More than 3,000 personnel join search for victims after Syria-bound military jet with 92 aboard crashes into Black Sea.

Backed by ships, helicopters and drones, rescue teams have been searching for victims after a Russian plane carrying 92 people to Syria crashed into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff.

Investigators said on Sunday they were looking into every possible cause for the crash of the Soviet-built Tu-154 plane.

All 84 passengers and eight crew members on board the plane operated by the Russian military are believed to have died when it crashed two minutes after taking off at 5:25am local time (02:25 GMT) in good weather from the southern Russian city of Sochi.

Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov, in charge of a state probe into the crash, said on state television that investigators were looking into a "whole spectrum" of theories on the cause of the crash.

When asked if a "terror attack" could have been behind the crash, Sokolov said: "It is premature to speak of this."

He added that the aircraft's black boxes had yet to be found.

More than 3,000 people - including over 100 divers flown in from across Russia - worked from 32 ships and several helicopters to search the crash site, the defence ministry said.

Drones and submersibles were also being used to help spot bodies and debris. Powerful spotlights were brought in so the search could continue around the clock.

Emergency crews found fragments of the plane about 1.5km from shore. By Sunday evening, rescue teams had recovered 11 bodies and Sokolov, the transport minister, said fragments of other bodies were also found.

The plane belonging to the defence ministry was taking its famed choir, the Alexandrov Ensemble, to a New Year's concert at Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia. Those on board also included nine Russian journalists and a Russian doctor famous for her work in war zones.

Yelizaveta Glinka has won wide acclaim for her charity work, which has included missions to war zones in eastern Ukraine and Syria. Her foundation said Glinka was accompanying a shipment of medicine for a hospital in Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin went on television to declare Monday a nationwide day of mourning.

"We will conduct a thorough investigation into the reasons and will do everything to support the victims' families," Putin said.

The Black Sea search area - which covered 10 square kilometres - was made more difficult by underwater currents that carried debris and body fragments into the open sea.

Transport Minister Sokolov said the plane's flight recorders did not have the radio beacons common in more modern aircraft, so locating them on the seabed was going to be challenging.

The Tu-154 is a Soviet-built three-engine airliner designed in the late 1960s. More than 1,000 have been built, and they have been used extensively in Russia and worldwide.

The plane that crashed on Sunday was built in 1983, and underwent factory check-ups and maintenance in 2014 and earlier this year, according to the defence ministry.

Investigators are exploring a number of possible causes to the crash, "including a catastrophic malfunction, a pilot error or a bird flying into the engine", said Al Jazeera's Natasha Ghoneim, reporting from Moscow.

Russian planes have been brought down previously by attacks. In October 2015, a Russian plane carrying mostly Russian tourists back from vacation in Egypt was brought down by a bomb over the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard. The local affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group claimed responsibility.

Syrian President Bashar Assad was among numerous foreign leaders who sent a condolence note to Putin, saying he received the news "with deep grief and sadness".

In recent years, Russian airlines have replaced their Tu-154s with more modern planes, but the military and other government agencies in Russia have continued to use them. While noisy and fuel-guzzling, the plane is popular with crews that appreciate its maneuverability and ruggedness.

Still, since 1994 there have been 17 major plane crashes involving the Tu-154 that have killed over 1,760 people. Most resulted from human error.</s>A Russian plane headed to an air base in Syria with 92 people aboard, including members of a well-known military choir, crashed into the Black Sea on Sunday minutes after taking off from the resort city of Sochi, Russia's Defense Ministry said.

There was no indication anyone survived the crash of the Tu-154, which belonged to the Defense Ministry and was taking the Alexandrov Ensemble to a New Year's concert at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia. Crews recovered several bodies and ships, helicopters and drones were searching the area for more.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said 10 bodies had been recovered so far.

"No survivors are seen," Konashenkov said.

Magomed Tolboyev, a decorated Russian test pilot, said the circumstances of the crash indicated that all people on board have died.

A total of 84 passengers and eight crew members were on the plane when it disappeared from radars two minutes after taking off in good weather. Emergency crews found fragments about 1.5 kilometers (less than one mile) from shore. There was no immediate word on the cause.

Viktor Ozerov, head of the defense affairs committee at the upper house of Russian parliament, said the crash could have been caused by a technical malfunction or a crew error, but he believes it could not have been terrorism because the plane was operated by the military.

"I totally exclude" the idea of an attack bringing down the plane, he said in remarks carried by state RIA Novosti news agency.

