Russia’s Transport Ministry and the Tupolev aircraft design bureau have recommended grounding the nation’s fleet of Tupolev Tu-134 airliners to the Trade and Industry Ministry, following a crash on Monday night that killed 45 people.
The decision to recommend grounding Tu-134s was taken on Thursday following a meeting held by Transport Minister Igor Levitin, following an instruction by President Dmitry Medvedev earlier that day that the Tu-134 should not be retained in service for airline use.
“The Transport Ministry, together with Rosaviatsia (Russia’s aviation regulator) has composed a schedule for the withdrawal of the Tu-134 from use on regular flights,” the ministry said in a statement.
The decision comes despite a statement earlier this week by the Interstate Aviation Committee, Russia’s air accident investigatory body, that the Tu-134 which crashed was fully serviceable until the moment of impact.
The accident was also initially blamed on pilot error by Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov on Tuesday.
Tu-134 pilots generally have a favorable opinion of the aircraft, and most have been withdrawn from service because of non-compliance with international noise regulations and low fuel economy rather than for safety reasons.
The Tu-134 entered service in 1967 and production ceased in 1980.
The Transport Ministry says that of the 852 Tu-134s built, 179 remain, of which 90 are still flying. Of those, 28 belong to UTair Express, one of Russia’s largest airlines.
A RusAir Tu-134 crashed while landing at Petrozavodsk airport in northwest Russia on Monday, just before midnight, killing 44 people. Another died in later in hospital.
Meanwhile, five of those who died in the crash were Russian scientists who helped design the Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported on Thursday. No suggestion of foul play has been made in relation to their deaths, the paper said.
