- Title: RUSSIA: RUSSIAN AIRLINER CRASHES ON THE NORWEGIAN ARCTIC ISLAND OF SPITZBERGEN.
- Date: 29th August 1996
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AUGUST 29, 1996) (RTV(W) - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: EXTERIORS MOSCOW AIRPORT (3 SHOTS) 0.18 2. MCU: VNUKOVO AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER ALEXANDRE ZHUKOV SPEAKING ABOUT TUPOLEV AIRCRASH, SAYING "THE PLANE LEFT AT 0844 MOSCOW TIME, IT DIDN'T LAND AT LONGYEARBYEN AIRPORT, THERE WERE 130 PEOPLE AND 12 PEOPLE IN THE CREW" (RUSSIAN) (3 SHOTS) 0.44 3. GV: VARIOUS AIRPORT INTERIORS, VNUKOVO AIRLINES SIGN (3 SHOTS) 0.59 4. LV: MOSCOW STREET 1.03 5. GV/MVU: IVAN MOKHNACHUK, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE INDEPENDENT COAL EMPLOYEES OF RUSSIA SPEAKING ABOUT CRASH, SAYING "FROM THE FIRST FINDINGS IT SEEMS THAT IT WAS VERY CLOUDY, WITH LOW VISIBILITY, AND AS A RESULT THE PLANE WENT OFF COURSE. I CAN ONLY SAY ONE THING, WE HAVEN'T GOT THE RIGHT PARTS, THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY, IT'S A BAD BUSINESS AND A BAD SITUATION, WE HAVE NO MONEY TO REPAIR THINGS" (RUSSIAN) 1.36 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 13th September 1996 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City:
- Country: Russia
- Reuters ID: LVAB72ATVMY9QJLFYTK84NSXD815
- Story Text: INTRO: Five people may have survived the crash of a Russian airliner carrying about 140 people on Thursday on the remote Norwegian Arctic island of Spitzbergen. Most of the passengers on board were miners and a union representative blamed the crash on the airline's lack of money and expertise.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- The Russian Emergencies Ministry was unable to confirm on Thursday (August 29) information suggesting there may be survivors from the crash of a Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-54 airliner on Spitzbergen.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry said news of the survivors had come from rescue workers on the Norwegian island where the plane crashed and Russia's Interfax news agency has quoted the company that owned the plane as saying five passengers were in hospital.
But a spokesman for Vnukovo Airlines could not confirm the report.
Air traffic controller Alexander Zhukov said the plane left from Moscow and was bound for Longyearbyen airport and that there were 130 passengers on board and 12 crew members.
Officials of the private airline said in Norway that there were 129 passengers and 12 crew on board. A spokesman at its base at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport said there were 130 passengers, including three children, and 12 crew. The Emergencies Ministry put the figures at 129 passengers and nine crew.
Most of those on board were miners flying from Moscow to work in one of the island's two open-cast coal mines with their families. A spokesman for the Russian state coal board, Rosugol, told Reuters most of the miners were Ukrainian nationals.
Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted Rosugol, the parent company of the Arktik Ugol firm which operates the mine, as saying there were 37 women and children on board.
Ivan Mokhnachuk, Vice President of Independent Coal Employees of Russia, said at first, it had appeared the plane crashed because the weather was very cloudy and visibility was low. But then he quickly blamed Vnukovno airlines for the accident.
"I can only say one thing," Mokhnachuk said, "we haven't got the right parts, the right technology, its a bad business and a bad situation, we have no money to repair things." Vnukovo Airlines, which operated the Tupolev Tu-154 airliner, is one of many companies created when the Soviet state airline Aeroflot was broken up five years ago.
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