RuAviation

The incident with the Superjet 100 RA-89085 of Azimut Airlines in Antalya has once again raised questions about the safety of the aircraft’s operation. Criticism of the SSJ100, including statements about its incomplete ‘Russianness’, has been discussed earlier. We will not return to this topic in detail, but we believe that the main reason for dislike of the SSJ100 is the widespread opinion that work on the Tu-334 was discontinued in the early noughties in favour of the priority development of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 project.

Rosaviatsia sees no reason why this aircraft should be abandoned and put on the shelf. The agency notes that the SSJ100 has been certified in accordance with Russian and international standards, confirming that the aircraft meets all airworthiness requirements. And despite the fact that in 2024 compared to the previous year Rosaviatsia recorded an increase in the number of aviation accidents in both commercial and general aviation, the largest number of incidents occurred when using helicopters. At the same time, Russia is within the global indicators of flight safety, no acute negative trends are observed, the agency said.

As for RA-89085 specifically, Rosaviatsia said that in early 2024 it received an appeal about problems with this aircraft. The results of the inspection of the technical condition of the aircraft confirmed its compliance with the current norms of airworthiness. There are no reasons to refuse to operate the Sukhoi Superjet 100, the Rosaviatsia representative said.

At the same time, there is no question of complacency on the part of the government, and daily work is being done to improve flight safety. ‘Flight safety is our key priority,’ the agency said. Rostransnadzor specialists will conduct an unscheduled inspection of the Azimut airline for the fulfilment of aviation legislation. It is coordinated with the Southern Transport Prosecutor’s Office. The main purpose of the inspection is a comprehensive analysis of the carrier’s work in the field of flight safety.

The investigation of the incident in Antalya is being conducted by the Transport Accident Investigation Centre of the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (UEIM). Russia is represented in this process by specialists from the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) and Rosaviatsia. The initial stage of the investigation focuses on the collection and analysis of factual data. Forming conclusions requires careful analysis and the exclusion of speculation. Preliminary data suggests that the cause of the Antalya air accident with fuel burning on concrete is not in the design of the aircraft, and only an objective and comprehensive investigation will help find the true causes of the event.

In 2023, Russian airlines carried 9.4 million passengers on SSJ100 aircraft, which means that SuperJets carried an average of 25,700 people every day. The aircraft continues to be improved. Taking into account the new data received during operation and all the comments identified as a result of both serious and minor accidents, components and assemblies are being improved. The recommendations are taken into consideration by Yakovlev’s designers and will be implemented in the updated import-substituted version of the SJ-100.