According to initial reports, the plane crashed during a test flight after scheduled repairs. Three crew members were on board the aircraft and were reportedly killed. According to sources of the Russian state news agency TASS, the plane belonged to the gas giant Gazprom.
A Russian passenger plane crashed Friday while flying without passengers, killing its three crew members, authorities said. There were no casualties on the ground, Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed in the Moscow region, according to Russian emergency services.
Authorities said the plane belonged to Gazprom Avia, a carrier owned by Russian state-controlled natural gas giant Gazprom.
The plane had taken off from an aircraft factory in Lukhovitsy, 110 kilometres southeast of the Russian capital, where it had undergone repairs. It was heading to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport when it crashed.
The Investigation Committee, the country’s top criminal investigation body, has opened an investigation into the accident.
A source in the emergency services for the Russian Interfax news agency said that during a test flight, the crew issued a distress signal, diverted to a waiting area and made a few turns to burn fuel. While attempting a landing approach, the plane disappeared from radar. The crash occurred at about 3 p.m. Moscow time.
The cause of the Superjet 100 crash could be an engine failure, TASS reported citing operational services. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the crashed plane could have contained old Western parts – the maintenance of which has become impossible due to sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“A major success” with a mixed safety record
The Russian-made Superjet 100, also called the SSJ100, was hailed by Russian authorities as a major achievement for the country’s civil aviation industry when it entered service in 2011, but its safety record has been mixed.
This is the third crash of the Superjet 100.
In May 2012, a Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed into a dormant volcano during a demonstration flight in Indonesia, killing all 45 people on board. The investigation found that the crew was unaware of the presence of high terrain and ignored terrain warning signals while flying in thick clouds.
Another Superjet crashed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in May 2019, killing 41 people. The plane was struck by lightning and made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff. The investigation blamed the pilot, concluding that he landed the plane loaded with unburned fuel at excessive speed, causing a hard landing that sparked a fire.
Since the aircraft entered service, it has also been plagued by malfunctions and high maintenance costs that have made many Russian carriers reluctant to purchase it.
Russia’s ambitious attempts to market the aircraft widely abroad have largely failed, and the few foreign customers have gradually withdrawn the Superjets from service.
Additional sources • Meduza, BBC Russian, euronews russian