Russian Pilots Warned of Collision Before Crash, Report

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, July 05, 2002

Russian Pilots Warned of Collision Before Crash, Report

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Russia's RIA news agency said on Thursday that the crew of a Russian Tu-154 airliner alerted Swiss air controllers that they were on a collision course with another jet 90 seconds before the two crashed in mid-air, killing 71 people.

The news agency quoted unnamed Russian investigators at the crash site as saying that Russian pilots told Swiss controllers that the collision warning system on their plane had flashed and asked ground controllers which direction they should turn.

The sources, experts deciphering the planes' black boxes, said the pilot received a reply just 40 seconds before the collision.

The Swiss side had made no official comments on the report, saying they knew nothing about this and could not make comments.

The Russian passenger jet belonging to the Bashkirian Airlines collided with a Boeing 757 flown by DHL International delivery service on Monday above the Germany-Switzerland border. Forty-fiveRussian children, on their vacation journey to a Spanish beach resort near Barcelona, were among the victims.

Air traffic controllers in Switzerland have said the Russian jet failed to respond fast enough to orders to reduce altitude, but Russian officials defended their crew by saying that they spoke influent English and had rich flight experience, including international flights.

The Russian Cabinet has set up a commission headed by Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko to deal with the consequences of the crash, the government's information department said Thursday.

Khristenko told a Thursday news conference that the commission would regard it as top priority to provide help to the victims' families.

He said two Il-76 planes were ready to fly to carry back the bodies of the victims immediately after the identification procedure is over.

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