After the tragedy in Sheremetyevo, thousands of people demanded to ban Sukhoi Superjet 100 flights. Why are they criticizing the plane and what they say about its safety

At the Moscow Airport, on May 5, during an emergency landing, the Aeroflot Airflot plane Sukhoi Superjet 100 caught up. As a result of the disaster, 41 people out of 78 on board were killed. Soon after, a petition appeared on Change.org demanding to ban Superjet flights. The authors of the petition, which in less than a day signed more than 8 thousand people, indicate that this is not the first serious incident with the participation of a Russian aircraft over the past year. "Paper" tells what Superjet is criticized for, why foreign airlines refuse it and what will become with the model after the tragedy in Sheremetyeva.

Sukhoi Superjet - What kind of plane is this?

Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ-100) is a Russian passenger aircraft developed by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft with the participation of the American Boeing, the aviation complex named after S.V. Ilyushin, French company SNECMA and NGO "Saturn". It is intended for the transportation of 98 passengers for a range of up to 4.6 thousand kilometers. Superjet was the first passenger aircraft developed in Russia after the collapse of the USSR. The Moscow Corporation "Sukhoi" began to work on the project back in 2000. Superjet made the first flight on May 19, 2008. Mostly the model is used by Aeroflot: there are 50 such aircraft in the company’s park. Superjet was also purchased by international airlines. Among them are the Irish Cityjet, Belgian Brussels Airlines and the Mexican Interjet, the second in the number of aircraft in the park operator SSJ-100. The model is also used by the Russian Ministry of Emergencies and the Royal Air Force of Thailand.

Does Superjet fly from St. Petersburg?

Yes. The first flight SSJ-100 to St. Petersburg was held in 2011. Now the main operators of the SSJ-100 in Pulkovo, in addition to Aeroflot, are Azimut, Yamal, Iraero and Severstal airlines. In February, it became known that the “Sukhoi Civil planes” can open the base for maintenance of their aircraft in Pulkovo.

Before the disaster in Sheremetyevo, did he already get in an accident?

Yes, over the past seven years, at least seven relatively large accidents with the participation of Superjet have occurred. The largest of them occurred in 2012 in Jakarta: the plane ran into the mountain when performing a demonstration flight. 45 people died. The cause of the disaster after the investigation recognized the actions of pilots and dispatchers, as well as the presence of strangers in the cockpit. Two more incidents occurred in October 2018 and in February 2019. In the first case, the SSJ-100 rolled out of the runway of the Yakut airport: then none of the 92 people on board died, the four turned for medical help. The second case occurred in Domodedovo, when the plane touched the plane, when the plane was rude. There were no victims. SK recognized the cause of the accident on the steering wheel. It is also known about other technical problems on the sperjet sides over the past year, which are also indicated by the authors of the petition on Change.org. For example, in March 2019, the SSJ-100 made an emergency landing in Sheremetyeva due to the cracked windshield, and in June 2018 Irkutsk-Petersburg aircraft sat down at Barnaul Airport due to false fire alarms on board.

What is Superjet criticized for?

Although the SSJ-100 was positioned as an international project and was designed to revive domestic aircraft industry, in recent years, most foreign buyers abandoned it. Among them are Brussels Airlines, which in the spring of 2018 said that she had to cancel 92 flights in 22 days due to breakdowns of Russian aircraft. In February, Cityjet refused SSJ-100. Mexican Interjet also announced the possibility of abandoning the Russian model. Buyers complain not only to breakdowns, but also that the supplier did not establish a service system. Because of this, the SSJ-100 is not repaired and idle for a long time. In addition, there are often not enough spare parts for repair. Brussels Airlines also complained that some of the leaderships were not translated from the Russian language. Initially, Superjet attracted foreign buyers with economy. Its use was 10 % cheaper than competitors, and the price is lower by 15 %. Interjet claimed that ten SSJ-100 cost them at the price of one liner from Airbus. But due to a protracted repair, the Russian model began to very much lose to competitors in another economic indicator important for airlines-an average raid (an average of hours that the aircraft spends in the air per day).

What led to a disaster in Sheremetyeva?

SK considers several versions of the cause of the disaster at Sheremetyevo Airport. One of them is “insufficient qualifications of pilots, dispatchers and persons who conducted a technical inspection of the side.” The investigation also considers the versions of a malfunction of the aircraft and adverse weather conditions. Initially, the media reported that the cause of the crash could be a lightning that fell on board. Journalist Andrei Menshenin, specializing in aviation, in the Fontanka article indicates that the lightning entry could really happen: according to the Blizortung online registrar, the categories were at the west of Sheremetyev at least a minute. At the same time, officially about the hit of the zipper as the cause of the disaster has not yet been reported. SSJ-100, like other modern passenger aircraft, is equipped with a lightning protection system, and usually such situations do not lead to serious consequences. Kommersant also found out that the burned Superjet had previously recorded only one serious technical failure - a source in the aviation industry reported this publication. In January 2018, during a decrease in the plane, the flaps did not get out, but the flight ended safely. The board itself made its first flight in June 2017.

Can Superjet be considered unsafe?

Since the beginning of 2019, three emergencies have occurred with SSJ-100, but, as Fontanka writes , experts do not consider this amount anomalous. The disaster with the dead in Sheremetyeva was the second for Superjet for 11 years of operation. From the Aeroflot data, February 2018 followed that the company considers the SSJ-100 the least safe of its aircraft. His level of security was estimated as average. The documents said that the most serious risks are the risks associated with the entry of aircraft into complex weather conditions, as well as the risks associated with the malfunction of the piloting and navigation equipment of the RRJ-95V Armed Forces. From the Aeroflot documents it also follows that in early February 2018, seven incidents occurred with the SSJ-100, when, due to moisture entering the receiver of full pressure during heavy snowfall, differences in speed indications occurred. It was this problem that was called one of the reasons for the crash of the An-148 Liner "Saratov Airlines". However, the “Sukhoi Civil Aircraft” claim that with the slightest suspicion of icing the receivers in Superjet, the indicator is triggered, and the system does not allow the liner to climb into the air. At the same time, the available data does not allow to fully talk about how safe Superjet is, Medusa writes: the model flies too little. As the BBC-SC notes , before each flight, the planes are checked by engineers and equipment, and in most cases, an unsafe side simply will not rise into the air.

What will happen next to Superjet?

The Ministry of Transport said that they did not see the grounds for suspension of model flights. In September, Aeroflot signed an agreement with the United Aircraft Corporation to supply another 100 Superjet aircraft from 2019 to 2026. “Sukhoi Civil planes” also plan to create a new, shortened version of Superjet for 75 passengers. This idea was supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also agreed to allocate about 85 billion rubles for the project.