Second flight recorder of Tu-154 recovered from Black Sea

Another flight recorder of the Russian military plane Tu-154 that crashed into the Black Sea with 92 people on board has been recovered.

"The second flight recorder of the Tupolev-154 plane was spotted and recovered less than 30 minutes ago," Tass news agency cited the Defense Ministry, as saying.

Earlier, cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the plane was sent to the Russian Aerospace Force's research center in Lubertsy, near Moscow for deciphering.

Primary analysis of the data retrieved from the first recorder that was found yesterday has allowed for narrowing the range of likely causes of the plane's crash.

According to the Defense Ministry, rescuers have recovered a total of 15 bodies and 239 body parts at the crash site in the Black Sea.

13 bodies and 168 body parts have been sent to Moscow's Bureau of Forensic Medicine for identification procedures and DNA tests.

The ministry said biological samples have been collected from 105 relatives of the plane crash victims for the analysis.

According to the Defense Ministry, the main flight data recorder was found 1,600 meters away from the coast at the depth of 17 meters by the Falcon search apparatus.

Tu-154 had crashed on December 25 shortly after taking off from the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry and the Russian Defence Ministry had confirmed the crash of Tu-154, saying the debris of the aircraft and alleged personal belongings of the passengers were discovered in the Black Sea.