UTair Technic Services Halted At Vnukovo Airport
The work of the UTair Technic company is halted because planes were not deiced at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, the press service of the federal transport supervision agency (Rostransnadzor) told Itar-Tass.
The work of UTair Technic at Vnukovo airport is halted due to the violations of the federal regulations, because of which four planes of the UTair airline flew out without de-icing under the icy conditions. UTair must take measures to lower the level of risk and submit the confirming materials to Rostransnadzor, the press service said.
The agency has also notified that flights of ATR-72 planes belonging to UTair are cancelled until the causes of the crash near Tyumen are established.
The decision is just a formal one, as the company itself earlier suspended the use of its ATR-72 liners.
A commission of Rostransnadzor is formed and has started working to check how UTair Technic complies with the civil aviation legislation and ensures safety of flights at Vnukovo and Roshchino airports.
UTair Technic director-general Vladimir Shabalin told an Itar-Tass correspondent in Tyumen that all the appropriate operations were conducted on all the UTair liners that flew out from Vnukovo.
"All the levels of risk are acceptable," Shabalin said. He added he would not discuss and comment on Rostransnadzor's actions.
On April 2, an ATR-72 of UTair, which was on a flight from Tyumen to Surgut, crashed after taking off from Roshchino airport. Thirty nine passengers and four crewmembers were aboard the plane. Thirty one of them died, and 12 survived. A criminal case is opened over the crash on charges of violation of the air transport safety regulations.
UTair representatives told a press conference on Friday that the main cause of the crash was ice on a wing and on a stabilizer of the plane. The ice formed when the plane was on the ground
The company has assured that de-icing will be obligatory for all its planes. The corresponding letters will be sent to all the airports soon, Shabalin said.
UTair director-general Andrei Martirosov said about the decision earlier. According to the director, a plane will be de-iced always irrespective of the factual condition of the aerodynamic surfaces of the aircraft and the decisions of the ground team or the plane crew.
UTair Technic is the UTair airline's subsidiary formed in 2005. It included the Tyumen technical complex of aircraft, the station at Surgut airport and the station at Vnukovo airport.
The company services UTair aircraft, including when they are at the airports in Roshchino, Surgut and Vnukovo, and planes of other airlines.
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