Fourth air accident in 36 hours

2006-07-10 13:28

Moscow - A plane carrying the chief of staff of the Russian navy and other officers caught fire after crash-landing at an airfield in Crimea, Interfax news agency said on Monday.

It was the fourth serious aviation incident involving Russian planes in 36 hours.

No fatalities were immediately reported and the Russian navy chief of staff, Admiral Vladimir Masorinym, was unhurt.

Several officers in the delegation received burns of varying degrees in the accident, Interfax said, quoting a source with the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

It was not immediately known how many people were aboard the Tu-134 plane, which rolled off the runway while landing at Simferopol airport, Interfax said.

One of its engines caught fire after the crash-landing, it said.

Other air incidents

Earlier on Monday, an Airbus A310 operated by the Russian S7 airline en route from Turkey to Moscow made an emergency landing in Simferopol after suffering a technical malfunction.

In another accident on Monday in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, a Tu-154 airliner made a successful emergency landing after one of its three engines failed.

Fatal crash in Siberia

The accidents came a day after an Airbus A310 airliner operated by a Russian S7 airline careened off a rain-slicked runway, slammed into adjacent garages and burst into flames in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing at least 124 of the 203 people on board and leaving four others missing.

Preliminary data gathered by the commission investigating the crash indicated that the braking system on the plane had failed.

Pakistan, DRC accidents

Meanwhile, at least 45 people were feared dead after a Pakistan International Airlines Fokker passenger plane crashed soon after take-off on a domestic flight in eastern Pakistan on Monday.

A Russian-made Antonov-12 cargo aircraft crashed in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, killing all five passengers, including three Russians.

Sunday's crash and a string of incidents on Monday revived concerns about Russian aviation safety standards, which plummeted after the 1991 Soviet collapse but had seemed to stabilise in recent years.

AP and AFP

- News24