MOSCOW, June 28. /TASS/. The crew’s erroneous actions resulted in the in-flight loss of control and subsequent crash of the Saratov Airlines An-148 near Moscow last year, which left 71 people dead, the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) said in its final report.
"The An-148 disaster occurred as a result of the crew’s erroneous actions while climbing in instrumental meteorological conditions, with incorrect readings of the indicated air speed, caused by icing (blocking with ice) of all the three fluid flow velocity measuring devices, which led to the loss of control over flight parameters, caused the aircraft to go into a dive and subsequently collide with the ground," the document reads.
Among the factors that contributed to the tragedy, IAC identified the crew’s haste in performing the required flight preparations, caused by the aircraft’s late arrival from the previous flight and the crew’s attempt to make up for the time lost. Besides, the pilots did not switch on the heating of the speed gauges.
An Antonov An-148 passenger plane of Saratov Airlines that was en route to the town of Orsk, Orenburg region, crashed on February 11 several minutes after the takeoff from Moscow’s Domodedovo airport. The plane had 65 passengers and six crew members onboard. No one survived.