The White House is “deeply saddened” by reports that more than 70 people died Sunday when a passenger plane crashed near Moscow, Russia, shortly after take off.
“The United States is deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of those on board Saratov Airlines Flight 703,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in a statement. “We send our condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and to the people of Russia.”
The Orsk-bound twin-engine Antonov An-148 airliner ran into trouble a few minutes after it left Domodedovo Airport, southeast of Moscow, according to the Associated Press.
Russian news outlets have reported the regional jet was carrying 65 passengers and six crew members, while Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov confirmed no survivors had been recovered from the crash site.
State news agency Tass said the aircraft, which had been operational since 2010, was put into storage by Rossiya Airlines from 2015 to 2017 because of a shortage of parts but re-entered service for Saratov Airlines in February 2017.
Russia’s Investigative Committee are yet to determine the cause of the incident, per the Associated Press.
The airliner crash ends a remarkable period in aviation history. In all of 2017, not one person died in a commercial airline crash for the first time in history.
