Flight 612...The three-engine Tu-154 is the workhorse of Russia's commercial fleet, carrying about half of all Russian air passengers...designed as the Soviet counterpart to the Boeing 727 and the European-made Trident, but with the added ability to operate from short, rough runways. About 1,000 were produced...involved in at least 30 air disasters since it went into service in 1968.http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08/22/russia.crash/
Bump!
...third major plane crash in the region this year... 124 people died when an Airbus A-310 of the Russian carrier S7 skidded off a runway... on July 9 in the Siberian city of Irkutsk...On May 3, an A-320 of Armenian...crashed into the Black Sea while trying to land in the Russian...city of Sochi...killing all 113 people aboard.http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-russia0822,0,723300.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines