12:29 Moscow time: The Tu-154 plane that crashed off the Black Sea coast near Sochi on Sunday was manufactured more than 30 years ago and underwent scheduled maintenance this September, and was flown by an experienced pilot, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.
"The Tu-154 plane of the military and transport aviation of Russia’s Defense Ministry was flown by experienced pilot Roman Volkov," the ministry said in a statement. Volkov is class 1 pilot who had more than 3,000 hours of flight.
The Tu-154 plane was manufactured in 1983 and had 6,689 hours of flight. "The last repair was on December 29, 2014, and in September 2016 it underwent scheduled maintenance," the ministry said.
-50%
http://rbth.com/politics_and_society...i-coast_667721