Multiple Perforations Discovered In Tu-154 Plane

The state commission of inquiry into circumstances of the catastrophe of the Tu-154 jetliner of the Sibir airline is holding a sitting in the mayoral office of Sochi. Now the office is the headquarters of a search-and-rescue operation. The behind-the-doors sitting began at 16:00, Moscow time. It is chaired by Vladimir Rushailo, secretary of the Russian Security Council. Expert groups from Ukraine and Israel participate in work of the commission. They arrived to Sochi to investigate causes of the Tu-154 accident. Among the members is Yevgeni Marchuk, secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council. Earlier, the secretaries of the two security councils in the airport inspected fragments of the Tu-154. Experts, who gave explanations to Vladimir Rushailo and Yevgeni Marchuk during the inspection, noted that preliminary data are an indication that the Tu-154 fragments have multiple perforations from an outside explosion, unrelated to the Russian plane.