SOCHI. Dec 26 (Interfax) - The flash over the Black Sea caught on surveillance cameras near the Sochi airport has no relation to the crashed Tupolev Tu-154, a source in the operative headquarters for dealing with the aftermath of emergency situations told Interfax.
"The recordings from the surveillance cameras that caught a bright flash in the sky over the Black Sea on Sunday morning have been studied closely. It was established that the recording was taken half an hour after the plane disappeared from the radars and it has no relation to it," the source said.
The source said the assumptions that an emergency, including an explosion, could have occurred aboard the aircraft, are premature.
"There is currently not enough information to draw definitive conclusions. The engines have to be raised to the surface and their condition has to be studied. It is also necessary to closely study the data from the radar station and the data in the flight recorders. Only after that one can build some objective theories," he said.
Some media earlier released a video taken by surveillance cameras on one of the Sochi beaches located near the airport, where a bright flash is clearly seen. Some experts used the information from that video to assume that the plane could have allegedly exploded in midair.