Sukhoi Superjet 100 Crashes During Test Flight

DALLAS — A Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger airliner (SSJ100) only carrying crew members crashed close to Moscow Friday morning, according to the Russian emergency ministry.

All three crew members of the downed jet are thought to have perished. According to state-run Russian media, the aircraft crashed in a forested area near the town of Kolomna while on a test flight after repairs. Kolomna is 65 miles (105 km) southeast from Moscow.

The SSJ100, registration RA-89049, belonged to Russian airline Gazpromavia (4G), which is headquartered in Moscow. 4G conducts cargo and passenger charters, mostly to help the oil and gas sector.

Along with regular domestic flights from Moscow, 4G also provides international charter services for people and cargo.

Sukhoi Superjet 100

The Sukhoi Superjet 100, the first all-new commercial aircraft in post-Soviet Russia, flew for the first time in 2008. The type's maiden commercial flight took place on April 21, 2011, with Armavia (U8).

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, a subsidiary of the United Aircraft Corporation (now Regional Aircraft – a branch of the Irkut Corporation), produced the SSJ100. Production of the type began in 2000.

The SSJ100 has a seating capacity of 87 to 98 passengers. It replaces the Tupolev Tu-134 and Yakovlev Yak-42 aircraft in Russia. The Antonov An-148, Embraer E190, and Bombardier CRJ1000 are all competitors.

Sukhoi forecasted a market for 600 aircraft by 2020, accounting for 10% of global demand for regional jets and a total sales value of US$11 billion at the time.

Sukhoi Superwoes

Irkut has been working on the regional airliner in an effort to replace aircraft built in the West. However, due to ongoing sanctions from the West for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has found it difficult to modernize its aging jets.

The sanctions includes aircraft spare parts, leaving Russia with a dilemma: how to keep its Western-built fleets flying—the SSJ100 has components manufactured outside of Russia. A government directive even urged airlines to strip surplus airframes for parts, according to a Reuters report.

Since 2012, there have been three aviation mishaps involving the SSJ100. According to the BBC, the Superjet project has suffered from production delays and technical difficulties throughout the years due to designers' inability to replace essential Western avionics components.

Rostech, a state-owned defense company, stated that the aircraft entered service in 2014. A criminal inquiry is currently underway. The featured image is of 4G's RA-89049, the Sukhoi Superjet 100-95LR involved in the accident.