'We're falling, commander!' Desperate final words from cockpit of Russian plane reveal its flaps were not working properly before Black Sea crash

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The desperate final words from the cockpit of a Russian jet have revealed how its flaps may not have been working properly before it crashed down in the Black Sea.

One panicked crew member said 'we are falling, commander' moments before the recording went quiet and the jet plunged into the sea killing all 92 on board.

Black box evidence then reveals how the flight team was struggling to control the plane with a voice saying: 'The flaps, b****, what the f***'.

It comes as underwater images emerged showing Russian divers salvaging some of the wreckage of the 33-year-old plane. 

The desperate final words from the cockpit of a Russian jet have revealed how its flaps may not have been working properly before it crashed down in the Black Sea. Underwater images have emerged showing Russian divers salvaging some of the wreckage of the 33-year-old plane

A diver lifts part of the stricken plane to the surface during a salvage operation this morning

Rescuers combed the bottom of the sea for fragments of the Russian military plane that crashed, killing all 92 on board 

Rescue team members searching for the debris of Russian airplane Tu-154, which crashed two days earlier in the Black Sea 2 km from Sochi, Russia

Harrowing recordings of the flight crew leaked to the Russian media is interrupted by noises of alarms as the plane loses altitude before crashing. 

It shows the final exchanges between the the captain, Major Roman Volkov, his co-pilot, a navigator and an engineer.

The recording says '...Speed 300... (not clear)' before a voice adds: 'Stands are off, commander.'

Someone then says 'Oh ouch!' before a sharp alarm signal can be heard.

A man says: 'The flaps, b****, what the f***!' before someone shouts: 'Altimeter!'

After an alarm signal warning of dangerous proximity to the ground, a man can be heard saying 'we are falling, commander!' before the recording ends. 

'Judging by the first data from the black box, the situation was completely unexpected for the crew as both pilots lots control over the plane,' said Life.ru.

'However they quickly got back to their senses and tried to rescue the plane' - but this effort failed.

A Russian Emergency Ministry diver inspects a fragment of a plane in the Black Sea, outside Sochi, on Tuesday

A navy ship and a helicopter taking part in the search operation in the Black Sea on Tuesday

The opened black box flight recorder which has been pulled from the Black Sea after the crash

Russian news agency Interfax said the 'completed preliminary analysis of the data recorder.... leads to the conclusion that the priority version of the disaster is an error of piloting.'

However, experts say the flaps appeared not to be functioning 'asynchronously' which could be a technical problem as well as pilot error.

The black boxes were deciphered at Moscow's Lyubertsy central researching centre of Russian Air Forces, near Moscow. 

Rescuers opened them yesterday in an attempt to ascertain what happened.

The flight recorder was found near the crash site off the coast of the resort city of Sochi as 15 bodies were recovered with some of their eyes and bones missing. 

A diver who pulled the first woman from the water yesterday found her with serious deformities amid claims homeless people were looting corpses. 

'She had no eyes,' the diver said.

One of the fragments pulled from the sea 

'She was a woman in her forties. There was a red suitcase floating next to her,' said the account, reported by Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

'She was wearing a coat that was badly torn.

'And she was all broken as if she had no bones.' 

Asked if there was fire or evidence of an explosion in their bodies, he said: 'It's hard to say by the skin on their faces whether it was burnt or scratched off when hitting something hard at impact.'

The condition of the bodies may give investigators vital clues as to the cause of a crash that led to the deaths of almost 70 members of one of the world's great military bands, including the Alexandrov Ensemble's dancers and singers.

The beach area in Sochi was sealed after claims that 'homeless people' were searching the shore for possessions of those lost in the disaster.

A FSB security service coast guard told Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper that divers 'don't talk much' about what they are seeing as they try to salvage bodies from the wreckage.

'They don't talk to anyone much. They get out of the water looking darker than dark and go off,' he said.

'Our task now is not to let anyone to the beach.

'Don't misunderstand me, but homeless people got very active after what happened.

'They come here early in the morning to search for anything that sea could have brought.'

'When I was on duty on the first day, the waves brought somebody's remains, a phone charger, a toiletry bag, couple of shoes and a sport bag right to my feet.

'Some of my colleagues saw jewellery. We mustn't allow even a smallest bit being picked up by somebody else.'

The flight recorder was found near the crash site off the coast of the resort city of Sochi as 12 more bodies and 156 plane fragments were recovered from the sea. Rescuers are pictured working at the scene yesterday

Annual New Year fireworks have been cancelled in Sochi, Russia's premier seaside resort which also rises into the mountains to include the country's premier skiing facility. 

Fifteen bodies have been pulled form the water so far, according to the Defence Ministry.

In addition some 156 fragments of the plane have been found.

So far, only one passenger has been identified by relatives.

Some 45 vessels, 15 deep water crafts, 192 divers, 12 planes, and five helicopters are involved in the search operation. 

It comes as Russia grounded all of its other Tupolev-154 planes until experts work out why one of the ageing Soviet planes crashed down on Sunday.

Russia's defence ministry said the black box was found early in the morning, about a mile from shore and 50ft below the surface and will now be flown to the capital to be deciphered by investigators.

Russia has grounded all Tupolev-154 planes until experts work out why one of the ageing Soviet planes crashed down on Sunday. rescuers are pictured carrying the black box ashore

Rescuers have recovered the black box from a Russian military jet that crashed in the Black Sea killing all 92 on board, it has emerged. Wreckage is pictured being lifted from the water yesterday

The 'main' black box from the stricken Tu-154 has 'some damage', it was revealed when it was opened yesterday.

