... and, for the record, I believe that the Tupolev 154M has a better safety record than the Boeing 757. I seem to recall that there have been NO losses due to mechanical failure etc. - the ones that have been lost have been due to pilot error or missiles being fired at them.
Actually 2 154's did crash last year in Russia, but that was pretty much certainly terrorism, it was just before Beslan. Not that it matters.
154's are a pretty standard design, thousands of them built and many of them new - not the 60's! But Balkan's charters ARE cramped.