Only survivor of Yak-42 crash says aircraft was technically flawless

Flight engineer Alexander Sizov, the only survivor of the Yak-42 plane crash near Russia's Yaroslavl, was interviewed by officials of the technical commission of the Interstate Aviation Committee.

Sizov told the experts that he had no complaints about the operation of the crashed aircraft during the previous flight. The man also said that he had found no faults with the equipment of the Yak-42 aircraft during the preparations to the last flight of the aircraft, RIA Novosti reports.

"His description helped us specify the location of passengers and the luggage. The administrators of the team and coaches were staying in the front part of the plane. The team was sitting in the second salon. Most of the luggage was placed in the rear luggage section," officials of the committee said after the interview with Mr. Sizov.

According to Life News, it was Georgy Yachmenev, the honored pilot of the USSR, who interviewed Sizov. The conversation took place without the presence of Sizov's attending doctor and lasted for nearly an hour.

Representatives of the Investigation Committee did not take part in the interview. They plan to ask their questions to the flight engineer in the nearest future.

Alexander Sizov has been recovering steadily, specialists of Moscow's Sklifosofsky's Institute said. He will be discharged from hospital in about two weeks. His life is out of danger.

The Yak-42 aircraft with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey club on board crashed on the outskirts of the city of Yaroslavl on September 7. There were 45 people on board the plane: 37 passengers and eight crewmembers.

Two people survived the crash - flight engineer Alexander Sizov and hockey player Alexander Galimov. The latter died at hospital several days later. Galimov suffered serious burns of 90 percent of his body.

A source close to investigation told Prime news agency on Wednesday that the crew of the Yak-42 started the takeoff untimely. It was also said that the stabilizer was set incorrectly, whereas a second pilot pressed the breaks during acceleration. All these factors supposedly resulted in the crash of the airplane during takeoff.

The plane started the takeoff in the reduced power regime, in which the plane develops the speed of 50-70 km/h in 3-5 seconds. Afterwards, the crew was supposed to proceed to the takeoff regime. The acceleration and takeoff process takes not more than 30-40 seconds from the moment after the plane enters the airstrip.

According to the analysis of the black boxes of the Yak-42, the pilots missed the moment when the plane entered the takeoff regime. They continued to stay in the reduced power regime longer than it was required. The landing gear of the aircraft was in order, experts concluded.