MOSCOW, March 21 (RIA Novosti) - The crew of the Tu-134 plane that crashed near Samara in southern Russia, killing six people, were not informed about a sudden change in the weather, a source close to investigation said.
The Tu-134 jet liner, en route from the West Siberian town of Surgut, had 50 passengers and seven crewmen on board when it crash-landed in foggy weather in the Volga city of Samara Saturday morning. Twenty-one people, including four crewmen, were hospitalized.
"The weather at the airport changed sharply before the plane began landing," the source said. "Data recorders registered that the weather was unsuitable for flying any type of aircraft."
"The crew had no reliable information about the weather just before the plane crashed," the source said, adding that the traffic controllers at the Kurumoch airport were doing their jobs well.
He also said the responsible services had enough time to inform the crew about the real weather conditions. Had that been done, the pilots would not have attempted to land.
The source said the crew's responsibility for the crash was minimal.
"I assume that if the crew is found guilty, their guilt will be smaller than that of those who had five minutes to inform the pilots about the real meteorological conditions," he said.
The source said the pilots managed to minimize the consequences of the crash.
"This is the first case when a plane was almost completely destroyed during landing with a minimal number of victims," he said.
The plane crash was one in a string of fatal accidents that hit Russia in the past few days. A methane explosion in a mine in West Siberia killed 107 miners March 19, and a fire at a retirement home in southern Russia left 63 dead March 20.
March 21 has been declared a day of mourning for the victims of the three accidents.
