Russia Asks Several Countries To Provide Information On Tu-154 Crash

Russia's Foreign Ministry has sent official requests to Turkey, Ukraine and the United States, asking them to provide "any information having relation to the crash of the Tu-154 aircraft of Sibir Airlines," Secretary of Russia's Security Council Vladimir Rushailo, who heads a state commission investigating the crash, said on Friday. He said Russia has officially inquired of Ukraine about a possibility of destroying the Tu-154 by a Ukrainian missile and received "an official reply stating the absence of such a possibility." The head of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), Tatyana Anodina, has said that the Tu-154 crew, before departing from Tel Aviv, had requested Ukraine's permission for the flight and received confirmation that "there were no missile launches." Anodina said the IAC technical commission and Sibir Airlines have jointly begun to decode magnetic recordings of air traffic control services. She said that the states, in the air traffic control zones of which the crash took place, have certain rights, which the technical commission has taken into consideration.