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| Russian plane crash: First black box recovered from sea | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The flight data recorder of the Russian military airliner which crashed in the Black Sea on Sunday has been recovered, Russian officials say. | |
| It is the first "black box" to be retrieved from the Tu-154 jet, which came down with the loss of all 92 passengers and crew. | |
| The plane crashed soon after take-off from an airport near the city of Sochi. | |
| It was carrying artistes due to give a concert for Russian troops in Syria, along with journalists and military. | |
| The plane disappeared from radar two minutes after taking off from Sochi's Adler airport at 05:25 (02:25 GMT) on Sunday, heading for Latakia in Syria, the defence ministry said. | |
| The flight had originated in Moscow and landed in Sochi for refuelling. | |
| It was carrying 64 members of the famed Alexandrov military music ensemble, as well as one of Russia's best-known humanitarian figures, Yelizaveta Glinka, known as Dr Liza, executive director of the Fair Aid charity. | |
| The Alexandrov Ensemble had been scheduled to perform a New Year's concert 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. | |
| Overloading? | |
| There have been few clues as to the cause of the crash although Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov has played down the possibility of a bomb attack. | |
| He reiterated that investigators were looking into whether pilot error or a technical fault might have brought down the aircraft. | |
| A source close to the investigation told Russia's Interfax news agency that the plane may have been overloaded. | |
| "Witness accounts and other objective data obtained during the investigation suggest the plane was unable to gain height and for some reason - possibly overloading or a technical fault - crashed into the sea," the unnamed source said. | |
| 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. | |
| Voices remain calm until the plane disappears and the controllers try in vain to re-establish contact. | |
| The Tupolev airliner involved in the crash was an old model no longer flown by air lines in Russia but still used by the military. | |
| Tupolev-154: Russian workhorse |