PERM, Russia // The pilot of a Russian airliner was behaving in a strange way and disobeying air controllers' orders, before the plane crashed killing 88 people, reports said.
When flight controller Irek Bikbov asked the pilot whether things were normal on board, the pilot answered positively but his voice was strained as if under stress, Mr Bikbov said.
The controller said the plane's pilot was behaving in a strange way and disobeyed orders to go lower on the final approach and instead taking the jet to a higher altitude.
"He was behaving in a strange manner and wasn't following my orders," Bikbov said.
The plane's flight recorders have been found, and officials said it will take three to four weeks to analyse them.
Officials also said today that an engine fire, not a terror attack, appears to have caused the crash.
The right engine of the Boeing 737-500 apparently failed and caught fire as the plane was preparing to land yesterday in the city of Perm in the Ural Mountains, said the chief of Russia's federal Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, who is in charge of the crash probe.
Russia's Transport Minister Igor Levitin said that no trace of explosives had been found on the crash site about 1,200km (750km east of Moscow).
Mr Levitin refuted earlier reports that claimed the plane had exploded in the air and media allegations that it could have been brought down by a terror attack.
The plane slammed into the ground on the outskirts of this industrial city of 1 million people just a few hundred metres from small wooden houses and apartment buildings. Officials said no one on the ground was killed.
Flight 821, operated by a subsidiary of national flag carrier Aeroflot, carried 82 passengers, including six children under 10, and six crew members, the firm said.
Aeroflot officials said the plane was circling at about 1,100 metres in "difficult weather conditions", including low cloud cover and rain, when it suddenly crashed.
The jet crashed on a railway embankment, damaging a section of the track. Parts of the plane's fuselage reading "Aeroflot" and "Boeing" lay askew on the rails, along with clothing, life preservers and engine parts.
Russia and other former Soviet republics have some of the world's worst air traffic safety records in recent years, according to the International Air Transport Association. Experts blame weak government regulation, poor pilot training and a cost-cutting mentality among many carriers.
* AP and staff
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
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Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The biog
Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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