On November 24, a Russian Sukhoi SSJ-100 plane operated by Azimuth Airlines caught fire near the left engine after landing at Antalya Airport, Turkey. All passengers and their luggage were successfully evacuated. Azimuth Airlines carried out a preliminary internal investigation into the event. According to a document obtained by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the SSJ 100 aircraft did not catch fire. Instead, aviation fuel poured from a deformed fuel tank ignited on the runway.
Rostech, which governs Russian aircraft-making companies, has issued its position regarding the SSJ-100’s safety record.
According to Rostec, all known major aviation incidents involving the Superjet are attributed to either human error or adverse environmental conditions.
Rostec writes, “There is no need to demonize the Superjet. If a Mercedes is involved in an accident, it does not immediately mean the car is bad. All known serious aviation incidents with the Superjet are associated either with human factors or unfavorable external conditions. The official causes of the aviation incident with the Superjet in Antalya will be announced by a special commission that has already been formed. As the aircraft manufacturer, we are ready to provide all necessary assistance in the investigation.”
Since its debut, the SSJ-100 fleet has flown more than 1,745,000 hours, with over 977 thousand flights completed. This figure was revealed by aircraft developer PJSC Yakovlev at the annual SSJ-100 Operators Conference in Moscow.
There are currently 159 SSJ-100 aircraft operating in various versions, operated by seven Russian carriers. At the same time, in the 3rd quarter of 2024, four airlines have an average daily flight time per aircraft exceeding 8 hours.
Speaking to conference attendees, Dmitry Borisenko, Deputy General Director of PJSC Yakovlev for Customer Support of Civil Aviation Equipment, stated, “Despite the complete cessation of cooperation with Western manufacturers, our serviceability indicators did not go down after 2022, and the regularity of SSJ-100 flights is still around 97-98%. At the same time, the intensity of fleet operation is growing, in 2022-2023 and even in 9 months of 2024 it exceeds the pre-pandemic indicators.”
The seminar also discussed the initial results of Russian companies’ efforts to localize the repair of international SSJ-100 components. So, in February 2022, 59 airplane components were serviced in Russia, and by November 2024, 311 had been serviced. Companies’ output capacity for aggregate maintenance is also increasing; the quantity of repaired products for a variety of nomenclature items in 2024 climbed by 200 percent or more as compared to 2023. At the same time, the necessary legislative framework has been established, and design support for the operation of foreign components by specialized domestic aviation equipment developers has been organized, with the number of products receiving design support increasing from zero in February 2022 to 214 components in November 2024. PJSC Yakovlev is part of the United Aircraft Corporation of Rostec State Corporation.
The manufacturer asserted that in real-world operations, the Superjet’s reliability is comparable to that of foreign-made aircraft in the same class. In 2024, this type of aircraft had an on-time departure rate of 98%.
Returning to the most recent mishap, it was revealed that the incident involving the puncture of the SSJ-100’s fuel tank was the third of its sort. If you watched our video yesterday, we mentioned that Andrei Boginsky, CEO of Yakovlev, was removed because he was responsible for certain unresolved issues that arose in the aftermath of the Aeroflot Superjet disaster at Sheremetyevo, such as the failure to implement the necessary structural reinforcements. Probably, the aircraft’s landing gear will need to be adjusted to avoid repeat mishaps.
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