Russia says focus not on terrorism in plane crash probe

Russian rescue ships and boats search and collect wreckage from the crashed plane outside Sochi, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016. A Tu-154 operated by the Russian Defense Ministry en route to Syria crashed into the Black Sea minutes after takeoff from Sochi. Everybody aboard the plane are thought to have perished and the cause of the crash is not immediately known. (AP Photo/Viktor Klyushin) (The Associated Press)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to the media upon his arrival to attend a Session of Collective Security Council on Monday, Dec. 26, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016. Putin has declared a nationwide day of mourning for victims of the crash of a Russian plane that plunged into the sea with 92 people aboard. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

Flowers are offered in front of portraits of Russian TV journalists who were aboard a crashed military plane, displayed at the main TV building in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 26, 2016. Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov says a pilot error or a technical fault is likely to be the cause of Sunday's plane crash over the Black Sea. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) (The Associated Press)

Russia's transport minister says a pilot error or a technical fault is likely to be the cause of Sunday's plane crash over the Black Sea.

All 84 passengers and eight crew members on the Russian military's Tu-154 plane are believed to have died when it crashed two minutes after taking off from Russia's Sochi.

Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said in televised remarks on Monday that investigators are looking into a possible pilot error or a technical fault and that a terrorist attack was not among the main theories.

Rescue teams on Monday continued to search for victims after the plane on its way to Syria crashed into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff. The passengers included dozens of singers in Russia's world-famous military choir.