MOSCOW. Dec 27 (Interfax) - Experts are beginning the decoding of the black box from the Tupolev Tu-154 jet that crashed near Sochi, a theory involving a fuel problem is being considered as part of the current investigation, Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said.
"The recorder was brought to Lyubertsy, a place outside Moscow, today. To the Defense Ministry's Air Force Research Center," Sokolov said.
"Experts are now beginning to decode the records from information storage," he said.
"All issues, including quality of the fuel, will be investigated as part of the inquiry and also as part of the probe conducted by the technical commission of the Defense Ministry. It is too early now to make any conclusions," Sokolov said.
"I can tell you that the terrorist act theory is not being considered as a primary theory of reasons behind the plane crash," he went on.
"There is information in particular that the remaining black boxes have been found by radars," Sokolov said.
"This information is being verified now. Of course, it is desirable to lift them to the surface as well," he said.
However, the recorder already recovered is a flight data recorder and it would have registered the parameters of the aircraft's operation until the end and "therefore, the information it contains will be very important for the further investigation", he said.
When asked whether there are any complaints about the work of Adler Sochi airport, Sokolov said: "Adler Airport, as a civil airport, is constantly subject to control on the part of Rostransnadzor [Russia's Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Transport], and Rosaviatsia [Russian Federal Air Transport Agency] and there have been no complaints regarding its work."
Currently, data is being collected for the purpose of insurance payments to those persons certified as injured parties that have suffered damage as a result of the plane crash, he said. "We plan that the primary information will be accumulated tomorrow for further steps regarding insurance payments," he said.
Sokolov was also asked whether there is any information about location of the main part of the plane that crashed into the sea.
"The airplane disintegrated, breaking into several fragments and therefore, it is probably impossible to speak of any principal part in this case. Indeed, we can see several localized areas where the airplane's fragments are now located," he said.
Currently, the main grouping of ships is concentrated around a small area where approximately one hundred divers are working at the moment, he added.
The crash site is within one maritime mile of the coast, he said. The airplane fragments are now lying at 17 to 30 meters below the sea surface, he added.
Sokolov was also asked whether it is reasonable now to consider a ban on the use of Tu-154M airliners in the civil sector.
"As for those planes currently operated in civil aviation, and this is the Tu-154M type of the airplane, it is unreasonable to speak about it," Sokolov said.