Condolences to all involved. Totally tragic.
From the news it appears that the Russian plane started the descent at the same time the DHL plane was descending due to TCAS. I am reserved in saying this as my only source is the media (not the most accurate in accident reports)...
Can someone confirm this ?
A few other questions, excuse the ignorance. I am not trying to second-guess the ATCs involved in this but, could they have not given the DHL a higher flight-level after the first couple of calls to the Russian plane ? What are the limitations of even a fully loaded 757 concerning max FL ? Or would it have just taken too long ? What about a turn ?
Also a couple of questions concerning procedures. Usually how long before a handover is the second ATC alerted ? Is it usual practice for an ATC to request from the previous ATC to give the plane an instruction before it is handed over ?
Again, excuse my ignorance, and I am not second guessing people, just questions that came up in my mind after having heard of this...