No fatalities reported as AN-70 crashes in Omsk

Investigations are underway involving an
AN-70 crash at about 6 o'clock early morning on Saturday. The aircraft was
second prototype of the kind built and was on its way from Kiev to Yakutsk for
tests in extreme cold conditions.

The AN-70 arrived to Omsk about 0:30 local time. The plane was refueled with 38
tones of gas, after which it took off at 5:38am heading to Yakutia. Several
seconds after the take-off two out of four engines failed and the aircraft fell
into the snow from 20m altitude. 

Crash impact caused fuselage to collapse into two. 4 out of 33 people onboard
suffered minor injuries. 

The AN-70 is a new generation airlift plane developed jointly by Russia and
Ukraine. First prototype crashed in 1995. Despite new accident, experts point
out excellent aerodynamical qualities of the plane which allowed pilots to
conduct a relatively soft landing, avoiding fuel explosion and human
fatalities. 

Federal Security Service refused to comment on possible causes of the accident.
Fuel samples were taken to check for possible crystallization at low
temperatures.

Copyright NTV.ru http://www.ntv.ru/russia/27Jan2001/omsk.html

[This message has been edited by Dron (edited 27-01-2001).]

Russia vows to restore wrecked airplane

The AN-70 prototype, which crashed on January 27, will be restored and put back in the air. This was reported by main designer of OKB Antonov in an exclusive interview to ITAR-TASS news agency.
While falling on the ground and sliding in deep snow, AN-70 damaged its bottom fuselage, left engine propeller, and the airframe which collapsed into two. However, experts claim that these damages may be liquidated. After evacuation of the wrecked plane to Omsk Aviation Plant, the aircraft will undergo massive maintenance program.
The cause of the accident was failure of first and third powerplants, each consisting of the engine, propeller and automatic control system. FSB is now trying to discover exactly which of those components malfunctioned.
Fuel analysis conducted earlier by FSB proved that gas could not have caused the accident.