Russian aviation experts have started examining flight recorders recovered at the site of a passenger jet crash in the Siberian town of Surgut that killed three people, the Interstate Aviation Committee said on Sunday.
"The onboard data and voice recorders have been recovered and the commission has started to study them," the committee said.
A Tupolev Tu-154 passenger jet was engulfed in flames after one of its engines caught fire as the plane taxied down a runway and then exploded on Saturday afternoon at Surgut airport. Most of the passengers and the crew were evacuated before the explosion.
The plane, which belongs to Kogalymavia regional airline, was to fly to Moscow from Surgut. The passenger jet was carrying 116 people, including nine children, eight crewmembers and ten specialists of Kogalymavia, the airline said.
It has been reported that 43 people, including three children and eight crewmembers, were injured in the air crash as they received burns and suffered from toxic poisoning. As many as 39 passengers were hospitalized.
Kogalymavia has already pledged to pay compensations to passengers of its plane that burned out at Surgut airport.
Transport Minister Igor Levitin said on Saturday that the plane crew and airport officials had done their best to evacuate the passengers as soon as possible, however eyewitnesses said fire exits had been closed for a long time and the passengers had to jump out of the plane through flames.
MOSCOW, January 2 (RIA Novosti)
