Plane carrying Alexandrov Ensemble and Dr Liza crashes in Black Sea

The Tu-154 plane of Russia’s Defense Ministry has fallen in the Black Sea, a source in the regional law enforcement services said. The source also said that debris and chassis of the Tu-154 plane of Russia’s Defense Ministry have been found some 6 kilometers from the Black Sea coast. "The parts of the plane and undercarriage, and also an oily spot have been found some six kilometers from the coast," the source said.

According to the Defense Ministry, among people on board there are Russian servicemen who flew to congratulate with the New Year the air group of Russia’s Aerospace Forces at the Hmeymim airbase in Syria, musicians of the famed army choir, the Alexandrov Ensemble, and nine representatives of Russian mass media, TASS reports.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Sunday that a total of 92 people were on board. There were 84 passengers and 8 crew members on board. Konashenkov later said that there were 64 performing artists of the Alexandrov Ensamble as well as the group's director, Valery Khalilov, on board of the plane. Head of Defense Ministry's Department of Culture, Anton Gubankov, was among the passengers.

Currently, one Ka-32 helicopter and seven marine vessels are conducting a search at the site of the crash. Plane's fragments were discovered 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) from the sea shore of Sochi at a depth of 50-70 meters (164-184 feet), the Russian Defense Ministry's press service said Sunday. "Fragments of the Russian Defense Ministry's TU-154 aircraft were discovered in 1.5 kilometers from the Black Sea shore of Sochi at a depth of 50-70 meters," the ministry said, Sputnik reported.

According to the source, the possible reasons for the alleged crash could be technical malfunction or pilot error. The version of a terror attack has been ruled out, the chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Viktor Ozerov said. 

Soon after the news came out, Russia's Investigative Committee launched a criminal case into the crash of Tu-154 military aircraft in the Black Sea. "A criminal case into the Tu-154 crash was initiated, according to Article 351 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, 'Failure to comply with the rules of flight security and preparation,'"  Investigative Committe's representative Svetlana Petrenko said.

The Spravedlivaya Pomoshch (Fair Aid) charity fund has confirmed that its head Elizaveta Glinka, known as Dr. Liza, was onboard the crashed Tu-154 plane en route to Syria. The fund said in a statement on its website that Glinka flew to Syria late on Saturday onboard the Defense Ministry’s plane. "She accompanied a humanitarian cargo for the university hospital Tishrin in Latakia," it said, giving no more details, TASS writes.