A projector screen shows the data recorder from the downed Russian warplane in Moscow on Friday. — AP
A projector screen shows the data recorder from the downed Russian warplane in Moscow on Friday. — AP
In the presence of foreign experts, Russian officials on Friday opened the damaged black box of a warplane shot down by Turkey, promising a transparent probe into the incident.
Officials opened the orange-painted flight recorder as experts from China and Britain watched the procedure.
Wearing lab coats, technicians used screwdrivers, drills, and even a vacuum cleaner as they opened the device under the watchful eyes of military personnel and dozens of journalists in a live national television broadcast.
The findings will be revealed on Monday, the Air Force said.
Sergei Dronov, the deputy head commander of the Russian Air Force, said the device was being analysed “openly for the Russian and international public” after President Vladimir Putin had ordered that it be opened only in the presence of foreign specialists.
Moscow and Ankara have been locked in a bitter spat over Turkey’s downing of the Su-24 jet on November 24, which led to the deaths of a pilot and another serviceman, who attempted to rescue him.
They were Russia’s first combat casualties of the Syrian campaign.