The passenger list released by the Defense Ministry included 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, among them its leader, Valery Khalilov. The ensemble is the official choir of the Russian military and also includes a band and a dance company.

The military has repeatedly flown groups of Russian singers and artists to perform at Hemeimeem, which serves as the main hub for the Russian air campaign in Syria conducted since September 2015. New Year's is the main holiday for most Russians, and the Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7 is also widely celebrated.

Also on board was Yelizaveta Glinka, a Russian doctor who has won wide acclaim for her charity work that included missions to war zones in eastern Ukraine and Syria. Her foundation said that Glinka was accompanying a shipment of medicines for a hospital in Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin presented Glinka with an award earlier this month.

"We never feel sure that we will come back alive," she said at the Kremlin award ceremony. "But we are sure that kindness, compassion and charity are stronger than any weapon."

Nine Russian journalists from three Russian television stations were also among the passengers.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was personally coordinating the rescue efforts, and President Vladimir Putin has received official reports on the incident.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev described the crash as a "terrible tragedy."

The Tu-154 is a Soviet-built three-engine airliner designed in the late 1960s. More than 1,000 have been built, and they have been used extensively by carriers in Russia and worldwide.

In recent years, Russian airlines have replaced their Tu-154s with more modern planes, but the military and some other government agencies in Russia have continued to use them.

While noisy and fuel-guzzling by modern standards, the plane has been popular with crews that appreciate its maneuverability and ruggedness.

"It's an excellent plane, which has proven its reliability during decades of service," veteran pilot Oleg Smirnov said in televised remarks.

The plane that crashed was built in 1983, and underwent repairs in 2014, according to the Defense Ministry.

In April 2010, a Tu-154 carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others crashed while trying to land in bad weather at a sporadically used military airport in Smolensk in western Russia, killing everyone on board. Investigations by both Polish and Russian experts blamed pilot error in bad weather conditions, but Polish authorities have launched a new probe.

</s>A pilot error or possible technical fault most likely caused the Russian military plane to crash into the Black Sea on Sunday, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said on Monday, emphasising that authorities were not looking at terrorism as a cause, AP reported. The flight was heading to Latakia, Syria, after making a brief stop at Sochi for refuelling. It crashed into the sea minutes after taking off with 92 people on board, who are all feared dead.

While Sokolov said Russia did not see the need to up security measures at airports despite the Syrian connection to the crash, aviation experts have highlighted factors that suggest a terror attack. “Possible malfunctions...certainly would not have prevented the crew from reporting them,” Vitaly Andreyev, a former senior Russian air traffic controller, told news agency RIA Novosti. The fact that the debris of the Defense Ministry’s Tu-154 plane was scattered over a wide area in the sea was another noted factor indicating a terror strike.

Rescue teams, including 139 divers, recovered 11 bodies and “154 fragments” of bodies by Monday morning, said Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesperson for the Defence Ministry, BBC reported. The bodies have been flown to Moscow to be identified. Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an investigation into the crash and also declared Monday a nationwide day of mourning.

The hunt is on to recover the flight recorders, but the Russian transport minister said it would be a challenge to locate them as the devices did not have radio beacons. Authorities are combing an area of 10 sq km in the Black Sea to find fragments of the aircraft and the bodies of those who were on board, which included Russia’s world famous military choir.</s>A Russian Tupolev Tu-154 airliner with 92 passengers on board crashed in the Black Sea at 5:25’ a.m. local time (2:40’ GMT). The airplane took off from Adler near Sochi and it was on its way to the Russian Hmeymim airbase in Latakia, Syria, carrying the famous Alexandrov Ensamble (a.k.a. Red Army Choir) for a concert ahead of New Year’s Eve.

The Tu-154 was built in 1983 and it had gone through scheduled maintenance last September. According to the information available so far, the pilot was very experienced.

An investigation has been ordered by Vladimir Putin is order to shed light into the reason of the crash.

 So far, the possibility of bad weather or a terrorist attack seem to be ruled out, and the investigation is focusing on the safety procedures prior to take off and the possibility of human error.

According to Interfax, the pilots did not make any distress call of any kind.

On board the flight were also journalists and TV crew from three Russian TV stations, Channel One Russia, NTV, και Zvezda.

There is a huge salvage operation going on at the moment on the crash site, that includes six Russian Navy ships, four SAR vessels, four helicopters, one airplane, a number of UAVs and more than 100 divers.

