Malfunction, human error likely causes Russian plane crash

Technical malfunctions and a human error were among likely causes of the crash of an A-310 airliner at a Siberian airport early Sunday, the Prosecutor General's Office said.

"But it would be premature to prioritize any of the theories viewed. A more definite answer could be given after the flight recorders have been read," spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office Marina Gridneva was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

The flight data recorders were not damaged and had been taken to the Regional Emergency Situations Commission for analysis. The recordings would be read soon, Gridneva added.

According to a spokesman for Sibir Airlines, "neither the air controllers, nor mission control reported any emergencies when the plane was landing."

Updated reports indicated that the A-310 jet was carrying 192 passengers, six flight attendants and two pilots. Three female flight attendants survived the crash and had been taken to hospital.

Russian television pictures showed the wreckage of the jet in between several lockup garages. Only the airplane's tail section with the white-on -blue logo of Sibir Airlines remained intact.

The company ran its first A-310 flight from Irkutsk to Moscow in July 2004. Sibir has 10 passenger planes of this class.

Meanwhile, the Irkutsk airport authorities said that several foreign citizens were among the passengers on board the A-310 airliner.

"Specialists are now looking through lists of all passengers who were aboard the airbus of the Sibir Air Company. Foreign citizens were aboard the plane, and now we are re-checking their citizenship," a source at a crisis center was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

The source added that "several people (Wang Tiecheng, Wang Xiaojie, Li Qingli and Wang Lida) were likely to have the Chinese citizenship."

Source: Xinhua