Russian plane crashes into Black sea 7 minutes after takeoff

The Russian aircraft TU-154, which had disappeared from radar shortly after take-off in Sochi Sunday, has crashed in the Krasnodar Region seven minutes after takeoff, a source in local security services told Sputnik news agency.

The plane with some 91 people on board, including 83 passengers and eight crew members lost contact with land while flying over the Black Sea, the source said. 

Journalists, military personnel, musicians from Alexandrov Ensemble, an official army choir of the Russian armed forces, were onboard. 

According to preliminary findings, the missing TU-154 arrived in Sochi from Chkalovsky airport in Moscow region for refueling. Most likely, it crashed in mountainous area of Krasnodar Territory," the source said. 

The preliminary data shows that the disappeared plane was heading to Syria's Hmeimim airbase.

Source: MENA