RUSSIAN officials yesterday invited British, Chinese and Indian diplomats to witness the opening of the black box from a Russian warplane downed in Turkey last month.
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Moscow, Dec 18 Russian Federation on Friday began decoding the flight recorder of the Su-24 jet that was downed by Turkey, with the first set of data expected to be released on December 28.
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.
Only British and Chinese experts have agreed to examine the data despite Russia’s invitations for analysts from 14 countries to oversee the investigation. It was not exposed to fire at the crash site, however.
However, officials said preliminary inspection of the recorder found that its data board had been damaged.
The incident, in which one pilot and a Russian marine of the rescue party were killed, badly strained previously close ties between the two economic partners. The incidents came within a few days of the start of Russia’s air campaign in Syria on September 30 and led to global condemnation.
Turkey says the SU-24 fighter-bomber, part of Russia’s Syria-based strike force, strayed into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings to leave.
“We have sufficient evidence that proves that the Russian aircraft did not violate Turkish airspace”, Dronov said, adding that the warplane had been flying in Syrian airspace and within 5.5 kilometers (three miles) of the Turkish border.
All memory blocks from the black box will be sent to the laboratory for fluoroscopy studies to check if they have been damaged too, the agency said. Experts from the United States, China and Britain were also present.
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Putin also said it was “practically impossible” to overcome tensions with Ankara after this event. Moscow issued sanctions in response to the downing of the jet, including a block on Russian citizens embarking on holiday travel to Turkey which has cost the lucrative Turkish tourist industry billions of dollars.
