RRJ-95LR-100 RA-89049 12.07.2024

On July 12, 2024, the accident involving RRJ-95LR-100 RA-89049 aircraft occurred near Kolomna town, Moscow Region. Reportedly, three flight crewmembers on board have been fatally injured.

The Interstate Aviation Committee has set up the team to investigate the air accident. The investigation team has launched the investigation activities.

The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) investigation team’s activities are ongoing at the site of the air accident to the Gazpromavia Aircraft Enterprise, LLC RRJ-95LR-100 aircraft.

Through the activities in question, the onboard recorders (FDR and CVR) have been retrieved and delivered to IAC. The recorders have been exposed to thermal effect and sustained substantial mechanical damage. At the IAC laboratory facilities the experts have carried out the necessary procedures on the recorders provision to rule out the risk of data loss.

Later on all the flight data have been successfully copied, processed for decoding and further analysis.

At the facilities of the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) laboratory, the Committee’s experts have launched the decoding and analysis of the data, having been copied out of the recorders, retrieved at the site of the accident involving RRJ-95LR-100 aircraft.

As earlier communicated by IAC, the recorders have been exposed to the thermal effect and sustained substantial mechanical damage. The IAC laboratory experts have arranged all necessary basic procedures on the provision of the crash-resistant memory modules for the examination to rule out the risk of data loss.

Please be advised as well that the investigation of the air accident is being conducted compliant to ICAO Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and «Regulations on the accident and incident investigation with the civil aircraft in Russian Federation», approved by the Russian Federation Government Decision # 609 of June 18, 1998.

In view of the incoming media enquiries please be informed that the IAC investigation team has no legal basis to disclose – make public - the details of the investigation progress until it is completed. At present, any dates of the investigation completion, its findings, causes and circumstances are too early to state.

The Interstate Aviation Committee/IAC investigation team is proceeding the investigation activities on the fatal accident involving RRJ-95LR-100 RA-89049 aircraft, occurred on July 12, 2024 near Apraksino township, Moscow Region, Kolomna District (RF).

The circumstances of the air accident have been presently determined.

The crew out of the pilot-in-command, first officer and flight attendant upon the completion of the scheduled maintenance check at the facilities of Lukhovitsy Voronin Aircraft MRO Plant, the United Aircraft Corporation, PJSC branch was performing the ferry flight from Lukhovitsy (Tretyakovo) aerodrome to the base aerodrome of Vnukovo (Moscow).

The autothrottle was engaged prior to takeoff. The autopilot was engaged after takeoff at the true altitude of 550 feet. In the fifth minute of the flight, having been then proceeded in a practically level flight at the QNH altitude of 5160 feet (the values of the pitch attitude were equal to 5-6º to nose-up, the recorded AOA were 10-11º) the aircraft transitioned to descent with the pitch attitude of up to 4º to nose-down. At the point of the transition to descent the IAS amounted to 200 knots and was increasing, the flaps and slats were synchronously retracted to a fully retracted position.

Through the descent, the autopilot and autothrottle disengagement was recorded. The crew initiated the manual control with the sidestick and the engines. The aircraft was descending down to the altitude of 4500 feet with subsequent climb up to 4750 feet.

In the sixth minute of flight at the IAS of 320 knots (the OVERSPEED aural warning was then triggering) the aircraft transitioned to descent with the increase of the pitch attitude to nose-down. The crew was unable to arrest the descent with the full aft sidestick input in pitch.

The flight data recording stopped at 14:59:15, the last recorded flight data values are as follows: the IAS of 365 knots, the sink rate of 17000 feet per minute, the pitch attitude of 25º to nose-down, and the bank angle of 25 º to the right. The powerplants were running until the stop of the flight data recording.

The IAC investigation team has drawn up and forwarded the follow-up report to the Russian Federation FATA, which - along with the identified hazards - states the safety recommendations on the corrective measures/safety actions to be undertaken, aimed at the advancement of the aviation safety.

The investigation to determine the causes of the air accident is currently ongoing.

The Interstate Aviation Committee here states that the IAC Investigation team to the RRJ-95LR-100 RA-89049 air accident, occurred on July 12, 2024 near the Moscow Region, Kolomna District, Apraksino township, has drawn up the Interim statement.

The Interim statement is released until the completion of the air accident investigation compliant to the «Regulations on the accident and incident investigation with the civil aircraft in Russian Federation», approved by the Russian Federation Government Decision # 609 of June 18, 1998 and ICAO Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The document incorporates the factual evidence, having been submitted to the investigation team so far.  

The IAC Investigation team activities on the collection and analysis of the aircraft systems and assemblies serviceability data, the assessment of the crew training and actions, the lead-up and conduct of the experiments within the investigation and the simulation of the in-flight emergency are in progress.

The information, outlined in the Interim statement, is preliminary and can be subject to clarification and amendment based on the pertinent examinations and the review of the additionally submitted data.

Upon the completion of the investigation activities, the Final Report on the results of the air accident investigation will be drawn up.

In accordance with the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices and under the Russian Federation legislation, the Interim Report is issued with the sole objective to prevent the air accidents. It is not the purpose of the air accident investigation to apportion blame or liability.

This is the statement by the Interstate Aviation Committee on the completion of the air accident investigation, held by the Interstate Aviation Committee team, to the RRJ-95LR-100 RA-89049 aircraft, occurred on July 12, 2024 at the area the Apraksino settlement of the Moscow region Kolomna district.

The investigation of the air accident has been conducted compliant to ICAO Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation «Aircraft accident and incident investigation» and the Russian air legislation.

The sole objective of the air accident investigation is the prevention of the future accidents. It is not the Interstate Aviation Committee investigation team responsibility to apportion blame or liability and not the purpose of the air accident investigation. According to ICAO Annex 13 the identification of causes  and contributing factors of the air accident «does not imply the assignment of fault or the determination of administrative, civil or criminal liability».

For the prompt implementation of the safety actions the IAC investigation team immediately communicated all the hazards, identified in the course of the investigation, to the concerned parties, including Federal Air Transport Agency, the aircraft designers, manufacturers and operators.

In the course of the air accident investigation the aircraft designer, having been recommended by the IAC investigation team:

- promptly drew up and forwarded the newsletter to the attention of the operators that the provisions of the Aircraft Maintenance Manual shall be strictly followed when carrying out the aircraft maintenance works;

- the guidance for the flight personnel on the actions to undertake in similar occurrences has been developed and introduced to the Emergency and Abnormal Procedures section of the RRJ-95 FCOM;

- the bulletin on the aircraft maintenance has been enacted.

In the course of the investigation all the known circumstances of the air accident have been reviewed, a large amount of additional examination activities and experiments has been held and analyzed.  

As the outcome of the investigation activities the IAC investigation team has identified the contributing factors of the air accident, developed the safety recommendations and drawn up the Final Report on the results of the investigation of the air accident to the RRJ-95LR-100 RA-89049 aircraft, occurred on July 12, 2024 at the area of Apraksino settlement of the Moscow region Kolomna district. The Report has been issued on the Interstate Aviation Committee official website in the Investigations section.  

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