Aeroflot and regulator dispute inquiry findings over Superjet's fatal bounced landing

Both Aeroflot and Russian civil air transport regulator Rosaviatsia have dissented over investigators’ conclusions regarding the fatal hard landing and fire which destroyed a Superjet 100 nearly six years ago. Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee says the Aeroflot crew had “insufficient knowledge and skills” to control the jet in direct law, to which it had reverted after being affected by “atmospheric electricity” about 5min after take-off from Moscow Sheremetyevo on 5 May 2019. The crew returned to Sheremetyevo, conducting an approach to runway 24L, but the captain’s poor pitch control – including “repeated disproportionate alternating movements” of the side-stick – resulted in the aircraft’s bouncing and touching down hard three times. The second and third impacts caused structural failure, tank rupture and the ignition of spilled fuel as the aircraft slowed. Forty-one of the 78 occupants, including one of the five crew members, did not survive. Investigators attribute the crew’s lack of skill to the “ineffectiveness” of approved pilot-training schemes for handling emergencies, including the reversion to direct law – even though the training programmes met minimum federal regulations.<br/>