It was during the climb, at 3:15 a.m., that the plane made a sharp turn and dropped off Adler airport's radar, a member of the airport's technical staff said, Interfax reported.
"The A320's speed was about 250 kilometers per hour, which may not have been enough for it to gain altitude," the source said.
The plane hit the water at a steep angle, Beltsov said.
Do we have anything on the history of the crew? Bearing in mind the location of the incident, are Unctuous and Overtalk also intimating that the difference between Soviet-style and Western (for want of better descriptions) artificial horizon displays might come into play here?
Cheers,
Rich.