MOSCOW. Oct 16 (Interfax-AVN) - The Federation Council is concerned with the high rate of flight accidents in the national aviation, which kills people and deteriorates the national image, Mikhail Nikolayev, deputy chairman of the Council, said at Thursday's round table of the Federation Council Defense and Security Committee, devoted to flight security.
"This year alone flight accidents killed 67 people, including the Sakhalin region governor," he said.
Nikolayev went on to say that national aviation had lost 21 vehicles including one TU-160 Blackjack strategic bomber this year. He said that severely deteriorated Russia's status of one of world aviation powers.
He also said that the situation stipulated state control of aviation, with an emphasis on flight security.