Superjet 100 crashes near Moscow: All crew members perish
The passenger aircraft Superjet 100 has crashed near Moscow. According to the TASS agency, only three crew members were on board. The aircraft had just undergone maintenance and was performing its first flight after the repairs. Moments before the crash, the aircraft sent an SOS signal.
According to preliminary data, the Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed in the Moscow region during a test flight after repairs. The aircraft, which crashed in the Moscow region, was manufactured in 2014. Its sole operator was Gazprom, which reported the aviation services, as quoted by TASS.
The aircraft "hovered in the air" for over an hour before crashing. According to Rosaviatsiya, only three crew members were on board: two pilots and one navigator. All perished.
The plane was flying from the aircraft factory near Lukhovitsy to Vnukovo. The crew members were the only victims of the crash. As TASS reports, engine problems could have caused it.
According to BAZA, the Superjet crashed 7 minutes after takeoff. "It was the first flight after two months of maintenance," we read. The Gazpromavia Superjet took off from Lukhovitsy airport at 1:52 PM, and at 1:57 PM, the plane was flying at an altitude of 5,000 feet, after which it "started to descend rapidly." By 1:58 PM GMT, the altitude was 4,300 feet. At 1:59 PM, the plane lost over 2,000 feet of altitude in seven seconds, and at 1:59:28 PM, its signal disappeared from the radars. The aircraft managed to send an SOS signal.
Security forces are already operating in the PJSC UAC-LAZ service and repair centre area, where the Superjet was repaired.
As "The Moscow Times" notes, this is the third Sukhoi Superjet crash since this type of aircraft began flying in 2008. The first aircraft crashed during a demonstration flight in Indonesia in 2012, striking a mountain. The second burnt during the landing at Sheremetyevo in 2019. According to Ch-aviation, Russian Airlines currently operates around 150 aircraft of this type.
