... and mountainous, and the last known position of the Superjet was above the western slopes of extinct volcano Mount Salak, which climbs to 2,221 meters at its highest point. Indonesian authorities did not immediately rule out the possibility that the aircraft was hijacked. Hope for the plane’s crew was kept alive by local media reports that two phones belonging to people on board rang when they were called, although no one picked up. The missing aircraft was piloted by Alexander Yablontsev...

... about 1,768 meters on the slopes of the volcanic Mount Salak, about 64 kilometers from Jakarta, on Thursday morning. The plane apparently slammed into a spur of the mountain, not clearing the sheer face of the volcano only by several dozen meters. The aircraft apparently broke into several pieces. There were 45 people on board, including eight Russian crew members, representatives of the several Indonesian airlines and local journalists who had been invited to join the demonstration flight. Both Prime...

... to Japan are now able to enjoy the novelty of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner. Correction appended Russians headed to Japan are now able to enjoy the novelty of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner. JAL Japan Airlines formally introduced the aircraft on its Tokyo to Moscow route at a ceremony at Domodedovo Airport on Thursday. "This is a historic day for Domodedovo," airport director Igor Borisov told reporters. "With this most modern aircraft I am sure more passengers will...

... industry. Analysts can't yet say how far the loss of the first new passenger jet since the Soviet collapse will damage the rebirth of Russian aviation, but agree it deals a psychological blow at a time when domestic air safety is also under scrutiny. The aircraft was on a promotional tour to showcase Russia's arrival as a peer to regional jet makers like Brazil's Embraer or Canada's Bombardier, with Russia especially anxious to shake off the poor safety reputation of its earlier Soviet domestic fleet...

... Thursday that interference from a U.S. air force base near Jakarta could have caused onboard equipment to go haywire, leading to the crash that killed 45 people on May 9. "We know that they have special equipment that can cut communications between an aircraft and the ground or interfere with the parameters onboard. For example, the plane is flying at one altitude, but after interference from the ground onboard equipment shows another," a GRU general told the paper. The Sukhoi Superjet 100 disappeared...

... 777 with 306 seats, the airline said Monday. Transaero, which already flies between Moscow and the U.S. cities of New York and Miami, has been rapidly expanding. Last month, it ordered four Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners to add to its fleet of more than 80 aircraft and bought an aircraft maintenance station with 240 employees at the airport in Shannon, Ireland. Transaero is now considering routing its U.S.-bound flights from Russia through the Shannon airport, where passengers could clear U.S. customs and...

... in the world. The usual sunny weather was absent and fewer soldiers than last year took part Wednesday in the annual Victory Day parade on Red Square, where President Vladimir Putin spoke about Russia's role in the world. To ensure a fine day, military aircraft traditionally seed the clouds in advance of the event with silver and liquid nitrogen, but they apparently failed in their task despite early morning promises to clear the leaden skies above Moscow. About 14,000 servicemen from all branches of...

... the black box partly because it was so badly charred and hidden in heavy brush, said Gagah Prakoso, a spokesman for the search and rescue agency. He said the flight data recorder, which keeps track of instructions sent to any electronic systems on the aircraft, was still missing. The Superjet — intended to help resurrect Russia's aeronautics industry — was on its fourth stop of a Welcome Asia! tour that was plagued pretty much from the get-go. After a successful demo flight in Kazakhstan...

... potential buyers. Authorities are still analyzing the cockpit voice recorder found at the bottom of a steep ravine. But they have given up hope of recovering the flight data recorder, which keeps track of all instructions sent to electronic systems on the aircraft. Col. Anton Castilani, a forensic expert with the police, said Monday that all victims have been identified. They include 35 Indonesians, eight Russians, one Frenchman and an American. The remains will be handed over to relatives or country representatives...

... office, in an interview with legal magazine Prokuror, RIA-Novosti reported. Russia ranked as the most dangerous country in the world in which to fly in 2011, with nine crashes claiming 140 lives, surpassing even the Democratic Republic of Congo for aircraft-related fatalities. The top reason for airplane crashes in Russia is errors made by airline personnel, which are to blame in 80 percent of cases, Glebova said. She said an investigation showed that pilots were flying who had not had the necessary...

... could hear the explosions going off, Interfax reported, citing blogs of people living there. In early evening, a Defense Ministry spokesman told Interfax that the detonations appeared to have stopped. The Emergency Situations Ministry said an amphibious aircraft able to collect water from open sources had been sent to help extinguish the blaze. More than 1,800 residents of the towns of Zelenodolskoye, Dukhovskoye, Novo-Rusanovka and Sungach were evacuated as a result of the blasts. Earlier, it had been...

... stage in the parade, with the line of equipment stretching 1.5 kilometers. This year's parade will also see the new armored Lynx vehicle on Red Square for the first time, which will accompany the Topol-M strategic missile launchers in the procession. Aircraft piloted by veterans will fly over the parade with 1.8 ton flags streaming behind commemorating each branch of the Russian military. The parade started at 10:00 a.m. to the music of a composition called Holy War performed by a military orchestra...

... formidable air defense ring, which was switched off for maintenance. Rust maintains that he did not hide from radar and constantly kept at 600 meters altitude. Experts say Rust was spared because the country's leadership was reluctant to attack civilian aircraft after Soviet fighter jets shot down a Korean jumbo jet in 1983, killing 269 people. Rust said he was ill-prepared for the landing because he had only a rudimentary knowledge of the city's geography. "I had to circle many times before I found...

... RIA-Novosti. Russia's Investigate Committee has opened a criminal investigation of safety violations in connection with the crash, the agency's spokesman Vladimir Markin said, Interfax reported. "Researchers need to analyze the compliance of the aircraft-crew training procedures before the flight as part of a criminal case investigation, and to determine the technical condition of the plane before it left Russia," he said. Aeroflot, which operates six Superjets, said it would not suspend...

... medium- and long-range missiles — equipped with conventional warheads. At the same time, Russia intends to keep the nuclear-armed 53T6 interceptors in production. Meanwhile, the Almaz-Antey military contractor is developing a comprehensive anti-aircraft and missile defense system, the S-500, whose interceptors are expected to be effective against targets moving at up to 7 kilometers per second. First deliveries of the S-500 are expected in 2017 or 2018. Finally, Russia is upgrading its missile...

... protective barrier against imports. Nevertheless, Russia's obligations to WTO members also provide for a reduction in the level of tariff protection in relation to rates that, as of today, have a rate of import duty of 15 percent to 30 percent (for example, aircraft and land transport vehicles). The protracted transition period for reducing rates of duty on such goods is established up to seven years. In connection with its membership of the WTO, Russia will be restricted in applying certain tools that stimulate...

... the governor of the Moscow region on Friday. A former construction engineer, Shoigu established the Emergency Situations Ministry. In 1991 at a run-down base used by the Soviet-era civil defense forces. "Cars didn't have radiators and among the aircraft given to us only one helicopter was able to fly — and it flew only once," Shoigu said in a recent interview with Vedomosti. Since that time, the ministry has grown into a powerful military-like structure with an annual budget of 180...

... desk jobs. How to get there Nordavia, a subsidiary of Aeroflot, offers direct flights to Murmansk Airport ( airport-murmansk.ru ) from Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, while UTair has flights from Moscow's Vnukovo Airport. Both airlines use Boeing 737 aircraft for the 1,500-kilometer flight, which lasts two hours and costs about 10,000 rubles ($330) round-trip. Trains run from Moscow's Leningradsky Station to Murmansk twice daily at 1 a.m. and 10:20 p.m., and the travel time is 36 hours. The special...