Pilot error, poor aircraft maintenance seen as possible causes of crash-landing in Barnaul - investigators
NOVOSIBIRSK. Sept 26 (Interfax) - There are two main lines of investigation into the Wednesday night crash landing of an Azur Air aircraft, according to a spokesman for the investigative agency.
"A pilot error and poor aircraft maintenance are under consideration," the spokesman told Interfax on Thursday.
Plane and maintenance documents are being collected, witnesses are being interviewed, and other investigative procedures are being carried out, he said. A criminal case was opened earlier on counts of violation of air safety and aircraft operation rules.
Fifty-six passengers required medical attendance. Five of them were hospitalized at first, but only one remained in the hospital. The hospitalized patient is in a fair condition, the spokesman said.
Azur Air's Boeing 767-300 en route from Cam Ranh, Vietnam to Barnaul crash-landed at the airport in Barnaul on the evening of September 25. Its right-side landing gear caught fire in the process. There were 344 people, including ten crewmembers, on board.