Air Force chief says that the air force's poor accident record due to falls in number of flights

Published: 10/4/1999

The Deputy Chief of the Flight Safety Service at the Russian Ministry of Defence, Major-General Sergey Solntsev, has told the Military News Agency that almost 50% of accidents in the Russian Air Force occur because of mistakes made by engineering staff due to the decline in the number and frequency of flights undermining the standards of engineering personnel. While not disagreeing with the general, other sources have also related the cause of increased accidents as being a shortage of money leading to poor maintenance levels by demoralised personnel, working with parts that are often in short supply. Additionally the role of the air force in the civilian cargo market particularly, has led to many reports of accidents caused by over laden aircraft.

Article ID: 936