MOSCOW. Aug 25 (Interfax-AVN) - A TU-134 Crusty passenger plane crashed near Tula on Tuesday evening, and another passenger liner, TU-154 Careless, went missing in the Rostov region. Both planes had flown out from Moscow's Domodedovo airport.
The TU-134, owned by the Volga-Aviaexpress air company, was bound to Volgograd and the TU-154, owned by the Siberian Airlines, was on its flight to Sochi, sources in the Russian aviation authorities told Interfax.
Radio contact with the two passenger liners was lost at 10:59 p.m. Moscow time (1859 GMT) on Tuesday. Several hours later, the scene of the TU-134's crash was discovered near the village of Buchalki in the Kimovsky district in the Tula region, the regional administration informed Interfax. None of the local residents was injured.
The regional emergency situations department said witnesses saw an explosion on board the plane before it crashed.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry's information department confirmed these reports, adding that the tail of the plane and parts of the fuselage had been discovered at the scene. The search for other parts of the plane and flight recorders is underway.
The Rostov regional services are searching for the missing TU-154.
Emergency Situations Ministry spokesperson Marina Ryklina said contact with the plane was lost at 10:59 p.m. Moscow time (1859 GMT) on Tuesday, when the plane was at a distance of 138 kilometers from Rostov-on-Don.
But the plane was not found in this area, Ryklina said.
The Rostov regional emergency situations department reported, meanwhile, that a fire was discovered near the village of Zelenovka in the Rostov region's Tarasovsky district at about 3:05 a.m. Moscow time on Wednesday (2305 GMT on Tuesday). A local search and rescue team set out to the place in search for the missing air liner.
The Siberian Airlines told Interfax that the plane flying from Domodedovo to Sochi, Flight 1047, disappeared from radars at about 11 p.m. Moscow time (1900 GMT) on Tuesday.
The plane (No. RA-85556) had been in service since 1982. The air carrier opened a hotline for the passengers' relatives.
The Interstate Aviation Committee has confirmed reports about the two air incidents.
A Committee spokesman told Interfax that a commission will be set up to investigate the incidents.
The Committee said there were 34 passengers and eight crew on board the TU-134, and 44 passengers and a crew on board the TU- 154. The number of crew members was being verified.
The Siberian Airlines earlier reported that the TU-154 carried 38 passengers and eight crew.
According to the Emergency Situations Ministry's latest reports, there were 35 passengers and eight crew on board the TU- 134 and 38 passengers and eight crew on board the TU-154.
"President Vladimir Putin has instructed the Federal Security Service to launch an investigation into the two incidents immediately," presidential spokesman Alexei Gromov told Interfax.
Putin was immediately informed about the crash and about the missing air liner, he said.
He also said that the president is being informed about the situation by officials of the Emergency Situations Ministry, FSB and other law enforcement agencies.
Security measures have been tightened in all of the country's airports, informed sources told Interfax.