Alenia and Sukhoi joint venture Superjet International has confirmed its missing demonstration aircraft completed a full pre-flight check before take-off from Jakarta-Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport.
Search and rescue crews are still looking for the missing Superjet 100 in a remote, mountainous area more than 12h after it disappeared from Indonesian radars about 20min after take-off at 14:35.
"Prior to the flight the aircraft went through the full pre-flight check and showed the proper technical condition," Superjet says in a statement posted on its web site.
A previous demonstration flight also had no technical problems, Superjet adds.
A delegation led by Sukhoi CEO Mikhail Pogosyan is leaving Moscow to "assist and support local authorities" in Jakarta, Superjet says.
Superjet says the aircraft, serial number 95004 and tail number 97004, had completed 500 flights, accumulating more than 800 flight hours.
"No serious technical problems have been never [sic] reported," Superjet says.
Superjet identified Captain Alexander Yablontzev, Sukhoi civil aircraft chief test pilot, and co-pilot Alexander Kochetkov as the flight crew. Yablontzev has recorded more than 10,000 flight hours during his career, and commanded the first flight of the Superjet prototype nearly three years ago.
The aircraft's flight path was revealed in a photo posted online from within the search operations centre. The image showed a map with the route traced in grease pencil from radar data. The Superjet disappeared shortly after circling the Mount Sendak volcano.
Local reports say the pilot requested to descend from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet despite the mountainous terrain, then lost contact shortly afterward.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
