The engines of a UTair airlines ATR 72 turboprop which crashed near Tyumen on Monday were functioning right up until the machine hit the ground, according to preliminary analysis of flight recorder information, the Moscow-based Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) said on Tuesday.
“After takeoff the aircraft climbed to an altitude of some 210 meters after which it first banked 35 degrees to the right and then to the left reaching over 50 degrees by the time it hit the ground,” MAK said. Further analysis of the records is underway.
The turboprop ATR 72 aircraft crashed some three kilometers from Tyumen’s Roshchino Airport while trying to make an emergency landing in the early hours of Monday, UTair said. Thirty one people died and welve other passengers remain hospitalized with serious injuries.
MAK Deputy Chairman Alexei Morozov said the flight recorder from the aircraft would be decoded in record time to help find out the causes of the crash.
Federal Air Transport Agency head Alexander Neradko said there is no reason to believe the crash was caused by poor fuel quality. Morozov said the fuel at the airport is currently being analyzed.
Neradko said the plane was not properly treated with anti-icing liquid before flight but there were no reasons to consider this as the cause of the crash.
Crew fatigue should also be ruled out because both pilots were “well-rested,” UTair director Andrei Martirosov said. No trace of alcohol was found in the pilots’ blood, investigators also said on Tuesday.
The pilots of the crashed ATR 72 did not have time to report any malfunctions before the crash, a source close to the investigation told RIA Novosti.
“The flight lasted 40 seconds and the pilots did not manage to announce any malfunctions aboard,” the spokesman said.
“They clearly know how to act if there is any emergency situation,” an airport employee said. “In this case they probably just did not have time.”