MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) - Ten Yakovlev Yak-42 airliners have been grounded as a result of investigations by Russia's Office of the Prosecutor General that followed an air crash last month that killed 44 people, a senior figure in the office said.
The office ordered transportation industry regulator Rostransnadzor and federal air transportation agency Rosaviatsiya "to check whether all Russian operators of Yak-42 aircraft comply with their license and certification requirements," Yelena Glebova, chief law enforcement supervisor for transportation and customs at the Office of the Prosecutor General, told Interfax.
She said 15 airlines had been checked, that 10 Yak-42 jets had been grounded, and that airlines where malpractices existed had been ordered to end them.
The cause of the September 7 crash of a Yak-42 near Yaroslavl, Russia, that wiped out practically the whole of the city's Lokomotiv ice hockey team, remains unclear, according to Glebova.
The jet fell near the village of Tunoshna, about 2.5 kilometers from the Yaroslavl airport, from which it had just taken off. Only one of those aboard, flight engineer Alexander Sizov, survived the crash. The other 44 - 37 passengers and seven crew - died.
The accident is being investigated by the Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee.
For a complete Russian-language transcript of Glebova's Interview, see the www.interfax.ru.