MOSCOW. Aug 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The TU-154 Careless and TU- 134 Crusty passenger airliners that crashed overnight to Wednesday were destroyed in the air, an authoritative Russian expert in flight security told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"The planes were apparently blasted or destroyed in the air. This is seen from the fact that the planes' debris and remains of killed people are scattered over an area of 10 km on the ground in both cases. One should also take into account that none of the crashes brought about fires or blasts on the ground, which usually accompany a plane's fall," the source said.
"Before the crash, both airliners stuck to their course, without distracting from the route until they disappeared from radar screens," he noted.
The Siberia Airlines TU-154 flying from Moscow to Sochi disappeared from radar screens at 10:59 p.m. Moscow time (1859 GMT), when it was at an altitude of 12,000m, the source went on.
The Volga-Aviaexpress TU-134 flying from Moscow to Volgograd disappeared from radar screens at 10:56 p.m. Moscow time (1856 GMT), when it was at an altitude of 8,000m and still climbing.
"There were no prerequisites for flight accidents. The crews maintained stable communication with the ground until the very last moment," the source said.