A Yakovlev Yak-40 business jet crashed on take-off at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on 9 March, killing the crew of five and its four VIP passengers. The accident occurred days after the Federal Service of Air Transport (FSVT) reported that Russian commercial aviation safety has improved since the mid-1990s.
Operated by Sheremetyevo-based Aerotax and leased from Vologda Air Transport Enterprise, the Yak-40 had been refurbished as a VIP aircraft. The 24-year-old tri-jet took off for Kiev at 08:40, climbed to 150ft (45m), banked left and crashed near the runway.
Because the fatalities included Artyom Borovik, a prominent Russian investigative journalist, and Zia Bazhayev, a Chechen oil company chief, sabotage is a subject of speculation. The flight recorders have been located.
The crash marred the FSVT's annual report showing that Russia's commercial aviation safety has improved markedly since its worst period between 1994 and 1996.
Last year, there were 21 aviation accidents, seven fatal, with 43 lives lost. In 1998 there were 33 accidents, nine fatal, with 37 killed. All 1999's fatal accidents involved helicopters. The most common accident causes were "violations of operational procedures and regulations" by crews (13), pilot error and wrong in-flight decisions (five), says the FSVT. Maintenance error caused two accidents and a technical fault was blamed for one. The most frequent violation is overloading cargo flights.
Source: Flight International
