Russia says data from black box of downed jet unreadable

MOSCOW

Russia said Monday it has been unable to retrieve data from the damaged black box from the jet which was shot down by Turkey on Nov. 24.

"It is impossible to read out the data from black box for now," Russian Lt.-Gen. Sergei Bainetov, a deputy head of the Russian military's flight safety department.

He said 13 of the flight recorder's 16 microchips had been destroyed and the remaining three were heavily damaged.

Bainetov added that specialists would be sought and that the process would take a lot of time.

Tensions remain high between Turkey and Russia following the shooting down of a Russian military jet last month after it violated Turkish airspace. After the incident, Russia imposed a range of unilateral sanctions against Ankara, including a ban on food imports.