— Aug. 29, 1998: A Cubana Tu-154 flight from Quito to Havana skids off the runway and catches fire, killing 79 people, including 10 on the ground when the plane plowed into a soccer field.

The Tupolev's Tu-154 (search) remains the standard medium range airliner on domestic flights in Russia and other former Soviet states and to a lesser extent in eastern Europe and Iran (search).

The Tupolev aircraft maker's Tu-154, the type of plane that crashed in the Black Sea with 92 people on board, is an ageing Russian workhorse whose record is plagued with accidents.

Other major accidents involving the Tu-154 were in July 2001 in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, with 145 dead, and in August 1996 on the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen, killing 141.

Other major accidents involving the Tu-154 were in July 2001 in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, with 145 dead, and in August 1996 on the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen, killing 141.

On December 4, 2014, a Tu-154 passenger plane broke apart after rolling off the runway at Moscow's Domodedovo airport, killing two people. On April 10, 2010, a Tu-154 carrying Polish president Lech ...

The shape of the Tu-154 can be misleading, though, since it’s a durable, robust aircraft that has been used in all sorts of runway and landing conditions. The aircraft has been phased out by ...

Iran said in February it was planning to stop using the planes. * The Tu-154 first flew in 1968, was delivered to Aeroflot in early 1971 and entered regular service in February 1972.

About five have been shot down by enemy or terrorist attacks in Lebanon, Georgia and Afghanistan during the civil wars in those countries. In 2001, a Tu-154 crashed into the Black Sea after being hit ...

Some experts draw parallels between the Tu-154 crash and the explosion onboard a passenger Airbus 321-231 en route from Sharm-el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg that took place on Oct. 30, 2015.

Iran said in February it was planning to stop using the planes. * The Tu-154 first flew in 1968, was delivered to Aeroflot in early 1971 and entered regular service in February 1972.