Posted on 10/04/2001 9:05:19 AM PDT by Olydawg
A missile fired during a military training exercise in Ukraine appears to have accidentally brought down a Russian airliner flying from Israel to Siberia, U.S. officials said Thursday.
The plane crashed into the Black Sea with at least 77 aboard. A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the surface-to-air missile was fired from the Crimean region of Ukraine. Ukraine is the only country known to be conducting military exercises in the Black Sea area, the official said.
The defense official said the Ukrainian military was conducting an air defense exercise off the Crimean coast that involved both warships and aircraft. Those warships have the ability to fire surface-to-air missiles, the official said.
The downing of the airliner appeared to be accidental, officials said.
A second U.S. military official said the Pentagon is attempting to clarify exactly what has happened. The officer said the incident did not appear to be a collision of two aircraft.
Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, asked if the Pentagon had any explanation, declined to comment. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said terrorism could be the cause.
"A civilian aircraft crashed today and it is possible that it is the result of a terrorist act," Putin told a meeting of visiting European justice ministers in Moscow.
Bush administration officials were in almost immediate contact with their counterparts in Moscow in an attempt to determine whether there was a connection between the explosion and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States or U.S. plans to retaliate.
Ukraine's U.N. ambassador, Valery Kuchinsky, said he knew nothing of the missile report and was going to check with his government. "I don't think so," he said. "We're very careful with our missiles, and we in fact transferred most of them, the biggest, to Russia, and what we have, we're very careful."
He said he didn't know of any military exercises or activities taking place Thursday.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said U.S. officials called the Russian government to ascertain the facts.
In Moscow, Deputy Transport Minister Karl Ruppel told The Associated Press that a crew of an Armenian airliner in the area had informed Russian air traffic controllers that they saw an explosion aboard a plane flying nearby in the Black Sea area. Ruppel said he didn't know what caused the explosion. He was confirming Russian media reports of a blast on the Russian plane.
The Tupolev 154 went down in pieces 114 miles off the Russian coastal city of Adler, located on the Georgian border, said Vasily Yurchuk, a spokesman for the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The plane, with at least 66 passengers and 11 crew members on board, was on its way from Tel Aviv to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. It belonged to Sibir Airlines, which is based in Novosibirsk, about 1,750 miles east of Moscow. Sibir Airlines confirmed it was a charter flight.
KIEV, Oct 4 (AFP) -
An Ukrainian army missile accidentally shot down a Russian airliner that crashed into the Black Sea Thursday, Ukrainian navy official Igor Larichev told AFP.
All 76 people on board, mnostly Israeli citizens, were feared dead after the TU-154 Sibir Airlines jet travelling from Tel Aviv crashed into the sea 190 kilometres (115 miles) south of the Russian city of Sochi, the Russian emergencies ministry said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier said he suspected a terrorist attack following reports of a midair explosion.
I second that motion.
Predictions are always tricky but having said that, I predict that the final determination on this will be exactly what it appeared to be in the first moments, a bomb onboard carried by a suicide bomber connected to the same terrorists we are currently seeking.
These explanations are as full of holes as that plane is now.
Maybe the CIA could produce a video to show how the center fuel tank exploded and the plane continued rising on the horizion, matching eye witness testimony.
I also saw a thread (it seems to have been pulled recently) where they said the planes stopover in Bulgaria was unshceduled. I know that reporting is usually off in the early hours of these types of events, but if true, that puts the plane off its original flight plan.
"Ukraine's U.N. ambassador, Valery Kuchinsky, said he knew nothing of the missile report and was going to check with his government. ``I don't think so,'' he said. ``We're very careful with our missiles, and we in fact transferred most of them, the biggest, to Russia, and what we have, we're very careful.'' He said he didn't know of any military exercises or activities taking place Thursday... "
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