Thousands of rescuers have been searching for bodies in the Black Sea as Russia marks a national day of mourning after a Syria-bound military plane crashed on December 25, killing all 92 people on board. By early December 26, only 11 bodies of the crash victims had been found as some 3,500 workers continued searching for bodies and debris -- including the black boxes containing the plane's cockpit flight data -- before currents carry them further away from the shore.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Weekday Magazine. </s> Investigators have found one of flight data recorders of the Russian military aircraft that crashed in the Black Sea. The black box was found 1,600 metres away from the shore, the Russian defence ministry told a news agency. It will be sent to Moscow later on Tuesday for analysis, reported Reuters.

Another report said investigators found the data recorder in “good condition”. They also said that the location of the second black box had been identified, according to BBC. Earlier, Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov had said it would be a challenge to locate the flight recorders as the devices did not have radio beacons.

The black box has information that could help investigators determine what caused the crash. A person close to the investigation told another Russian news agency that the military aircraft may have been overloaded. “Witness accounts and other objective data obtained during the investigation suggest the plane was unable to gain height and for some reason – possibly overloading or a technical fault – crashed into the sea,” said the official who did not want to be named. Earlier, Transport Minister Sokolov had said that a pilot error or possible technical fault most likely caused the Russian military plane to crash into the Black Sea.

Investigators have also found “a further five fragments of the plane”, said the Defence Ministry. These included pieces of fuselage and engine fragments. The search for the bodies continue. Remains of only 16 of the 92 people who died have been found so far, reported BBC.

All of this comes a day after the main body of the crashed plane was found in the Black Sea and rescue teams also recovered 11 bodies and 154 “fragments” of bodies. The bodies have been flown to Moscow to be identified.

On December 25, the plane with 92 people on board, including journalists, military staff, musicians from the Alexandrov Ensemble and an official army choir of the Russian armed forces, went off the radar soon after taking off from Sochi. The Tu-154 plane did not check in with air traffic control at its scheduled time of 5.40 am (local), after taking off at 5.20 am. The plane was flying over the Black Sea when it disappeared. The flight, which was classified as not being civilian, was heading to Latakia, Syria. </s> More than 3,000 people are involved in a major search operation for victims' bodies and aircraft debris from the Russian military plane that crashed into the Black Sea.

A day of mourning for the 92 people on board - including members of the army's world-famous choir, has been declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia's transport minister said investigators were looking into all possible reasons for the cause of the Christmas Day crash. </s> A pilot error or possible technical fault most likely caused the Russian military plane to crash into the Black Sea on Sunday, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said on Monday, emphasising that authorities were not looking at terrorism as a cause, AP reported. The flight was heading to Latakia, Syria, after making a brief stop at Sochi for refuelling. It crashed into the sea minutes after taking off with 92 people on board, who are all feared dead.

While Sokolov said Russia did not see the need to up security measures at airports despite the Syrian connection to the crash, aviation experts have highlighted factors that suggest a terror attack. “Possible malfunctions...certainly would not have prevented the crew from reporting them,” Vitaly Andreyev, a former senior Russian air traffic controller, told news agency RIA Novosti. The fact that the debris of the Defense Ministry’s Tu-154 plane was scattered over a wide area in the sea was another noted factor indicating a terror strike.

Rescue teams, including 139 divers, recovered 11 bodies and “154 fragments” of bodies by Monday morning, said Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesperson for the Defence Ministry, BBC reported. The bodies have been flown to Moscow to be identified. Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an investigation into the crash and also declared Monday a nationwide day of mourning.

The hunt is on to recover the flight recorders, but the Russian transport minister said it would be a challenge to locate them as the devices did not have radio beacons. Authorities are combing an area of 10 sq km in the Black Sea to find fragments of the aircraft and the bodies of those who were on board, which included Russia’s world famous military choir. </s> Fuselage of Russian aircraft that crashed into Black Sea reportedly found

Russian authorities are investigating the possibility of a pilot error or technical fault as the cause of the plane crash into the Black Sea that presumably left 84 passengers and eight crew people dead, said Russia’s transport minister. </s> (CNN) -- One of the two black boxes on a Russian military jet that crashed into the Black Sea with 92 people on board has been found, the country's Defense Ministry said Tuesday, according to the state-run Sputnik news agency.

The flight data recorder will be sent to a central research institute in Lyubertsy, where officials hope to get some insight into why the Tupolev Tu-154 plunged into the sea shortly after takeoff from Sochi on Sunday morning.

The flight data recorder was found 1,600 meters from the shore at a depth of 17 meters, the ministry said in a statement, as rescuers carry out a massive search operation in the sea.

The other black box -- the cockpit voice recorder -- is still missing.

The ministry has said there are probably no survivors.

Those on board included 64 musicians from the army's official choir, the Alexandrov Ensemble; nine reporters; the head of the Spravedlivaya Pomoshch charity, Elizaveta Glinka; two federal civil servants; and eight crew members.

The choir was flying to Syria to perform for Russian air force pilots during the holiday season, the Defense Ministry has said.

Glinka was taking medicine and other supplies to a local hospital in Syria, her colleague and friend Dr. Sergey Kurkov told CNN affiliate RBC.

Terrorism was not a likely cause of the crash, Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov said Monday.

Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said it was assumed the plane had crashed due to technical malfunction or pilot error.

The plane had taken off from Moscow and was headed to the Russian Hmeymim airbase in Latakia, Syria, where Russia has a large military presence. En route to Syria, the plane landed in Sochi to refuel.

