Crew reports fire on board before the accident, but questions are once again raised over payload (197 words)

Published: 12/3/2001

On 2nd December, an Il-76 belonging to the Federal Border Guard Service crashed in the Khabarovsk Region with the loss of the 18 crew members and passengers on board. According to the Federal Border Guard Service, the aircraft was reported to be carrying 38 tonnes of cargo from Moscow to Petropavlovsk Kamchatsky via Bratsk and had contacted air traffic controllers to alert them to an on board fire before coming down not far from Inaya settlement, close to the town of Okhotsk, in the north of Khabarovsk region. A spokesman from the Federal Border Guard Service said that Igor Dmitirienko, who flew the Il-76, was an experienced pilot. An investigation into the crash is underway but, setting aside the fact that the reported fire on board may well have been the cause, the record of government agencies and air force's transport wing, the VTA, for overloading Il-76s has not been good. It seems certain that the issue of levels of payload will be closely investigated: a fact highlighted by the service's early declaration of the cargo weight.

Article ID: 2940