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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. “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.
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.