Deciphering of Tu-154 flight recorder to begin on Tuesday, transport minister says

The deciphering of the crashed Tu-154 flight recorder will begin on Tuesday, Russia’s Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov told the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

"It is one of the black boxes, the one that was recording the flight parameters. It has been delivered to Moscow and handed over to the Defense Ministry’s Air Force Research Center. Experts will start to decipher the flight recorder today," he elaborated.

The Tu-154 plane crashed in the early morning hours of December 25 shortly after taking off from the Black Sea resort of Sochi. There were 92 people on board the aircraft, including eight crew members and 84 passengers that lost their lives in the plane disaster. Among those on the fatal flight was charity activist Elizaveta Glinka, better known as Dr. Liza, as well as military servicemen and nine reporters. The plane was also carrying nearly three dozen members of the world-renowned Alexandrov Ensemble, an official army choir of the Russian Armed Forces. The ensemble was on its way to celebrate New Year’s Eve with Russia’s Aerospace Forces at the Hmeymim air base in Syria.