 The 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensamble were traveling without the orchestra, since the concert would have recorded music on the background.</s>(bbc.com) A Russian military plane with 92 people on board has crashed into the Black Sea, Russia’s defence ministry says.

The plane disappeared from radar two minutes after taking off from the resort of Sochi at 05:25 (02:25 GMT). Debris and one body have been found, with no reports of any survivors.

The defence ministry said the Tu-154 was carrying soldiers, 64 members of the famed Alexandrov military music ensemble, and nine reporters.

It was flying to Latakia in Syria.

The flight originated in Moscow and had landed at Adler airport in Sochi for refuelling.

The defence ministry said in a statement: “Fragments of the Tu-154 plane of the Russian defence ministry were found 1.5km (one mile) from the Black Sea coast of the city of Sochi at a depth of 50 to 70m (165-230ft).”

An audio recording played on Russian media and said to be of the final conversation between air traffic controllers and the plane reveals no sign of any difficulties being faced by the crew.

Voices remain calm until the plane disappears and the controllers try in vain to re-establish contact.

Reports from the area said flying conditions were favourable.

President Vladimir Putin has ordered a state commission to look into the crash and sent his condolences to the families and friends of the victims.

The defence ministry has published a passenger list (in Russian), showing that 64 of those on board were from the Alexandrov Ensemble, including its director, Valery Khalilov.

There were nine journalists, eight soldiers, two civil servants and eight crew members.

Also on board was Elizaveta Glinka, known as Dr Liza, the executive director of the Fair Aid charity and the inaugural winner of Russia’s state prize for achievements in human rights.

Mr Konashenkov said the plane was carrying passengers to a New Year’s performance for Russian troops deployed in Syria.

The performance was scheduled to take place at Russia’s Hmeimim air base, near Latakia.

Russia has been carrying out air strikes in support of Syrian government forces who are battling rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In April 2010, a Tu-154 plane crashed in Smolensk, western Russia, killing all 96 people on board, including Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

A Tu-154, operated by Siberian Airlines, was shot down over the Black Sea in October 2001, killing 78 people.

The plane was travelling from Tel Aviv in Israel to Novosibirsk in Russia, and most of the passengers were Israeli.

The Ukrainian military initially denied involvement but officials later admitted the plane could have been hit accidentally during a training exercise.(bbc.com)</s>MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian passenger plane with 92 people aboard, including a well-known military band, crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria on Sunday minutes after takeoff from the resort city of Sochi, the Defense Ministry said.

The Tu-154, which belonged to the Defense Ministry, was taking the Alexandrov choir to a concert at the Russian air base in Syria.

A total of 84 passengers and eight crew members were on board the plane when it dropped off of radars minutes after taking off in good weather. Emergency services found fragments about 1.5 kilometers (less than one mile) from shore at a depth of 50 to 70 meters (165 to 230 feet.) The cause of the crash wasn't immediately known.

Rescuers already have found one body and personal documents belonging to some of those on board. There was no word of survivors.

Nine Russian journalists, including a TV crew from Channel One, were also among the passengers. The plane was headed to the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was personally coordinating the rescue efforts, and President Vladimir Putin has received official reports on the incident.

The Tu-154 is a Soviet-built three-engine airliner designed in the late 1960s. More than 1,000 have been built, and they have been used extensively by carriers in Russia and worldwide.

In recent years, Russian airlines have replaced their Tu-154s with more modern planes, but the military and some other government agencies in Russia have continued to use them.</s>MOSCOW -- The Latest on the crash of a Russian aircraft with 92 people on board en route to Russia's air base in Syria (all times local):

A Russian official says the crash of a Russian military passenger plane into the Black Sea could have been caused by a technical malfunction or a crew error, but he believes it could not have been terrorism because the plane was operated by the military.

Viktor Ozerov, head of the defense affairs committee at the upper house of Russian parliament, says in remarks carried by the state news agency RIA Novosti that he "totally excludes" terrorism as a possible cause of the crash.

The plane was en route to Russia's air base in Syria with 92 people on board when it crashed shortly after taking off from the resort town of Sochi. At least one body has been found and there is no word on whether anyone survived.

The Defense Ministry has released a list of the passengers. They include 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, among them its leader, Valery Khalilov. The Alexandrov Ensemble is the official choir of the Russian military, and it also includes a band and a dancing company.

The Russian Defense Ministry says rescuers have found fragments of the Tu-154 plane that was carrying 92 people en route to the Russian military base in Syria.

