The S-7 Airbus 310 tragedy at Irkutsk airport in July 9 claimed 124 lives and left another 70 injured.
"A technical commission is working, and it has been joined by airplane makers, as well as engine developers," Igor Levitin said, though he also said he did not wish to comment as his ministry was not conducting an investigation.
A leading Russian newspaper said Thursday that an engine malfunction had caused the Airbus to slew off a Siberian airport's runway and fatally smash through nearby garages.
Citing experts from the Interstate Aviation Committee, Kommersant said the turbine of the left-wing engine switched to take-off mode when the pilots were braking after they had landed. The engine forced the plane to the right. It crashed into garages at the end of the runway and then burst into flames.
Experts told Kommersant that shortly before landing a reverse mechanism in the left engine went out of order. When landing a plane, pilots usually turn on the reverse mechanisms for a couple of seconds but it is not the main element in braking and only an addition to flaps and landing gear brakes.
"The flight recorders showed ...when [captain] Sergei Shibanov, after deciding to reduce slightly the braking distance on Irkutsk airport's short and wet runway, switched on the reverse mechanism of the right-wing engine, the left engine suddenly switched to take-off mode," Kommersant said.
According to the paper, the cause for the malfunction of the left-wing engine remains unclear, but the controlling system block for the engine was found at the crash scene and will be examined by American experts from Pratt & Whitney, which constructs Airbus engines and all controlling systems.
Investigators earlier suggested that poor weather and the airport could have caused the crash. Russian pilots have said Irkutsk airport, about 3,000 miles east of Moscow, is "non-standard." Its runway is tilted toward the city and at about 10,400 feet has been criticized for being too short, which forces aircrews to make additional maneuvers while taking off and landing.
