The number of technical malfunctions on Sukhoi Superjet aircraft tripled during the war

The most common problems are with engines and chassis.

In 2025, at least 513 aviation incidents related to technical problems occurred on Russian Sukhoi Superjet aircraft - this is 3.4 times more than in pre-war 2021. “Vestka” came to this conclusion after analyzing messages from the Aviaincident telegram channel, which reports on aviation accidents.

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The number of publicly reported incidents increases every year. If in 2021 152 incidents were known, then in 2022 their number increased by 20% - to 182. In 2023, their number increased even more - by 68% - to 306. In 2024, at least 378 aviation incidents were reported, which is 23% more than the previous year. And in 2025, the number of incidents reached 514, increasing by another 36%.

The most commonly reported incidents on the Sukhoi Superjet are related to engines, landing gear, pressurization and navigation.

Most often, problems with engines are recorded on Superjets: since the beginning of 2021, 269 incidents have been publicly reported when engines did not start, became clogged, the hood fell off, pilots recorded vibration or reported “problems.”

The second most common incidents on Superjets are related to the functioning of the landing gear. Over five years, 171 such cases became known. Pilots reported landing gear not retracted, control failure, doors not closing, landing gear vibration and tire punctures.

Another 141 incidents were related to problems in the operation of air conditioning and sealing systems. In such cases, pilots reported “air conditioning malfunction,” windshield cracking, depressurization, and temperature problems in the passenger cabin.

Also over the past five years, malfunctions in the navigation and radar systems (87 messages), in the fuel system (63), problems with the wings (59), malfunctions of the on-board computer (52), malfunctions in the aircraft collision avoidance system (48), problems in the hydraulic system (48), braking systems (33), autopilot (21) and communications (13) were recorded. Another 91 incidents involved systems that were not included in these categories, and in 441 cases the nature of the problems was not specified - they simply referred to “technical malfunctions.”

Reports of technical incidents on Sukhoi Superjet include 235 aircraft

In total, 235 unique aircraft numbers have appeared in reports of technical incidents on Superjet aircraft over the past five years. Most often, problems were reported by aircraft with numbers RA-89004 (Azimuth) - 19 times, RA-89149 (Azimuth) - 18 times and RA-89136 (Russia) - 17 times.

As Vorstka previously reported, the Russian aviation industry faced serious problems due to sanctions imposed against the backdrop of the attack on Ukraine. Because of them, access to foreign components and technologies was severely limited, which led to the complication of aircraft maintenance. The SSJ-100 project suffered especially, since its development initially relied on a significant number of imported components. For example, on November 25, 2024, at least two incidents occurred with the Sukhoi Superjet-100 in one day, both at Azimut airline .

Also, due to problems with the supply of components, Russia is losing its fleet of foreign aircraft. According to the pessimistic forecast of the authorities, by 2030, 109 foreign aircraft may leave the carriers' fleet. In total, civil aviation may lose a third of its fleet in the next five years. Despite this, the authorities reduced spending on the federal project “ Production of Airplanes and Helicopters ” in 2026 from 139.6 billion planned in last year’s budget to 85.7 billion rubles, that is, 1.6 times.

Photo: View from the scene after the crash of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger plane near the village of Apraksino in the Kolomensky district of the Moscow region. July 12, 2024. Roman Naumov / Anadolu via Reuters Connect

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