The ministry said earlier that the plane disappeared from radars shortly after takeoff from the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Sunday. It carried members of the world-famous Alexandrov military choir.

The ministry says rescue teams found fragments of the plane less than a mile from shore at a depth of 50-70 meters.</s>Passengers on the flight that crashed into the Black Sea moments after takeoff Sunday included 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, the Russian military choir, who were traveling to Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base in Syria to serenade Russian personnel on New Year’s Eve.

SOCHI, Russia — A Russian aircraft bound for Syria carrying a famed military band to entertain Russia’s forces there crashed into the Black Sea moments after takeoff Sunday, and authorities said all 92 people aboard were believed dead.

The cause of the crash is under investigation, although initial Russian news media reports indicated it was a technical failure rather than terrorism.

The Russian military has had only minor casualties throughout its deployment in Syria, but the country has experienced a series of setbacks in recent days.

On Dec. 19, the Russian ambassador to Turkey was assassinated at an art exhibit in Ankara, with the killer yelling “don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria!”

That came not long after forces from the Islamic State recaptured the storied city of Palmyra, forcing the Russian garrison that had been stationed there since helping to take the city last spring to flee.

The military plane, a Russian-made Tupolev Tu-154, disappeared from radar two minutes after taking off from the resort town of Sochi. Russia’s official weather forecast agency said that conditions near the airport were “normal, easy,” the Interfax news agency reported. The airplane was technically fit, the Defense Ministry said.

Wreckage of the plane, which was carrying 84 passengers and eight crew members, was found in the sea, most of it about one mile from shore, the Russian Defense Ministry said. No survivors have been found at the crash site, Russian officials said.

Passengers on the flight, which originated in Moscow and stopped in Sochi to refuel, included 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, the Russian military choir, who were traveling to Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base in Syria. The band planned to serenade Russian personnel in Syria on New Year’s Eve.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia deployed Russian armed forces in Syria in September 2015, ostensibly to fight terrorism but primarily to prop up President Bashar Assad of Syria, the leader of the lone remaining Russian ally in the region, whose forces have been fighting an insurgency for nearly six years.

Russian forces have been instrumental in helping the Damascus government regain the initiative, with the final rebels expelled from the besieged city of Aleppo on Thursday.

Three journalists from Channel One, Russia’s main television station, were on the plane, as were journalists from the Zvezda and NTV television networks, news reports said.

Yelizaveta P. Glinka, a prominent Russian philanthropist and a member of the presidential council on human rights and civil society, was also on the list of people on board. Putin recently honored Glinka with a state award for her human rights and charity work. Valery V. Khalilov, the ensemble’s artistic director, was also on the plane, according to the list of passengers.

Putin expressed his condolences to relatives of the victims, and he declared Monday a national day of mourning. (Christmas is not celebrated as an official holiday in Russia on Dec. 25, because the Russian Orthodox Church observes it on Jan. 7.)

“First of all, I would like to express my sincere condolences to the families of our citizens, who died today, as a result of an aviation catastrophe over the Black Sea this morning,” Putin said in St. Petersburg, according to remarks published on the Kremlin’s website.

He also ordered Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to establish a state commission, headed by the transportation minister, Maxim Sokolov, to investigate the crash. The Defense Ministry said that 11 bodies had been recovered as search efforts continued, Russian news agencies reported.

A makeshift memorial was installed inside the Sochi airport, and people brought candles and flowers. Relatives of the victims were whisked away by authorities to a specially designated zone, where they were treated by psychiatrists.

Sokolov told journalists inside the terminal building that the rescue effort would not stop at night.

“It is premature to say anything about the causes of this tragedy,” he told reporters.

More than 30 vessels were deployed in the recovery operation, Sokolov said, and the Defense Ministry said more than 100 divers had been sent to the crash site.

Founded in the Soviet era, the Alexandrov Ensemble, which had performed in Syria earlier this year, is the official band of the Russian armed forces. It consists of an orchestra, a choir and a dance ensemble, and is one of the two Russian orchestras allowed to use the title “Red Army Choir.”

The ensemble was founded by Alexander Alexandrov, a prominent Soviet composer and author of the music of the Russian anthem, and his grandson Yevgeny told Meduza, a Russian news website, that “the best members of the ensemble died.”

“All the best soloists, the whole choir,” he said. “Everything will collapse now. The best ones are gone.”

