Probe launched into loss of Pacific Fleet’s anti-sub plane
15:58, 7 November 2009
VLADIVOSTOK. November 7. KAZINFORM A special inquiry has begun into the loss of the Pacific Fleet's anti-submarine plane, the fleet's public relations service said on Saturday. All of the Pacific Fleet's planes have been grounded for the time being, Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.
A Tu-142M3 anti-submarine plane went missing during a training flight over the Tatar Strait on November 6, 2009. It had eleven crew members on board. The plane disappeared from the radar screens at 21:15 local time (14:15 Moscow time).
Aircraft of the 11th air defense army and a helicopter and Pacific Fleet ships were dispatched to conduct a search operation. Civilian ships were asked to join in. The first naval vessel approached the area of the crash at 01:01 local time and at 02:30 a panel of inquiry under the commander of the Pacific Fleet's Air Force and Air Defense arrived at the airbase of the missing plane, Kazinform cites Itar-Tass. See www.itar-tass.com for full version.