A Russian Tu-154 aircraft with 91 people aboard disappeared Sunday over the Black Sea shortly after takeoff from the resort town of Sochi on its way to a Russian base in Syria, the Defense Ministry said.
The ministry said the plane was carrying the famous Alexandrov military band for a concert at the Russian air base in Syria.
The ministry said in a statement the plane was carrying 83 passengers and eight crew when it dropped off radar early Sunday. It said emergency services are searching for the plane, a Soviet-designed three-engine airliner.
Nine journalists were among the passengers, according to the Interfax news agency.
A Russian military plane carrying 91 people dissapeared from radar on Sunday minutes after it took off from the resort town of Sochi. (Google/CBC)
Interfax reported that the rescuers already have determined the location of the crash, but there has been no official confirmation.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was personally coordinating the rescue efforts, and President Vladimir Putin has received official reports on the incident.
Photo: In this August 1996 photo, a Tu-154 Soviet-designed three-engine airliner lands in Moscow, Russia. A Tu-154 en route to Syria disappeared from radar minutes after it took off in Russia on Sunday. (Misha Japaridze/Associated Press)
