Markin rules out change in court orders on suspects in Falcon inquiry
MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) - The restrictive measure for all suspects in the criminal case over the crash of a French aircraft at Vnukovo Airport will remain unchanged, Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
"Under the current laws, suspects were charged within ten days after their arrest. Thus, there is no reason for overturning the constraining measures already imposed on the suspects in the form of a house arrest or custody," Markin told Interfax on Friday
A number of forensic tests are due to be carried out as part of the inquiry, "and it is only after analyzing the results of these tests along with other evidence, including the conclusion of the International Aviation Committee, that it will be possible to draw objective conclusions about what caused the plane crash and which individuals were responsible or not responsible," Markin recalled.
It was reported earlier that formal charges had been brought against Vnukovo Airport's aerodrome service engineer Vladimir Ledenev, air traffic controller Alexander Kruglov, trainee air traffic controller Svetlana Krivsun, and snowplow operator Vladimir Martynenko.
It was reported that a Falcon jet collided with a snowplow on the runway while taking off at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport on the night of October 20. The crash killed four people on board, including the chief of the French oil company Total, Christophe de Margerie.
On October 24, the Basmanny District Court ordered Kruglov and Ledenev to be remanded in custody until December 21, while Dunayev and Krivsun were placed under house arrest for the same period. According to the inquiry, "on the day of the crash, Ledenev was in charge of snowplowing operations, and Dunayev, Krivsun and Kruglov were in charge of air traffic."
All of them are suspected of "having failed to observe the flight and ground work safety regulations, which led to the tragedy."