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American Morning

Breaking News: Sibir Airlines Plane Crashes in Black Sea

Aired October 04, 2001 - 09:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning welcome back, to our continuing coverage of America's war on terrorism. We have been following a breaking news story all morning long. The crash of a Sibir Airlines Tuplov 154 into the Black Sea near the Russian town of Alder --or Adler I should say. We just had a report that came in from the Associated Press that the country of Israel has suspended all overseas flights from Ben Gurion airport in the wake of this. Russian investigators have not ruled out the possibility this was an act of terrorism.

The plane carried at least 64 passengers -- all of them said to be Israelis -- 11 crew members were also aboard. It is a weekly charter used by Russians who have moved to Israel in recent years. A pilot aboard an Armenian plane flying nearby reported seeing the Russian plane explode, that has not been confirmed independently however. The Russian security agency, as we said not ruling out the possibility of terrorism.

The plane, a Tuplov 154, not unlike the Boeing 727, has a range of about 1870 miles. The distance to -- from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk, where it was supposed to be headed was about 2800 miles. There are reports that the intermediate stop, which would have been necessary given the range of the aircraft, was in Bulgaria. Also trying to confirm that.

Let's go to our Moscow Bureau Chief, Jill Dougherty for more. Jill?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Miles, just on that point of Bulgaria -- that is being denied by Bulgarian authorities that there was a stopover there. And, in terms of the passengers, there's a slightly different figure that we have, which is 66 passengers, 11 crew -- that would be 77 people, all Israelis.

And the most significant information I think at this point is that the defense minister -- the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov is saying there was an explosion on that plane before it went down in the Black Sea. Now, he is not saying what caused that explosion, and that, of course, is the big question right now. President Putin was immediately informed, and he met with his FSB, that is the former KGB -- much like the FBI, head of the FSB, and his defense ministers. And on that videotape, you can actually hear him saying, we need to get every single piece of evidence. They are sending divers down there, of course they are sending search and rescue -- trying to find out whether they can get the black box or any piece, any shred of evidence that would try to pin this down. Why exactly this happened.

DOUGHERTY: And, Miles no secret the reason of the high amount of concern, is that this is a time of increased worry about terrorism. And Russia has been concerned that there might be some type retaliation for their participation in the international movement -- the coalition against terrorism. No confirmation that that is the case, but that obviously is -- is the suspicion at this point, Miles?

O'BRIEN: Jill, I know communication is tough in these circumstances -- do we know if the search-and-rescue operation is under way yet?

DOUGHERTY: We believe it is. They're actually very quick and they do have people from various areas. This was down in the south of Russia, actually off the coast of course of the Black Sea, but toward the south of Russia. They sent, as we know at this point, a helicopter and a plane and undoubtedly there will be more. Unfortunately, the MJS as its called, the Ministry of Emergency Services, is well practiced here in Russia. There have been problems by the way, with this plane before. Technical problems. But the suspicion that at this point -- the concern is that it wasn't just a technical problem, that it went beyond that. And might have been terrorism. Again no confirmation.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jill Dougherty, our Moscow Bureau Chief, thanks very much for keeping you us updated. Paula?

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As you just made clear, the Russian jet took off from Israel, and it was flying from Tel Aviv to Siberia.

And our Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Mike Hannah, has a report from there. Mike, first of all, Miles just mentioned that all flights -- is it all overseas flights from Ben Gurion now have been canceled?

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Paula, what we can confirm at this stage, is that all takeoffs from Ben Gurion Airport have been suspended -- the transport minister has confirmed this. We are not sure how long this ban on takeoffs is going to be in force. However, arriving planes are arriving as normal.

Now also to back up the figures we heard there from Jill Dougherty in Moscow. Israeli officials say that 66 passengers were aboard the flight -- according to the travel agent who organized the charter flight, 51 of these tickets had been bought in Israel. Earlier, airport officials had told us that all 66 passengers aboard the flight were Israelis. Now, this is a regular chartered flight -- it leaves once week, at the same time, on the same day, 10:00 Thursday morning. Now, all charter flights -- exactly the same security procedures are followed. An airport spokesman has confirmed, that all passengers go through security, whether or not it is a charter or a scheduled flight.

Now, anybody who has traveled from Ben Gurion knows security there is intense -- possibly most intensive security at any airport in the world. These security procedures were followed. So what we have at this stage is confirmation that takeoffs from Ben Gurion Airport have been suspended for an unspecified period time; aircraft are arriving as normal. 66 passengers on board -- all if not most, are Israelis Paula.

ZAHN: Mike Hanna thanks for that update. We will continue to check back with you because the information seems to change, just about every time we check in with either you or Jill. Thank you so much.

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