The Airbus A310 airliner smashed into concrete garages and burst into flames after skidding off the runway upon landing at the airport in southeast Siberia early in the morning of July 9. Seventy-six passengers and three flight attendants survived the crash.
The airline said, "The IAC [International Aviation Committee] preferred a standard version that it found convenient. It is convenient in that it does not address the role of the runway in the catastrophe, or of the aircraft. It is clear that the verdict of the pilot's negligence cannot explain all the reasons for the crash."
S7 Airlines said the report published by the IAC cannot be called conclusive, as it did not touch upon issues relating to bad weather conditions and the state of the runway.
The IAC, a civil aviation body of former Soviet republics which is investigating the causes of the Siberian crash, said in a statement Wednesday: "On landing, the crew commander automatically moved the thrust lever of the left engine without noticing that its reverse thruster mode was deactivated."
The committee said the crew had failed to take necessary measures to slow or shut down the left engine, because the second pilot was either not aware of the problem, or did not have control over the functioning of the engines.
However, a captain of another A310 plane with a Russian Airline, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the captain of the crashed plane could neither have failed to notice that the engine was in takeoff mode, nor could have accidentally elbowed the lever.
"Even if we imagine that it could happen like this, the commander would slow down the turbine," he added.
A source in Russia's Main Air Traffic Management Center said the situation that occurred during the landing of the A310 is not considered critical in aviation. "The aircraft could be leveled off on the runway after landing by switching the turbine to breaking mode. Everything depends on a crew's experience," the source said.
He also said the general skills of Russian pilots had deteriorated.
Experts earlier said the turbine's switch into takeoff mode could have been caused by an engine malfunction.
