Armenian Jet crashes in Black Sea w/ 100 aboard

[Gavur]

Commemoration Event Held In Sochi

Gevorg Harutyunyan

"Radiolur"
16.06.2006 17:11

All 113 people on board of the A-320 plane of Armavia Company of
Yerevan-Sochi flight died as a result of the crash in the Black Sea on
May 3. Some of the relatives had difficulties with leaving for Sochi
to participate in the commemoration ceremony to mark 40 days after
the tragedy. Many were afraid to fly in a plane. The Presidency of
Armenian-Russian and Armenian-Georgian Business Cooperation Association
undertook the resolution of the complex issue.

For 14 years the border between Georgia and Abkhazia has been closed,
only international peacekeeping forces are allowed to move along
the highway. An exception is made also for settlers of neighboring
Georgian and Abkhazian villages. The tragic death of the passengers
and crew of the A-320 upset not only our Russian colleagues, but
also our Georgian and Abkhazian neighbors. The will of many of the
relatives to participate in the commemoration ceremony could have
stayed unfulfilled if the Russian, Georgian and Abkhazian authorities
did not allow to travel via the car way.

This exceptional; transportation of more than 70 people in three
buses became possible due to the efforts of the Presidency of
Armenian-Russian and Armenian-Georgian Business Cooperation
Association.

Co-Chair of the Armenian side, MP Volodya Badalyan did not conceal
that this unprecedented cooperation can serve as an impetus for
reinforcement of interethnic peace.

Before reaching to Sochi from Georgia throughout Abkhazian territory,
on June 13 a commemoration liturgy was served at St. Gevorg Church
of Tbilisi.

The relatives of the victims reached the site of the tragedy 6
kilometers away from the shore in the "Dagamis" catamaran. Very
quickly the surface of the sea at the site of disaster was covered
with a dense mass of flowers and wreaths. The next place of gathering
was the newly constructed St. Sargis Church of Sochi, in the yard of
which the memorial to victims will be erected.

[Gavur]

Armenian Plane ‘Did Not Malfunction Before Crash’



AP

The Armenian airliner that crashed into the Black Sea last month killing all 113 people aboard was intact, had its engines operating normally and had enough fuel to land, a Russian commission said Monday.

The Armavia Airbus A-320 was under manual control of its pilots up to the moment of the May 3 pre-dawn catastrophe near the Russian port of Sochi, the Transport Ministry commission investigating the disaster said in a statement. The commission, which based its conclusions after analyzing the plane's "black box" flight recorders, did not attribute blame for the crash.

Prosecutors have dismissed the possibility that terrorists brought the plane down, and officials point to rough weather or pilot error as the likely cause. Armavia officials have suggested that air traffic controllers were at least partly to blame, giving the pilots improper instructions.

The commission said it planned further analysis of the recorders and computer modeling to determine a cause. The flight was en route to Sochi from the Armenian capital, Yerevan.