Several independent news outlets in Russia reported that the Alexandrov Ensemble planned to give a concert in Aleppo. In May, the Russian military had flown a symphony orchestra led by one of its best known conductors, Valery Gergiev, to mark the reclaiming of Palmyra.

Until recently, the Tu-154, which was designed in the 1960s, was one of the most widely used civilian aircraft in Russian aviation. The plane that crashed on Sunday was made in 1983, underwent planned maintenance work in the fall, and was operated by an experienced pilot, the Defense Ministry said.

Russian airlines have mostly replaced outdated Soviet planes with new ones in recent years and have vastly improved the overall safety record. Many government agencies continue to fly the Tu-154 and other old Soviet aircraft, however.

The age and reputation of the Tu-154, as well as the fact that the aircraft had flown out of secure military airfields, meant most senior officials speaking publicly ruled out the possibility that an attack had caused the crash. But there was speculation by a few aviation experts, echoed by some officials, that terrorism could not be ruled out given the suddenness with which the plane disappeared and the size of the debris field.

“For us the worst version is an act of terrorism, because if this is the case, this will mean that we have paid another bill for Aleppo,” Vadim Lukashevich, an aviation expert, told Dozhd, an independent television station.

In one of Russia’s most recent air disasters, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for planting a bomb onboard a Russian civilian Airbus that crashed in Egypt in October 2015, killing all 224 people on board in a flight from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik to St. Petersburg.

Another Russian-made military plane crashed in eastern Siberia on Dec. 19, seriously injuring 16 of the 39 people on board, and aviation authorities recently grounded the country’s newest civilian airliner, the Sukhoi Superjet 100, because of concerns about metal fatigue.</s>A Russian defence force Tu-154 aircraft carrying 92 people has crashed into the Black Sea, according to reports.

The Russian defence ministry said that the plane carrying musicians from the famous Alexandrov military choir to a New Year concert for troops in Syria went missing soon after taking off from the resort of Sochi on Sunday.

A total of 84 passengers and eight crew were on board when the plane dropped off radar shortly after take-off at 5:40am local time (0240 GMT).

The ministry later said fragments of the plane, a Soviet-designed three-engine airliner, had been found by rescuers about 1.5km from the shore in water around 50-70 metres deep. There were no reports of survivors.

Russia’s RIA news agency, citing an unidentified security source, said preliminary data indicated the plane had crashed because of a technical malfunction, Reuters reported.

Those on board included Russian servicemen and artists from the Russian military’s official choir, the Alexandrov Ensemble, who were on their way to celebrate the upcoming New Year with air force personnel at the Khmeimim air base near Latakia in western Syria, the defence source told RIA. Nine Russian journalists were also on board, it said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that Vladimir Putin had been informed of the situation and was being kept abreast of the search operations. A criminal investigation had been launched to determine whether safety breaches had led to the crash.

Tu-154 aircraft have been involved in a number of accidents in the past.

In April 2010 many high-ranking Polish officials, including then president Lech Kaczynski, were killed when a Tu-154 airliner went down in thick fog while approaching the Smolensk airport in western Russia.

Moscow has been conducting a bombing campaign in Syria in support of long-time ally president Bashar al-Assad since September 2015 and has taken steps to boost its presence in the country.

Putin in October approved a law ratifying Moscow’s deal with Damascus to deploy its forces in the country indefinitely, firming Russia’s long-term presence in the country.

Russian warplanes have flown out of the Khmeimim base to conduct air strikes in Syria, and the base is also home to an S-400 air defence system.</s>SOCHI, Russia — Backed by ships, helicopters and drones, Russian rescue teams searched Sunday for victims after a Russian plane carrying 92 people to Syria crashed into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff. Investigators said they are looking into every possible cause for the crash, including a terror attack.

All 84 passengers and eight crew members on board the Soviet-built Tu-154 plane operated by the Russian military are believed to have died when it crashed two minutes after taking off at 5:25 a.m. in good weather from the southern Russian city of Sochi.

More than 3,000 people — including over 100 divers flown in from across Russia — worked from 32 ships and several helicopters to search the crash site, the Defence Ministry said. Drones and submersibles were also being used to help spot bodies and debris. Powerful spotlights were brought in so the search could continue around the clock.

Emergency crews found fragments of the plane about 1.5 kilometres from shore. By Sunday evening, rescue teams had recovered 11 bodies and Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said fragments of other bodies were also found.

