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(13:25) Flight from Tel Aviv downed in suspected terror attack
By The Jerusalem Post Internet Staff
Sibir Airlines flight 1812 carrying at least 66 passengers and 11 crew members from Tel Aviv has crashed into the Black Sea.
Fifty-one of the passengers were Israelis, many of them recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union. They had embarked this morning on a holiday, according to Russia's NTV television network.
The Russian Federal Security Service thinks the crash might have been caused by a terrorist act.
"All information from the crash scene is being analyzed. The version that it is a terrorist act has been given priority, bearing in mind the recent international developments," a representative of the Federal Security Service's public relations center told Interfax.
Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh told The Associated Press that it is too early to confirm the crash was an act of terrorism.
Interfax is reporting a possible explosion on board before the Siberia-bound plane crashed into the sea.
The pilot of an Armenian plane in the area reported seeing a passenger plane exploding in mid-air, according to Interfax.
At the time of the blast, the Armenian flight was at an altitude of 6,000 meters and the second aircraft was reportedly at 11,000 meters altitude.
Israeli authorities have banned all movement of aircraft at Ben-Gurion International Airport until the circumstances of the crash have been determined.
The Associated Press is reporting the plane crashed into the Black Sea coast, 114 miles (185 kilometers) from the Russian coastal city of Adler, according to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Russian authorities have dispatched emergency rescue teams by helicopter to the site of the crash.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has convened an emergency meeting with his advisors.
The Black Sea is 3,000 feet (900 meters) deep at the location of the crash.
The regular weekly flight was heading to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk and belonged to Sibir Airlines, based in the city.
The aircraft, a three-engine TU-154, departed Tel Aviv at 10:00 a.m. and made a stopover at Burgas, Bulgaria where it reportedly took on additional passengers.
The flight was scheduled to land in Novosibirsk at 4:00 p.m. Israel time.
Ben-Gurion International Airport has established an information hotline for those seeking information on the downed flight.
In Israel, call 1255-081818.
The Foreign Ministry's emergency operations room has also publicized its phone number: 02-5303155.
Callers outside Israel must dial 972 before the above numbers. |
