Russia's Aeroflot scales back Superjet flights after fatal crash

Russian airline Aeroflot has scaled back the number of Sukhoi Superjet 100 flights it operates after one of its planes made a crash-landing last month, killing 41 people, according to data provided by a flight tracking website. Flightradar24 data shows Aeroflot has also at times substituted Airbus or Boeing planes for the Superjet, the first new passenger jet developed in Russia since the Soviet Union collapsed. Fallout from the crash risks undermining the aircraft’s reputation at a time when Russia is promoting another domestically made passenger plane, the M-21, as a rival to Boeing and Airbus. Aeroflot and Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, the Superjet’s maker, declined to comment on the data or on the use of other aircraft instead of the Russian plane. Both the airline, Russia’s national flag carrier, and the manufacturer have said in the past that the aircraft meets all relevant international safety standards and will continue to be made and used. The cause of the May 5 crash, the second deadly accident involving the Superjet in nine years of service, has not yet been established. <br/>