Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee is joining a Turkish-led investigation into the Yakovlev Superjet 100 fire at Antalya on 24 November.
There were no fatalities among the 89 passengers and six crew members after the Azimuth Airlines jet (RA-89085) experienced a hard landing, according to the carrier.
Images from the scene indicate the fire broke out in the vicinity of the left-hand PowerJet SaM146 engine.
The Interstate Aviation Committee says the aircraft was damaged, although the nature and extent have yet to be clarified. Photographs of the Superjet, however, suggest the left engine was knocked out of alignment during the event.
Turkish authority UEIM is heading the probe into the Antalya event. The Interstate Aviation Committee has appointed a representative and advisers to participate.
Investigators have yet to disclose whether the accident shares any similarities with the fatal Aeroflot Superjet 100 fire at Moscow Sheremetyevo in May 2019.
The Aeroflot aircraft bounced heavily as it touched down, damaging its main landing-gear and fuel tanks, resulting in a fuel spill which then ignited.
The inquiry has yet to release a final report into the accident.
Russia’s intellectual property database shows that, earlier this year, Yakovlev filed a patent for a landing-gear design intended to lower the risk of fuel-tank damage during abnormal landings.
The design “ensures destruction [or] separation of the shock-absorber strut body before damage to the wing structure elements occurs” if loads are exceeded, the patent states.
This can be used, it adds, to prevent “catastrophic situations” associated with overloading the undercarriage during landing.
