Russia grounds its newest airliner over safety concerns

Russian aviation authorities have grounded the country’s fleet of its newest model of civilian airliner, the Sukhoi Superjet 100. Metal fatigue, a problem usually associated with older airplanes, was discovered in the tail section of a new Sukhoi plane, the Russian regulator Rosaviatsia said Friday. The grounding was the latest setback for the Russian jet, which has already had a rough introduction. After the latest announcement, Aeroflot, a major Sukhoi customer, Saturday canceled 21 flights scheduled on domestic routes during the busy holiday season. Rosaviatsia ordered the planes grounded pending inspections after a regional carrier, IrAero, reported finding metal fatigue in a component in the tail wings of one plane. The agency grounded the fleet to determine whether similar problems were appearing in other planes. <br/>