Conclusive evidence is still being gathered, but the spotlight is on a Ukrainian missile as being the cause of the aircraft's crash into the Black Sea (417 words)

Published: 10/12/2001

Statements made by Evgeny Shaposhnikov, a member of the team investigating the 4th October crash of a Siberia Airlines Tu-154M into the Black Sea, suggest that two pieces of wreckage from the central section of the aircraft's fuselage are embedded with pieces believed to be part of an S-200 system missile, the 5V28. Shaposhnikov cautioned that further work is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn over the origin of the pieces. This is supported by the Head of MAK (Interstate Aviation Committee) Tatiana Anodina, who said there was still a possibility that the material could be bearings from cargo carried in the aircraft's hold. Shaposhnikov's comments come after the release of parts of the recording from local air traffic control indicating that the pilot was aware that the aircraft had been hit and asked “where?" followed by what has been described by Anodina as a period of 45 seconds of “emotional distress”. The pilot's response supports the missile theory, backed by reports from a number of tracking sources, including Russian radar installations at Glendzhik, that recorded an object flying close to the aircraft with no identifying signals, and an ATC controller in Rostov, in addition to the various non-Russian sources including the US military. Ukraine's denial that it accidentally shot down the aircraft is now looking increasingly thin. The authorities' claim that their missile could not have shot the aircraft down begins to fail under close examination. In particular, the argument that the missile had insufficient range to down the airliner has been attacked by the missile's developer, NPO Almaz, which says that, although the aircraft was 270kms from the launch site and the active homing missile only had a guaranteed maximum range of 250kms, it is quite feasible for it to engage a target 300kms from its launch site at the Opuk firing range. Leonid Kuchma, President of Ukraine, has confirmed that he would accept the result of any investigation and this, along with other comments he has made publicly, imply that the Ukrainian authorities are preparing themselves to admit culpability. His comments, however, not to " make a tragedy out of this. We are not the first and will not be the last “ are unlikely to endear him to the Russian public counting the loss of 78 passengers and crew.

Article ID: 2822