Metal particles in the engine oil of an Antonov An-24 caused the planes July 11 crash that killed six and injured more than 20 in western Siberia, Russias Interstate Aviation Committee said on Monday.
The plane, operated by Angara Airlines and carrying 36 people, ditched into the Ob River in Tomsk oblast on July 11, en route from Tomsk to Surgut. The crew attempted the emergency landing several minutes after reporting a fire in the aircraft’s left engine.
A special IAC committee was set up to recover and analyze the voice recording and data from the airplanes cockpit. The committee has a copy of the crew members conversation recordings 20 minutes prior to the beginning of emergency situation; also the flight data parameters have been decoded, the IAC said. IAC oversees civil aviation in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Data analyses showed that while flying at an altitude of 6,000 meters, the pilots visual control panel indicated Oil Particles in Left Engine, according to IAC.
The crew decided to implement an early descent, agreed with the Nizhnevartovsk airport flight control. During the descent a fire broke out in the planes left engine. After the crew tried twice to put out the fire, without success, it decided to make an emergency landing on a sand spit on the bank of river Ob, the IAC said.
After the accident, a criminal case was opened over the breach of air transport operation and flight safety rules.
Soviet-designed An-24s have been involved in a series of accidents in the last several years, including many fatal crashes. Last week’s crash prompted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to instruct the government to consider the early retirement of all An-24s, the last of which was produced in 1979, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.