Vladivostok-Avia aircraft leaves runway at Elizovo Airport, although passengers escape without injury (275 words)

Published: 11/7/2001

A Vladivostok-Avia Tu-154, with 137 passengers on board, came off the runway at Petropavlovsk Kamchatskii's Elizovo Airport while landing after a flight from Vladivostok on 4th November. The aircraft was, however, reported to be undamaged. The aircraft, which was carrying among its passengers the Governor of Kamchatka, Mikhail Mashkovtsev, came to rest 20 metres from the runway and resulted in the airport being closed for two hours while it was recovered. The airport's management has dismissed suggestions that the cause of the incident was a “slippery” runway surface, insisting that its condition was normal and acceptable for landing on. An investigation team is currently looking into the circumstances surrounding the accident. This most recent incident follows a number of aviation events in the remote and sparsely populated Kamchatka Peninsula during the last few months. On 25th September 2001, a Yak-40 belonging to state-owned Petropavlovsk Kamchatskii Airlines crashed during an emergency landing at a settlement on the peninsula after a tyre blew out on landing caused the aircraft's landing gear to collapse. No injuries were reported among the 24 passengers and four crew members on board. On 23rd October 2001, an Mi-2 of the Kamchataviapatrol crashed after the taking off from a settle called Ust-Bolsheretsk, killing the pilot and injuring four others. In early November, a privately owned Mi-8 crashed near a settlement called Sobolevo. The owner/ pilot left the scene of the crash and abandoned two seriously injured passengers, in order to avoid arrest as the helicopter was carrying illegally caught fish.

Article ID: 2890