MOSCOW - The actions of the crews of two passenger jets that crashed on August 24, were absolutely correct, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin told reporters on Monday.

He said the first stage of investigation by the Interstate Aviation Committee was completed. Technical information received from flight data recorders suggests that both planes were destroyed at cruising altitude.

Conversations between the crews and ground controllers show that the flights were going on as planned, and “when an emergency occurred, the crews simply did not have time to report the problems they had”. Mr. Levitin said a distress button of the Tu-154 might have been activated automatically, in the process of the plane’s destruction.

“Up to the last moment, the crew of the Tu-154 tried to do everything possible to save the aircraft and passengers,” the Transport Minister said. According to him, the flight data recorders of the Tu-134 switched off at the moment of the aircraft’s destruction, while the Tu-154’s flight data recorders continued to work for several seconds after the disaster. Mr. Levitin said the destruction of the planes began from their tail sections. He said the Interstate Aviation Committee continued to decode the “black boxes” flight data recorders. The operation is expected to take 1-1.5 months. Meanwhile, technical committees will continue to work on the crash sites.

On August 31, the Russian government will discuss the issue of providing help to the families if Russian and foreign citizens who died in the crashes of the Tu-134 and Tu-154 in the Tula and Rostov regions, according to the government’s press service.

The Transport Ministry is going to prepare a number of bills on flight security, Mr. Levitin said. According to him, changes will be made to the Air Code and the Police Law. In addition, a bill on transport security will be drafted before the end of the year. At the same time, the minister noted that the technical equipment of Russian airports met international standards. He said there were no technical devices capable of effectively detecting explosives, and it was necessary to establish control over the production of such materials. “People should be more psychologists than technicians. Together with the Interior Ministry, we are planning to improve the training of aviation security services,” Mr. Levitin added.

The Tu-154 and Tu-134 airliners flew out of Moscow's Domodedovo airport on August 24, and crashed within minutes of each other, at about 11 p.m. local time. The wreckage of the Tu-154, which was en route for the Black Sea resort of Sochi, was found in the Rostov region. There were 38 passengers and 8 crew members on board. The remains of the Tu-134, which was bound for Volgograd, were found in the Tula region. It was carrying 35 passengers and 9 crew members.

The Federal Security Service confirmed that the air crashes were terrorist attacks. Traces of explosive (hexogen) were found in the wreckage of both planes.