Investigators probing three theories behind Petrozavodsk air crash

Published June 21, 2011 at 10:00 am

In this photo provided by Russia Emergency Situations Ministry press service, wreckage of Tu-134 plane, belonging to the RusAir airline, is seen on a highway near the city of Petrozavodsk early Tuesday, June 21, 2011. The passenger jet crashed in heavy fog and burst into flames late Monday on the highway in northwestern Russia, just short of a runway whose fog lights had failed, killing 44 people, officials said. Eight people survived the crash.

Photo by AP

Moscow, June 21 (Interfax) - The Russian Investigative Committee is probing several theories as part of a criminal inquiry into the Tu-134 plane crash near Petrozavodsk.

"Investigators are looking at several theories behind the crash: a human factor, that is an error of the pilot or the airport ground services, a technical failure in the aircraft or in airport’s equipment and so on," IC spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax.

As a result of a crash landing by the Tu-134 airliner near Petrozavodsk in the early hours of Tuesday 44 people were killed and eight sustained various injuries.