Local authorities in Moscow, Russia have reported that a Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger aircraft has crashed new the capital city, with three crew members on board.
According to local officials, the aircraft went down on Friday afternoon in the Kolomna district, located to the southeast of Moscow with a crew of three on board.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry has verified the incident, stating that the aircraft went down in a wooded region. “The plane was manned by three crew members. Based on initial reports, all of them have perished. Fortunately, there have been no casualties among the local residents,” the statement read.
Emergency response teams were immediately sent to the crash site. The plane, usually accommodating 87 to 98 passengers, was owned by the Russian majority state-owned energy company Gazprom . It was in the midst of maintenance work and was performing a test flight at the time of crash, according to the authorities.
According to Russian media, the airplane involved in the accident was manufactured in 2014 and handed over to Gazprom, who was the sole operator of the jet, the following year.
The Federal Air Transport Agency of Russia announced that the incident will be looked into by the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Independent States, comprising various post-Soviet republics. Additionally, Russian specialists will also participate in probe.
Following severe sanctions imposed on Russia by the West, due to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has faced challenges in modernizing its aging aircraft fleet. It has been working on the Sukhoi Superjet, a regional jet, for a considerable period now to replace Western-manufactured aircraft that it was not able to service and maintain.
Throughout the years, the Sukhoi Superjet project has faced challenges due to engineering obstacles and manufacturing delays, as engineers have encountered difficulties in substituting crucial Western avionics parts.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100, which first flew in 2008, has a long and troubling history of multiple accidents. The latest incident took place in 2019 at Sheremetyevo Airport. A flight bound for the northern city of Murmansk had to turn back to Moscow after being hit by lightning. The aircraft subsequently crash-landed at the airport and burst into flames, resulting in the deaths of 41 people.