Superjet 100 crashes near Moscow after maintenance, three dead
The Superjet 100-passenger plane crashed near Moscow. According to the TASS agency, only three crew members were on board. The plane had just been inspected and made its first flight after repairs. Just before the crash, the aircraft sent an SOS signal.
3:06 PM EDT, July 12, 2024
According to preliminary data, the Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed in the Moscow region during a test flight after undergoing repairs. The aircraft, which crashed in the Moscow region, was manufactured in 2014, and its only operator was Gazprom, as reported by aviation services cited by TASS.
The plane "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 of them died.
The plane was flying from the aircraft factory near Lukhovitsy to Vnukovo. The crew of the plane were the only victims of the crash. According to TASS, engine problems might have been the cause.
According to BAZA, the Superjet crashed seven minutes after takeoff. "It was the first flight after two months of maintenance," the report reads. The Gazpromavia Superjet took off from the Lukhovitsy airport at 6:52 AM (Eastern Time), and at 6:57 AM, the plane was flying at an altitude of 4,900 feet. After that, it began to descend rapidly. At 6:58 AM, the altitude was 4,300 feet; at 6:59 AM, the plane lost over 2,000 feet of altitude in seven seconds; and at 6:59:28 AM, its signal disappeared from the radar. The aircraft managed to send an SOS signal.
Security forces are already conducting operations at the PJSC UAC-LAZ maintenance and repair center, where the Superjet was serviced.
According to The Moscow Times, this was 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, hitting a mountain. The second burned during the landing at Sheremetyevo in 2019. According to the ch-aviation service, Russian airlines currently operate about 150 aircraft of this type.