Asked if a terror attack was a possibility, Sokolov said investigators were looking into every possible reason for the crash.

The plane belonging to the Defence Ministry was taking its world famous choir, the Alexandrov Ensemble, to a New Year’s concert at Hemeimeem air base in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia. Those on board also included nine Russian journalists and a Russian doctor famous for her work in war zones.

Russian President Vladimir Putin went on television to declare Monday a nationwide day of mourning.

“We will conduct a thorough investigation into the reasons and will do everything to support the victims’ families,” Putin said.

The Black Sea search area — which covered 10 square kilometres — was made more difficult by underwater currents that carried debris and body fragments into the open sea.

Sokolov said the plane’s flight recorders did not have the radio beacons common in more modern aircraft, so locating them on the seabed was going to be challenging.

The Tu-154 is a Soviet-built three-engine airliner designed in the late 1960s. More than 1,000 have been built, and they have been used extensively in Russia and worldwide. The plane that crashed Sunday was built in 1983, and underwent factory check-ups and maintenance in 2014 and earlier this year, according to the Defence Ministry.

Magomed Tolboyev, a decorated Russian test pilot, said the circumstances of the crash indicated that all on board had died.

“There is no chance to survive in such situation,” he said, according to the Interfax news agency.

Before Sokolov spoke to reporters in Sochi, senior Russian lawmakers had ruled out a terror attack, arguing that the military plane was tightly secured. Security is particularly tight in Sochi, which hosted the 2014 Winter Games and is regularly visited by Putin, who has a residence there.

But some experts noted that the crew’s failure to report a malfunction pointed at a possible terror attack.

“Possible malfunctions ... certainly wouldn’t have prevented the crew from reporting them,” Vitaly Andreyev, a former senior Russian air traffic controller, told RIA Novosti, adding that it points at an “external impact.”

Russian planes have been brought down previously by terror attacks.

In October 2015, a Russian plane carrying mostly Russian tourists back from vacation in Egypt was brought down by a bomb over the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard. Officials said the explosive device was planted in the plane’s luggage compartment. The local affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility.

In August 2004, two Russian planes were blown up in the skies over Russia on the same day by suicide bombers, killing 89 people. A Chechen warlord claimed responsibility for the twin attacks.

In the last year, the Russian military has repeatedly flown Russian singers and artists to perform at Hemeimeem, which serves as the main hub for the Russian air campaign in Syria. This plane was carrying performers for New Year’s, the main holiday for most Russians.

The passenger list for the Sochi plane released by the Defence Ministry included 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, including its leader, Valery Khalilov. The ensemble is the official choir of the Russian military and also includes a band and a dance company. The choir sang Get Lucky at the opening of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, becoming an instant online sensation.

The damage to the choir was reported to be devastating. Viktor Yeliseyev, head of the rival choir of the Russian National Guard, said “most singers of the choir have died.”

Also on board was Yelizaveta Glinka, a Russian doctor who has won wide acclaim for her charity work, which has included missions to war zones in eastern Ukraine and Syria. Her foundation said Glinka was accompanying a shipment of medicine for a hospital in Syria.

“We never feel sure that we will come back alive,” she said when Putin presented her with an award earlier this month. “But we are sure that kindness, compassion and charity are stronger than any weapon.”

Syrian President Bashar Assad was among numerous foreign leaders who sent a condolence note to Putin, saying he received the news “with deep grief and sadness.”

In recent years, Russian airlines have replaced their Tu-154s with more modern planes, but the military and other government agencies in Russia have continued to use them. While noisy and fuel-guzzling, the plane is popular with crews that appreciate its manoeuvrability and ruggedness.

“It’s an excellent plane, which has proven its reliability during decades of service,” veteran pilot Oleg Smirnov said in televised remarks.

Still, since 1994 there have been 17 major plane crashes involving the Tu-154 that have killed over 1,760 people. Most resulted from human error.

In the latest previous deadly crash of a Tu-154, a plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others crashed in April 2010 while trying to land at a military airport in Smolensk in western Russia, killing everyone on board. Investigations by both Polish and Russian experts blamed pilot error in bad weather, but Polish authorities have launched a new probe.

Isachenkov reported from Moscow. Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed to this report.
A Russian Tu-154 military passenger airplane carrying 92 people including the Alexandrov Ensemble crashes into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff from Sochi. The airplane was headed towards Khmeimim, Syria. The Russian Armed Forces are actively involved in the Syrian Civil War.