The Russian government has ordered the country's various security agencies to suspend flights with the Tu-154 until the root cause of the crash of Tu-154B2 RA-85572 (msn 83A-572) on Christmas Day has been identified.
The thirty-four year-old Tupolev Design Bureau trijet, operated for the Russian government by the 223rd Flight Unit of the Russian Air Force (Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily Rossii), crashed into the Black Sea shortly after take-off from Sochi Airport en-route for Latakia, Syria. All ninety-two passengers and crew on-board were killed.
"In connection with the crash of the Tu-154, the Russian Defense Ministry has decided to suspend all flights of this type until the end of the investigation," a government source told Russia's Interfax news agency.
While no preliminary reports have yet indicated the exact cause of the crash, the Kremlin has been quick to rule out terrorism.
The ch-aviation aircraft database shows that aside from the 223rd Flight Unit, which operates fourteen Tu-154s (thirteen -B2s, and one -M), other Russian government operators of the Tu-154 Family include the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Russian Federation) with four (two -B2s and two -Ms), SLO Rossiya with three (all -Ms), Voyennaya Transportnaya Aviatsiya with three (all -Ms), and Voyenno-Morskoy Flot Rossii with two (both -Ms).
"Tu-154-B2 aircraft are no longer in service in Russian civil aviation," Alexander Neradko, the Director General of the Russian Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia), said. "The Ministry of Defence has units of this type still in service, the Ministry of Defence will, therefore, decide whether to continue or suspend its operation."
In terms of Russian commercial airlines which continue to use the Tu-154, only Alrosa Aviakompania is active with two airframes - both "M" variants - in service on flights from Mirnyj to each of Irkutsk International and Novosibirsk.
