113 Die in Black Sea Plane Crash

An Airbus A320 plunged into the Black Sea at around 2:15 a.m. local time, while attempting to land at the Russian City of Sochi, killing all 113 persons on board.

Preliminary reports from investigating authorities blamed the crash on bad weather, and have ruled out any possibility of terrorism.

The plane, operated by the Armenian airline Armavia, was on a short flight from Yerevan to Sochi. It had originally been refused permission to land, due to the extremely poor weather, but was then cleared for a second attempt.

Emergency teams have so far recovered 38 bodies from the water, and are hoping to find more, but they have ruled out any chance that there were survivors.

According to news reports the plane was in good condition, and had recently passed an inspection. They also described the crew as being highly experienced.