OF PLANE CRASH
Armenpress
May 11 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS: A group of Armenian prosecutors have left
today for Russian resort city Sochi to join Russian counterparts in
the ongoing criminal investigation into the May 3 crash of an Armenian
passenger jet that killed all 113 people aboard. The Armenian team
is led by chief investigator Hakob Gharakhanian.
The office of Armenian chief prosecutor said in line with an agreement
with Russian counterparts Armenian prosecutors will interrogate
some people in Sochi and will also conduct other investigation
actions. Armenian investigators may stay in Sochi for at least two
weeks. Armenian and Russian prosecutors opened separate criminal cases
immediately after the Airbus A320 of the Armavia airline plunged into
the Black Sea.
Meantime a Russian transportation official was quoted by RIA news
agency as saying that recovery teams have about three weeks to locate
and retrieve the flight data recorders of the Armenian airliner.
“We have a time limit, about 30 days from the moment of the crash,”
said Alexander Davydenko, who is coordinating the operation to locate
the black boxes.
He added that batteries of the black boxes, which are thought to be
at the depth of 400-450 meters (1,300- 1,470 feet), would run down
in 30 days.
Earlier wreckage had been reported at 680 meters (2,230ft).
Vladimir Yerygin, who oversees technological support for the operation
, said earlier that specialists from Toulouse-based Airbus were
planning to use advanced hydroacoustic equipment to find the precise
location of the black boxes and later recover them using a deep-sea
vehicle.
He said the main group of French experts, which left the port of Sochi
Wednesday morning, would set up a data-processing center on board one
ship, and another ship with the Kalmar deep-sea craft would continue
scanning the seabed for parts of the A-320.