The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under Part 3 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Violation of safety rules for traffic and operation of air transport, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence") following yesterday's SSJ-100 crash in the Moscow region. Experts from the IAC and representatives of Rosaviatsiya will take part in the investigation of the plane crash. According to Rosaviatsiya, the "black boxes" have already been found, and they are in a condition in which it is possible to work with them and determine the cause of the crash.
After the plane crash, there was confusion: at the same time, the import-substituted SSJ New was undergoing flight tests nearby in the Moscow sky.
According to preliminary information, it was the one that crashed, having spent at least an hour in the sky. However, it later turned out that the import-substituted aircraft successfully passed the flight tests, and, according to UAC, landed at the Ramenskoye airfield without any problems.
According to updated data, the crashed SSJ-100 took off on July 12 at 14:52 Moscow time from the airport in Lukhovitsy and headed to Vnukovo Airport. At 14:55, the crew contacted the dispatcher, who gave the command to climb to an altitude of 3048 meters. But the plane only gained 1600 meters. Two minutes later, at 14:57, the dispatcher recorded a decrease in altitude, it rushed down sharply, its crew did not respond. At 15:00, the plane finally disappeared from the radar and crashed near the village of Apraksino in the Kolomna urban district of the Moscow region.
One of the possible causes of the crash is engine failure. The non-import-substituted version of the aircraft has Russian-French SaM146 engines. Their components stopped being supplied to Russia in 2022 after the tightening of sanctions, but Russia is import-substituting some of the parts of these engines and repairing them on its own.
Investigators seized documentation on the repair of the aircraft from specialists at the Voronin Lukhovitsy plant and seized fuel samples at the airport from where the SSJ-100 took off for examination.
There is another version, which aviation specialists shared with IA "TASS". At the altitude that the plane managed to gain, birds could have entered its engines, which led to the disaster.
However, the Rostec State Corporation, whose subsidiary PJSC "UAC" was engaged in the repair of the aircraft through its plant in Lukhovitsy, urges not to rush to conclusions about the causes of its fall. Representatives of the state corporation assured that they are ready to provide the investigation with all the necessary support.