A Russian passenger jet crashed on Friday while flying without passengers, killing all three people on board, according to officials.
According to Russian emergency personnel, a Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed near Moscow.
Authorities said the plane belonged to Gazprom Avia, a carrier owned by Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled natural gas corporation.
They reported that the plane took off from an aircraft manufacturing plant in Lukhovitsy, 110 kilometers southeast of Moscow, after being repaired.
The plane crashed while on its route to Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport.
The Investigative Committee, the country’s top state criminal investigation agency, has begun an investigation into the crash.
The Russian-made Superjet 100, also designated as SSJ100, was hailed by Russian officials as a major achievement for the country’s civil aviation industry when it went into service in 2011 but it has had a patchy safety record.
In May 2012, a Sukhoi Superjet 100 slammed into a dormant volcano during a demonstration flight in Indonesia, killing all 45 aboard. The investigation revealed that the crew was unaware of high ground and ignored signals from the terrain warning system while flying in thick clouds.
Another Superjet crashed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in May 2019, killing 41. It was struck by lightning and made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff. The probe blamed the pilot, concluding that he landed the plane heavy with unburned fuel at excessive speed, resulting in a rough touchdown that sparked a fire.
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