Armenia air crash blamed on crew

Investigators examining what caused an Armenian airliner to crash with the loss of all 113 people on board have blamed pilot error.

The Armavia A320 Airbus plunged into the Black Sea on 3 May as it tried to land near the Russian city of Sochi.

"The human factor in bad weather played a role," Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said.

Investigators said the crew lost control of the plane during the descent and were unable to regain altitude.

Most of the victims were Armenian, but there were also 26 Russian citizens. Among those on board were six children.

'Lost control'

Mr Levitin was speaking in Moscow to announce the results of an enquiry into the crash held by the Russian government and investigators from Armenia and France.

Tatyana Anodina, head of the inter-governmental committee that took part in the enquiry, said that during the descent the captain "did not ensure control of the plane as far as angle and altitude were concerned," according to Russia's Itar-Tass news agency.

Ms Anodina said that the co-pilot also failed to "ensure necessary control".

She added that an alarm system had gone off as the plane was plunging but it was too late to regain altitude.

The investigators said that there had been no engine failure or fuel shortage.

The A320 crashed at about 0215 (2215 GMT) as it made a second attempt to land at Adler airport, just outside Sochi.

It was initially refused permission to land because of poor weather.

The plane reportedly hit the sea at an angle of 60 degrees, six kilometres (four miles) from the coast.

Armavia said the plane was in good condition and that the crew were experienced. The Airbus was manufactured in 1995.

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