Moscow, Sept. 23 (Interfax) - Investigators have questioned flight engineer Alexander Sizov, the only survivor of a Yakovlev Yak-42 plane crash outside of Yaroslavl on Sept. 7, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax.
"Sizov was briefly questioned for the first time on Friday regarding the Yak-42 plane crash near Yaroslavl," Markin said.
He refrained from giving details of Sizov’s first questioning.
Sizov was earlier questioned by specialists from the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC).
"Members of the IAC technical commission investigating the Yak-42 crash questioned the aviation and radio-electronic engineer, who survived the accident. He said there were no complains about the way the equipment operated during the previous flight, while preparations were made for the doomed flight and during the flight itself," the IAC told Interfax on Thursday.
Asked how the passengers and luggage had been arranged in the cabin, Sizov said that the Lokomotiv ice hockey team’s managers and coaches were in the front cabin, the players in the second cabin, and the bulk of the luggage in the rear luggage compartment, it said.
The Yak-42 plane carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team to Minsk crashed shortly after takeoff one kilometer away from Yaroslavl’s Tunoshna airport on Sept. 7, killing 44 people aboard, including 37 passengers and seven crewmembers.
A criminal case was opened into the crash under Article 263 of the Criminal Code (flight safety violations causing two or more deaths), which is being handled by the Investigative Committee.
