Six dead as An-148 plane crashes in Russia
All six people on board were killed when an Antonov An-148 airplane on a trial flight crashed at 1040 Moscow time Saturday in the village of Garbuzovo in Belgorod region, an emergencies ministry spokesman said.Two test pilots were among the dead. No-one on the ground was killed, according to the local Emergencies Ministry.
The aircraft, which belonged to the Voronezh Aircraft Plant, was being tested prior to delivery to Burma, which ordered two last year for government use, and at least two of those on board were Burmese nationals.Federal investigators are on their way to the crash scene, Russian Investigative Committee representative Vladimir Markin said.
“An investigative team from the Lipetsk region, which is the nearest to the crash site is en route,” Markin said.
The Prosecutor General’s Office said it had launched its own probe.
Transport prosecutors from the Belgorod and neighboring Lipetsk regions are headed for the crash site.
The An-148 is a twin-turbofan powered regional airliner, seating up to 100 passengers.
The An-148 made its maiden flight in December 2004 and tests continued through December 2006.
There have been five serious technical incidents involving the aircraft, including landing gear and control system malfunctions.
On June 4, 2010, there was an autopilot failure on board an An-148-100 flying at 10,600 meters en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg. It landed safely at the destination airport.
On March 2010 an An-148 originating from St. Petersburg crash-landed in Samara after its landing gear stuck. There were no injuries.
Last year, Russian state airline GTK Rossiya strongly criticized the reliability of its An-148 aircraft, which are produced by the Voronezh plane maker and Ukraine’s Kiev Aviation Plant AVIANT, citing problems with door locks, and engine and APU failures.