Divers found the jet's fuselage about a mile offshore in the sea at the depth of 27 meters, RIA Novosti reported.

Thirteen bodies and 150 pieces of debris have been recovered so far, the Itar-Tass news agency reported, citing a source in security agencies.

About 3,500 people are taking part in the search, while 39 ships and cutters, 135 divers, seven deep-water vehicles and several aircraft have been deployed.

CNN's Susannah Cullinane, Ashley Fantz,, Max Blau and Sarah Sirgany contributed to this report. </s> MOSCOW -- The Latest on the crash of a Russian aircraft with 92 people on board en route to Russia's air base in Syria (all times local):

A Russian official says the crash of a Russian military passenger plane into the Black Sea could have been caused by a technical malfunction or a crew error, but he believes it could not have been terrorism because the plane was operated by the military.

Viktor Ozerov, head of the defense affairs committee at the upper house of Russian parliament, says in remarks carried by the state news agency RIA Novosti that he "totally excludes" terrorism as a possible cause of the crash.

The plane was en route to Russia's air base in Syria with 92 people on board when it crashed shortly after taking off from the resort town of Sochi. At least one body has been found and there is no word on whether anyone survived.

The Defense Ministry has released a list of the passengers. They include 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, among them its leader, Valery Khalilov. The Alexandrov Ensemble is the official choir of the Russian military, and it also includes a band and a dancing company.

The Russian Defense Ministry says rescuers have found fragments of the Tu-154 plane that was carrying 92 people en route to the Russian military base in Syria.

The ministry said earlier that the plane disappeared from radars shortly after takeoff from the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Sunday. It carried members of the world-famous Alexandrov military choir.

The ministry says rescue teams found fragments of the plane less than a mile from shore at a depth of 50-70 meters. </s> More than 3,000 personnel join search for victims after Syria-bound military jet with 92 aboard crashes into Black Sea.

Backed by ships, helicopters and drones, rescue teams have been searching for victims after a Russian plane carrying 92 people to Syria crashed into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff.

Investigators said on Sunday they were looking into every possible cause for the crash of the Soviet-built Tu-154 plane.

All 84 passengers and eight crew members on board the plane operated by the Russian military are believed to have died when it crashed two minutes after taking off at 5:25am local time (02:25 GMT) in good weather from the southern Russian city of Sochi.

Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov, in charge of a state probe into the crash, said on state television that investigators were looking into a "whole spectrum" of theories on the cause of the crash.

When asked if a "terror attack" could have been behind the crash, Sokolov said: "It is premature to speak of this."

He added that the aircraft's black boxes had yet to be found.

More than 3,000 people - including over 100 divers flown in from across Russia - worked from 32 ships and several helicopters to search the crash site, the defence ministry said.

Drones and submersibles were also being used to help spot bodies and debris. Powerful spotlights were brought in so the search could continue around the clock.

Emergency crews found fragments of the plane about 1.5km from shore. By Sunday evening, rescue teams had recovered 11 bodies and Sokolov, the transport minister, said fragments of other bodies were also found.

The plane belonging to the defence ministry was taking its famed choir, the Alexandrov Ensemble, to a New Year's concert at Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia. Those on board also included nine Russian journalists and a Russian doctor famous for her work in war zones.

Yelizaveta Glinka has won wide acclaim for her charity work, which has included missions to war zones in eastern Ukraine and Syria. Her foundation said Glinka was accompanying a shipment of medicine for a hospital in Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin went on television to declare Monday a nationwide day of mourning.

"We will conduct a thorough investigation into the reasons and will do everything to support the victims' families," Putin said.

The Black Sea search area - which covered 10 square kilometres - was made more difficult by underwater currents that carried debris and body fragments into the open sea.

Transport Minister Sokolov said the plane's flight recorders did not have the radio beacons common in more modern aircraft, so locating them on the seabed was going to be challenging.

The Tu-154 is a Soviet-built three-engine airliner designed in the late 1960s. More than 1,000 have been built, and they have been used extensively in Russia and worldwide.

The plane that crashed on Sunday was built in 1983, and underwent factory check-ups and maintenance in 2014 and earlier this year, according to the defence ministry.

Investigators are exploring a number of possible causes to the crash, "including a catastrophic malfunction, a pilot error or a bird flying into the engine", said Al Jazeera's Natasha Ghoneim, reporting from Moscow.

Russian planes have been brought down previously by attacks. In October 2015, a Russian plane carrying mostly Russian tourists back from vacation in Egypt was brought down by a bomb over the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard. The local affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group claimed responsibility.

Syrian President Bashar Assad was among numerous foreign leaders who sent a condolence note to Putin, saying he received the news "with deep grief and sadness".

In recent years, Russian airlines have replaced their Tu-154s with more modern planes, but the military and other government agencies in Russia have continued to use them. While noisy and fuel-guzzling, the plane is popular with crews that appreciate its maneuverability and ruggedness.

Still, since 1994 there have been 17 major plane crashes involving the Tu-154 that have killed over 1,760 people. Most resulted from human error. </s> "Divers have recovered nine bodies - three men and six women," the TASS news agency quoted an emergency services spokesman as saying early Tuesday.

One further body was discovered later.

The accident occurred on the river near the city of Volgograd when a barge collided with a catamaran.

The cause of the collision was not immediately known.
Eleven bodies have so far been recovered from the Black Sea from yesterday's military aircraft crash. All 92 people on board died.