Safety

Engine Failure Ruled Out in Russian 737 Crash

By The Associated Press

posted: 18 September 2008 02:44 pm ET

: In this Feb. 2, 2007 file photo a Boeing-737-500 passenger jet of Aeroflot subsidiary Aeroflot Nord is seen flying into Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. The aircraft is the same model as the Aeroflot Nord jet that crashed on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008 on the outskirts of Perm, killing all 88 people on board. The Boeing 737-500, which was traveling from Moscow to the Ural Mountains city of Perm, crashed as it was preparing to land early on Sunday. Although transport officials initially said engine failure caused the accident, the state aviation experts investigating the crash say there is no evidence that either engine failed or that the aircraft broke up in the air. The air traffic controller handling the landing has said in television interviews that the captain of the aircraft performed several maneuvers during the 737's approach that were in direct contradiction of the controller's instructions. Credit: AP Photo/Michael Volchenkov, File

MOSCOW (AP) — Investigators on Thursday ruled out engine failure as causing the weekend plane crash in Russia that killed all 88 people on board.

The Interstate Aviation Committee said both engines on the Boeing 737-500 were working when it crashed Sunday while preparing to land in the Ural Mountains city of Perm. The plane belonged to the Russian carrier Aeroflot-Nord.

Russian transport officials initially blamed the crash on a faulty engine that caught fire, but the investigating committee said it found no sign of engine fire.

"There is no indication of an engine fire or the aircraft breaking up in the air," said the committee, which investigates air crashes in Russia and other ex-Soviet nations.

"Both engines were working until the plane hit the ground," it said.

Investigators have yet to determine what caused the crash — Russia's worst air disaster in two years.

Flight controller Irek Bikbov said in remarks broadcast by state-run Channel One television over the weekend that the jet's pilot was behaving strangely, disobeying orders to descend on the final approach and instead taking the jet to a higher altitude. Bikbov said he then ordered the pilot to make a second run, but instead of making the right turn he turned left. When the controller asked the pilot if things were normal on board, the pilot answered positively.