17 Jan 2020 10:31

No technical faults on SSJ 100 that landed on unfinished runway at Domodedovo Airport - producer

MOSCOW. Jan 17 (Interfax) - The IrAero airline's Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ 100) passenger plane, which landed on a runway still under construction at Domodedovo Airport near Moscow on Thursday, was not experiencing any technical malfunctions, JSC Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, which builds SSJ 100 jets, said in a statement.

"The information provided by the crew indicates that there were no technical malfunctions on the plane. Its landing was standard and on schedule. It cannot be called an emergency landing," the statement said.

A commission, which includes Sukhoi Civil Aircraft specialists, will investigate the accident.

A SSJ 100 passenger plane owned by IrAero, which was en route from Sabetta to Moscow, landed on an as of yet non-operational runway near Domodedovo Airport on Thursday. Two runways are working at Domodedovo and construction of a third, which will replace one of the old ones, began in 2014.

Crew error due to low visibility is being considered among possible causes of the accident, a source told Interfax.

"All theories will be studied during the investigation, the pilots will be questioned. However, the main theory is presently actions of the crew in difficult weather conditions. The pilots could have found visibility in the area of the runway to be insufficient and made a mistake," the source said.