UPDATE 2: Saratov Airlines suspends An-148 operations on deadly crash

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MOSCOW/KRASNOYARSK/SARATOV/UFA, Feb 12 (PRIME) -- Air carrier Saratov Airlines has temporarily suspended operation of An-148 airplanes following a plane crash killing 71 people, including 65 passengers and six crew members, in the Moscow Region, the company said in a statement on Monday.

On February 11, one of the airline’s six An-148 airplanes crashed in the regional district of Ramenskoye just several minutes after taking-off from the Moscow airport of Domodedovo with the destination of Orsk, the second largest city of the Orenburg Region, in the Volga Federal District.

The Orenburg Region’s government said in a statement that negotiations have been held with air carriers Aeroflot and Rossiya Airlines to restore air travel on the route. No possible terms were announced yet.

The Investigative Committee said on Monday that investigation at the plane’s crash site will take several days. “In view of a vast territory that should be inspected, it will take not a single day, and the work will be done in a non-stop regime until it is completed,” the statement read.

The Federal Air Transport Agency said that connection to the airplane’s crew was lost several minutes after its takeoff at Domodedovo.

A spokesperson for an emergency operations center at the crash site said that the second found black box is in a satisfactory state. Fuselage debris were scattered in the radius of one kilometer.

The Emergency Situations Ministry confirmed that two foreign citizens were on board of the ill-fated plane. A deputy of the city council of Norilsk, Sergei Panchenko, was also among the victims.

Healthcare Minister Veronika Skvortsova said that search for bodies will be held for a week. “It’s quite a lengthy process, which will probably take about seven days,” she said.

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