The Yak-42 plane that fell near Yaroslavl killing the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice-hockey team fell from the altitude of not more than six meters, investigators said on Sunday.
The crash is investigated by the Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK), the civil aviation watchdog of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
“The technical commission is studying all possible reasons for why additional deceleration force appeared during the ground run and why the plane failed to lift off from the runway in time,” MAK said.
MAK experts working at the crash site established that the plane failed to take off from the runway and travelled some 400 meters in the runway end safety area before taking to the air.
The maximum altitude that the aircraft managed to gain was about five or six meters and the maximum speed was 230 kmph. Shortly after taking off the plane rolled to the left, struck a navigation beacon mast and tumbled to the ground.
Forty-four people died when the team’s Yak-42 plane went down near the Volga city of Yaroslavl shortly after take off on September 7. The only survivor, crew member Alexander Sizov remains in intensive care, with burns to 15% of his body, and multiple fractures, including of the ribs and both hips.
The aircraft was on a chartered flight to bring Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice-hockey team to the Belarus capital of Minsk for its first match of the Kontinental Hockey League season.