WSJ: against the backdrop of sanctions in Russia, the number of air incidents has increased sharply

In Russia in 2023, an increase in air incidents was recorded. According to the German research company Jacdec, which collects information on aviation incidents around the world, in the Russian Federation in 2023 there were at least 74 incidents with aircraft designed to carry at least 19 passengers, a year earlier it was known about 36, writes The Wall Street Journal.

According to the research company Cirium, cited by the publication, in Russia there were about 10 incidents for every 100 thousand flights in 2023, while a year earlier there were only 5.

While serious damage or disaster has been avoided in most cases, safety experts interviewed by the WSJ warn that persistent technical problems pose significant risks to passengers and increase pressure on pilots.

A significant part of aviation incidents in Russia, according to experts, is most likely related to sanctions prohibiting foreign companies from servicing aircraft of Russian airlines and supplying spare parts for them.

At the same time, the WSJ notes, the statistics also included incidents not related to technical malfunctions, for example, birds getting into the engine, as well as the crash of the plane of the founder of the Wagner PMC, Evgeniy Prigozhin.

Russian aviation authorities, the publication recalls, regularly state that sanctions do not affect flight safety in Russia. However, the publication's interlocutors believe that this is not so.

"They don't have access to parts, there's not much they can do," said Henry Gurgi, director of safety strategy and policy at the advocacy group Flight Safety Foundation, adding that while Russia is "doing everything they can" to keep it operational aircraft, but sanctions are “already starting to have a serious impact.”

• Before the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, the fleet of Russian airlines consisted of a total of 1,031 aircraft, designed to carry 19 or more passengers. Almost two-thirds of the fleet were aircraft manufactured by Boeing and Airbus, WSJ cites data from the research company Cirium.
• in mid-December The Federal Air Transport Agency announced that in air transport in the Russian Federation “there is no tendency towards an increase in the number of aviation incidents.” Airplanes, the regulator assured, in Russia began to break down not more often, but less often. The Federal Air Transport Agency did not explain then what was the reason for such a statement, but Russian independent media and foreign media have repeatedly written about the increase in the number of aircraft accidents.