Opinion: Russia’s Checkered History of Aviation Safety (or Lack Thereof)

Interesting you should be studying but before you jump on the Russian Federation let's take a look at the Human Factor of American Registered A/C since 1991.

1991 Continental Express Houston Texas---Human Factor
1991 United Colorado Springs, CO----- Human Factor
1991 L' Express Airlines Birmingham AL---Human Factor
1992 GP Express, Anniston AL----- Human Factor
1994 United Express Columbus OH ----- Human Factor
1996 United Express Quincy IL----- Human Factor
1999 American Airlines, Little Rock AK---Human Factor
2000 Alaska Airline Off coast of Calif---Human Factor

I could go on-and-on with my list but my point is don't critize another country w/o first looking at our track Record.

As both a Sr. Military Pilot (Retired) and an Chief Inspector in the Civilian World I see mistakes around the globe everyday. What keeps us "old" pilots alive is the fact we have learned from others tragic errors.

Sadly, America's checkered past is not that much better although in the past couple of years we have improved.

The preliminary report says that the heaters for the air speed sensors were not switched on and that the crew had to take control after the auto-pilot disengaged due to conflicting speed readings.

At this point it looks like human erros.

Antonov is Ukrainian, not Russian. The Russian govt had an assembly line at Voronezh, but the design and licensing are from the Ukraine. This airframe design is just over 10 years old, not sure how old this specific hull was. I would be curious to see what happened, before throwing the entire industry under the bus.

http://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/videos/media-7853795/ecrasement-mortel-en-russie?isAutoPlay=true

Second rate country and third rate airlines along with crews. Ya pay your money and take your chances.