MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow-based air disaster investigation authority said Tuesday that it found no evidence that a Boeing-737 plane that crashed upon landing in Kazan last year experienced any kind of technical malfunction.
"A sub commission of technical and engineering experts established that objective monitoring devices, as well as parts of the plane's airframe, engines and other systems, such as elevators, bear no signs of aviation equipment failure," the Interstate Aviation Committee said.
A Boeing-737 operated by Tatarstan Airlines crashed at Kazan International Airport on a flight from Moscow on November 17, 2013. None of the 50 people on board, including 44 passengers and six crew, survived. The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) withdrew the operating license for Tatarstan Airlines over the incident.
In December 2013, Rosaviatsia said it had found rule violations in the airlines' staff training and non-compliance with certification requirements for civil aviation in Russia. It also promised snap inspections of other airlines operating in the republic of Tatarstan.
The aviation committee ruled out the link between the age of the plane, which was over 20 years old, and the crash. No traces of alcohol or drug intoxication were found in the blood of the pilots flying the aircraft.
