Russia Saratov crash: Ice on sensors 'may be cause'
The
faulty instruments could have given the pilots wrong speed data, Russia's
Interstate Aviation Committee said.
The
Saratov Airlines jet went down minutes after take-off from Moscow's Domodedovo
airport on Sunday.
More
than 1,400 body parts and hundreds of plane fragments have been recovered from
the crash site.
What are
the investigators saying?
A
preliminary analysis of the on-board flight recorder indicated the plane had
problems two-and-a-half minutes after it took off, at an altitude of around
1,300m (4,265ft).
The
instruments began displaying different speed readings, probably because of iced
speed sensors while their heating systems were shut off, the committee said.
When
the crew detected the issue, they switched off the plane's autopilot. They eventually
took the plane into a dive at 30-35 degrees.
Russian
media reports said the plane's captain had rejected a de-icing treatment on the
plane before takeoff. The procedure is optional and the crew's decision is
based mainly on the weather conditions.
Iced-over speed sensors, known as Pitots, were cited as the likely reason
for a 2009 Air France plane crash, which killed 228 people.
What
about the search operation?
More
than 700 people are involved in the search operation, struggling through deep
snow.
The
emergencies ministry is collecting DNA samples from victims' relatives as part
of the identification process of the 65 passengers, including a child and two
teenagers, and six crew.
Wreckage and body
parts are strewn over a large area - about 30 hectares (74 acres) - near the
village of Argunovo, about 80km (50 miles) south-east of Moscow.
What else
do we know?
The
Antonov An-148 was en route to Orsk in the Ural mountains and lost contact at
14:27 (11:27 GMT), without sending any emergency call.
Russia's
Investigative Committee said the plane was intact when it crashed and that an
explosion happened on impact.
Flight-tracking
site Flightradar24 said it descended at the rate of 1,000m (3,300ft) per
minute.
The jet, which was
reportedly seven years old, was being flown by an experienced pilot who had
5,000 hours of flying time.
A
criminal inquiry has been launched.
What do
we know about Saratov Airlines?
In
2015 the regional airline was banned from operating international flights,
after inspectors found someone other than the flight crew in a cockpit.
The
airline appealed and changed its policy before resuming international charter
flights in 2016.
Antonov
aircraft were first developed in Ukraine, but are also made in Russia. The
twin-engine model involved in Sunday's crash had its first flight in 2004.
In
2011, one broke up mid-flight during a training flight in the Belgorod region
in southern Russia, killing all six crew members on board.
Recent
Russian air disasters
The
country has suffered two major plane crashes since 2015:
§
A Tu-154 military
airliner crashed into the Black Sea with the loss of all 92
people aboard on 25 December 2016, with the disaster blamed on pilot error
§
A Russian Airbus A321 carrying
tourists crashed in Sinai, Egypt, with the loss of all 224
people aboard on 31 October 2015; the Islamic State group said it had placed a
bomb aboard.
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