NEVINNOMYSSK (Stavropol Territory). June 14 (Interfax) - The captain of the Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100 could have continued the flight without returning to Sheremetyevo Airport because the plane's systems were working in a standard manner, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said, commenting on the tentative report of the Interstate Aviation Committee on the investigation into the May 5 crash.
"I can say that the tentative report [...] confirms the information on the equipment that the systems were working to standard, except for at the point of ball lightning hitting the plane, when the autopilot went off. But the system was working well enough and enabled the pilot to continue the flight with all systems working," Manturov told reporters on Friday.
"The flight could have continued on the route or [the plane] could have stayed in the zone for burning the fuel for subsequent landing, but the pilot made such a decision. It's always the pilot's decision," the minister said.
An analysis of the plane's systems showed that the landing had taken place in a standard mode, he said.
"The landing moment: the plane is intended for a load of 3.7g, and the first touch was with a load of 2,5g, the second touch was above the norm stated in the certificate, and the third one was fatal; it led to catastrophic consequences," Manturov said.
The investigation into the crash will continue, he said.
The Interstate Aviation Committee published a tentative report on the crash at Sheremetyevo earlier on Friday. The document does not contain any definite conclusions on the causes of what occurred. It follows from the report that the lightning that hit the SSJ-100 resulted in the autopilot turning off and caused communication problems. The report does not contain information on any other significant problems. At the same time, the document does not contain direct information on pilots' errors as the cause of the crash. The Interstate Aviation Committee commission has yet to assess the crewmembers' actions during the flight. For this to take place, experiments are expected to be conducted on a full-flight simulator.
Aeroflot flight SU1492 to Murmansk returned to its airport of departure soon after takeoff on the evening of May 5. The plane crash-landed and caught fire. There were 78 people on board, including five crewmembers. The crash killed 41 people, while ten suffered airway and body burns, smoke poisoning, and bruises.