MOSCOW, RUSSIA – The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has released a video today of the tragic crash of an Aeroflot Superjet 100 on May 5, 2019 at Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport, just north of Moscow. Aeroflot Flight 1492 was a domestic flight from Moscow to Murmansk in Russia, but had to return to Sheremetyevo Airport for an emergency landing, where it crashed in flames during landing. 41 people on board were killed in the accident.
The Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger aircraft was climbing out – shortly after takeoff – when it was suddenly struck by lightning, causing the aircraft to suffer an electrical failure. As a result the Superjet 100 returned to Sheremetyevo Airport for an emergency landing, where it bounced on landing and touched down very hard, causing the landing gear to collapse and fuel to spill out of the wings, resulting in an eruption of fire.
The rear part of the aircraft soon erupted in flames, while people were evacuated out of the aircraft via an emergency slide in the front part of the aircraft, just behind the cockpit.
Passengers who were evacuated successfully, ran for their lives. Unfortunately 41 of the 78 passengers were unable to evacuate and lost their lives.
Five crew members and 73 passengers were on board the aircraft. The crew consisted of the captain, a first officer and 3 cabin crew members. The 42-year-old captain – Denis Evdokimov – has an Airline Transport Pilot Licence and was an experienced pilot with 6,844 flying hours, including 1,570 hours on the Superjet 100.
Prosecutors are blaming the captain for the tragic accident, claiming he performed an unnecessary rough and bumpy emergency landing. Evdokimov – whose father was a respected military pilot and Soviet air force major general – could face 7 years in jail.
Interim report of the investigation
According to a statement by the Investigative Committee of the Russia, the Chief Directorate of Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has completed a criminal investigation against the captain of the Aeroflot Superjet 100, Denis Evdokimov.
He is charged with committing a crime under part 3 of art. 263 of the Penal Code – violation of road safety rules and the operation of air transport, which caused negligent damage to human health, death of two or more persons and major damage.
According to the investigation – in response to the Moscow-Murmansk message on May 5, 2019 – after returning to the airport of departure, the captain made a rough landing on the runway of Sheremetyevo Airport.
Further actions by Evdokimov to operate the aircraft, in violation of established regulations, include the destruction and fire of the aircraft – resulting in the death of 40 passengers and 1 crew member. In addition, 10 people were injured.
A total 78 people were on board the aircraft at the time of the fire, including 3 minors and 5 crew members.
In the context of the criminal case – fire, flight, aeronautical and other forensic investigations have been conducted, which – together with other evidence – have restored the circumstances of the incident.
During the investigation, the actions of the dispatching service and the search and rescue support service for flights at Sheremetyevo Airport were also monitored. In this situation, they were unable to influence the tragedy.
Researchers and experts studied the data from the flight recorders of the crashed aircraft, according to which the aircraft responded adequately to the pilot’s control actions during the flight. This information refutes the suspect’s version of a possible aircraft failure.
The investigation has gathered enough evidence to send the criminal case to the Attorney General of the Russian Federation to resolve the issue of the charge of the charges.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
Since January 2011 the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has been the main federal investigating authority in Russia. The agency replaced the Russian Prosecutor General’s Investigative Committee and operates as Russia’s anti-corruption agency.
The agency has a responsibility to the Russia’s President Putin and has statutory responsibility for inspecting the police forces, fighting police corruption and police misconduct, and is responsible for conducting investigations into local authorities and federal governmental bodies.
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