Russian authorities lift ban on operation of Ilyushin-96-300 planes

Russian aviation authorities have lifted the ban on the operation of lyushin-96-300 planes.

The ban was imposed on July 22, 2005 after three major national airlines had asked the Ilyushin company and the Federal Agency for Supervision in the Field of Transport to suspend the operation of these planes because of “numerous malfunctions of the aircraft’s brake hydrosystem”.

The head of the Federal Agency for Supervision in the Field of Transport, Alexander Neradko, said his Agency had asked Ilyushin to “fix the grave manufacturer’s defects”.

In the lack of response, the Agency proposed to suspend the operation of Ilyushin-96 planes.

According to Neradko, “Improper manufacture of some parts of the brake hydrosystem can result in uncontrolled deceleration or brake release of the undercarriage”. This in turn can cause a plane to be forced off the runway or run out of the tarmac.

The presidential Ilyushin-96 also had a problem while taxing for a takeoff in Finland at the beginning of August 2005. President Vladimir Putin had to use the stand-by Ilyushin-62 plane.

Kremlin property manager Vasily Kozhin said Ilyushin-96 planes would stay grounded unless there was a 100 percent guarantee that all problems had been fixed.

“We initiated the suspension of Ilyushin-96 operation. Our proposals were duly backed by decisions of the Federal Agency for Supervision over the Safety of Air Traffic and the International Aviation Committee,” Kozhin said, Itar-Tass reported.