Russia retrieves body of Tu-154 pilot from seabed

The body of Tu-154 captain Roman Volkov was recently recovered by divers from the bottom of the Sochi sea, during the process of salvaging large pieces of the fuselage.

A body of a plane crash victim is recovered from the sea. Photo: Xinhua

"When large pieces of the fuselage were pulled up, another body was found. When it was recovered, the body was identified as Captain Roman Volkov based on his badge," Tass quoted a law enforcement source as saying yesterday.

Thirteen bodies and more than 70 body parts have been recovered. None of the passengers on board survived. Many pieces of the Tu-154 were found 1.5 km off the Sochi coast, at a depth of 50-70 m. According to the Federal Security Service, there is no evidence that the plane crashed due to terrorism.

The Tu-154 military aircraft took off from Sochi, southern Russia, on its way to Syria and crashed shortly after. There were 92 people on board, including 8 crew members and 84 passengers.

Among the passengers were journalists from Russia's Channel One, Zvezda, NTV, servicemen and musicians from the famous Alexandrov Corps of the Russian Armed Forces. The Corps was heading to the Hmeymim military base in Syria to perform for the New Year.

According to VNE