'The flight recorder has some damage,' said an expert cited by the Russian media.

'In particular, thermal insulation has been damaged.

'The lid of the capsule has some denting, no through damage has been detected visually.'

Specialists are now working with the first flight recorder of the aircraft at the research and development institute of the Russian air force in Lyubertsy, near Moscow.

The Tu-154 jet, whose passengers included more than 60 members of the internationally-renowned Red Army Choir, was heading to Russia's military base in Syria when it went down minutes after take-off on Sunday

State television showed footage of rescue workers on an inflatable boat carrying a container with a bright orange object submerged in water. 

Russian authorities say it has not been damaged and that work is already underway to review its contents. 

The Tu-154 jet, whose passengers included more than 60 members of the internationally-renowned Red Army Choir, was heading to Russia's military base in Syria when it went down minutes after take-off on Sunday. 

About 3,500 people, 45 ships and 192 divers have been sweeping a large area for bodies of the victims and debris, and dozens of drones and several submersibles have also been involved in the search. 

Divers found fragments of the fuselage, parts of the engine and various mechanical parts at night, the defence ministry said.

Relatives of those killed in the crash cry in front of the Alexandrov Ensemble building in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday

Grieving relatives were seen in tears in Moscow yesterday as the investigation into the crash continued

Russia's transport minister says investigators have begun to study one of the flight recorders from the plane that crashed into the Black Sea but says it's still 'too early to speak' about what caused the crash

Russia's defense ministry says a flight recorder of the Russian jet that crashed into the Black Sea on Sunday has not been seriously damaged

Officials have not announced the cause of the plane crash, but they have been anxious to end speculation that it might have been caused by a bomb on board or a portable air defence missile.

Some aviation experts have noted that the crew's failure to communicate any technical problem, and a large area over which fragments of the plane were scattered, point to a possible explosion on board.

Russia's federal security service said on Monday that it was focusing on pilot error, a technical fault, bad fuel and a foreign object in the engine as the four main scenarios that could explain the crash.

Yesterday, the first pictures emerged of pilot Roman Volkov, 35, who is being blamed for the disaster. 

His remains were pulled out of the water last night along with fragments of 70 other bodies, according to law enforcement sources.

The first pictures have emerged of Roman Volkov, pictured, who is being blamed for the Sochi air disaster that claimed the lives for 92 people

Pilot Mr Volkov (pictured) holds the rank 'pilot first class' and is the son of Colonel Alexander Volkov, a distinguished military pilot

Divers found fragments of the fuselage, parts of the engine and various mechanical parts at night, the defence ministry said

Even before the black boxes were retrieved from the sea, the experienced airman was being blamed for an error that caused the crash.

Russia's transport minister Maxim Sokolov said the Kremlin was not investigating terrorism as a cause of the crash. 

This is despite aviation experts claiming without evidence from the military Tu-154 plane, a terror attack could still be plausible. 

They pointed to the crew's failure to report any malfunction and the fact that plane debris was scattered over a wide area.

'Possible malfunctions ... certainly wouldn't have prevented the crew from reporting them,' Vitaly Andreyev, a former senior Russian air traffic controller, told RIA Novosti.

Rescue workers take part in a search and rescue operation at the crash site of a Russian Defense Ministry plane

Yesterday there were angry denials that some passengers had been wearing life jackets as the plane crashed down.

Russian Defence Ministry said: 'All rumours citing anonymous sources saying that passengers of the Tu-154 jet that crashed were allegedly wearing life vests are shameful insinuations and absolutely inconsistent with the reality.'

Debris including bodies of the victims were in the water on mile from the shore at a depth of 89 feet, said officials.

Divers had retrieved 'two elements of the plane's control mechanism', said law enforcement officials without elaborating.

'No signs or facts pointing to a possible act of terror have been received at this time,' said the FSB security service.

Pilot Mr Volkov holds the rank 'pilot first class' and is the son of Colonel Alexander Volkov, a distinguished military pilot.

He graduated Balashov Higher Military Aviation School.

Floral tributes in front of portraits of the Russian TV journalists who died in the plane crash

Fragments of the aircraft were found about one mile from the Black Sea coast of Sochi

Rescue workers push a cart with remains of the military plane which crashed in the Black Sea

He and his wife Elena had three children and lived in Schelkov, Moscow region.

His friend, Anna Saranina said earlier this week: 'Roman literally lived in the sky.

'There was no other interest for him.

'When we last met, he told me that lately he often flew to Syria - a lot of flights.

'He did not say more - military secrets. He was not afraid to fly, no premonitions. 

'He just did his duty.'  

Passengers on board the plane included dozens of singers in Russia's famous military choir, nine Russian journalists and a Russian doctor known for her charity work in war zones. 

Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said in televised remarks on Monday that terrorism was not among the main theories, and that authorities were looking into a possible technical fault or a pilot error. 

Ralina Gilmanova, 22, and her fiancé Mikhail, who were members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, were on the flight that crashed in the Black Sea

The young couple, both in the choir, were engaged last year and due to marry 'soon' 

Ekaterina Korzanov, a dancer in the Red Army Choir, died in the crash, along with her partner

Daria Trofimova, one of the 64 people in the Red Army choir who was killed in the plane crash

Lilia Pyryeva, a member of the Alexandrov Ensemble, who died in the Christmas Day crash