BAD BRAKES FOR 122 WHO DIED IN RUSSIAN AIR CRASH
Randy L. Harrington
MOSCOW—A preliminary report indicates that bad brakes may have caused the crash of an airliner that killed 122 people in the Siberian city of Irkutsk yesterday.
An Airbus A-310 careened off the runway, plowing into garages and bursting into flames. 122 people died, and there were 58 injured in the accident, that is the second major commercial air crash for Russia in two months.
A steady stream of relatives and friend went to a crisis center near the Moscow airport where the flight originated. Some of them left the center in apparent shock, and others anxiously clung to hope. One woman hurried out happy, shouting into her cellular telephone that a family friend had survived the accident.
The commission investigating the crash reported that the braking system on the aircraft operated by a Russian airline had failed. The plane was carrying about 200 people on a flight from Moscow to Irkitsk. The aircraft veered off of the runway when it landed and tore through a six foot concrete barrier. It then crashed into a group of one story garages and stopped a short distance from some small houses about 10:50 a.m. GMT Saturday.
Airline spokesman said that there were 193 passengers, including 14 children between 12 years old and under, as well as a crew of eight aboard. Three people who were not on the passenger list were pulled from the wreckage.
Most of the children were headed to nearby Lake Baikal on vacation. Witnesses said that they saw the plane land on the tarmac, but that the aircraft didn't brake. The cabin then burst into flames, after hitting the concrete barrier.
Transport Minister Igor Zlevitin blamed the rain, and the wet runway. He said that “The aircraft veered off of the runway. There was rain, the landing strip was wet. So we'll have to check the clutch and the technical condition of the aircraft.”
SOURCES/CONTRIBUTORS: AP WIRE; RUSSIAN NEWS AGENCY
Copyright 2006 Randy L. Harrington. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
An Airbus A-310 careened off the runway, plowing into garages and bursting into flames. 122 people died, and there were 58 injured in the accident, that is the second major commercial air crash for Russia in two months.
A steady stream of relatives and friend went to a crisis center near the Moscow airport where the flight originated. Some of them left the center in apparent shock, and others anxiously clung to hope. One woman hurried out happy, shouting into her cellular telephone that a family friend had survived the accident.
The commission investigating the crash reported that the braking system on the aircraft operated by a Russian airline had failed. The plane was carrying about 200 people on a flight from Moscow to Irkitsk. The aircraft veered off of the runway when it landed and tore through a six foot concrete barrier. It then crashed into a group of one story garages and stopped a short distance from some small houses about 10:50 a.m. GMT Saturday.
Airline spokesman said that there were 193 passengers, including 14 children between 12 years old and under, as well as a crew of eight aboard. Three people who were not on the passenger list were pulled from the wreckage.
Most of the children were headed to nearby Lake Baikal on vacation. Witnesses said that they saw the plane land on the tarmac, but that the aircraft didn't brake. The cabin then burst into flames, after hitting the concrete barrier.
Transport Minister Igor Zlevitin blamed the rain, and the wet runway. He said that “The aircraft veered off of the runway. There was rain, the landing strip was wet. So we'll have to check the clutch and the technical condition of the aircraft.”
SOURCES/CONTRIBUTORS: AP WIRE; RUSSIAN NEWS AGENCY
Copyright 2006 Randy L. Harrington. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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