Second flight recorder recovered from plane crash that killed 113

Photo: Second flight recorder recovered from plane crash that killed 113

The flight data recorder was lifted by a diving apparatus from a depth of about 1,640 feet (500 meters) after it was separated from a thick layer of silt, Transport Ministry spokeswoman Svetlana Kryshtanovskaya said, according to the RIA-Novosti news agency.

The so-called "black box" was discovered within 16 meters (50 feet) from the spot where workers found the plane's cockpit voice recorder Monday.

Russian TV channels showed footage of a yellow, remote-controlled apparatus lifting the red recorder from the sea surface, the AP reports.

Investigators hope the two recorders will help answer why the Armavia Airbus A-320 plane plunged into the sea on May 3 amid heavy rain and poor visibility. The flight had been en route to the southern Russian sea resort Sochi from the Armenian capital, Yerevan. All passengers and crew members on board were killed.

Prosecutors almost immediately dismissed the possibility that terrorists had brought the plane down, and officials point to rough weather or pilot error as the likely cause. Armavia officials have suggested, however, that air traffic controllers were at least partly to blame.

Top Armenian aviation officials will travel to Moscow Thursday for the deciphering of the black boxes, a process that could also take place in Paris with the involvement of Airbus, Armenia's civil aviation authority spokesman Gayane Davtian said.

Meanwhile, the victims' relatives will receive compensation of US$20,000 (Ђ15,550) each, the insurance company liable for the payouts said Wednesday.