MOSCOW. Sept 15 (Interfax-AVN) - Flights of TU-22M-3 Backfire long-range bombers in service with the Russian Air Force, suspended after the air crash in the Nizhny Novgorod region on July 9, 2004, will be resumed after a number of technical refinements have been introduced, Major General Oleg Kolyada, Chief of the Air Force Flight Safety Service, told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"Aircraft of this type will resume flights only after a number of technical improvements, coordinated with the design bureau and the test center, have been introduced," Kolyada said.
He noted that aircraft industry experts had had to rectify design and production shortfalls, inherent in the long-range bombers, after the TU-160 Blackjack crash last year.
Kolyada also said that on receiving the official report of the TU-22M3 crash investigation commission, they would have to work out a plan on preventive measures, which would certainly mention imperfect documentation, regulating flight crew actions in emergencies.
Commenting on the TU-22M3 crash, he noted that the crash had been caused by an aircraft failure, but that the so-called human factor had also played its part. "The flight crew failed to report the failure to the tower and control the situation on its own, while the pilots acted in compliance with the regulations, which turned out to be unrefined," he said.
Andrei Gavrilyuk, a judge advocate of the Leningrad Military District, told Interfax-Military News Agency earlier that the criminal case on the TU-22M3 bomber crash had been terminated.
"Investigators have received the report of the state commission, which investigated the cause of the crash, stating that the crash was caused by a technical failure," Gavrilyuk said.
The TU-22M3 crash, which killed all four crewmembers, resulted in filing a criminal suit.