Plane crash in Irkutsk: pilots fainted due to nitrogen in oxygen tanks
IRYNA BALACHUK – MONDAY, 24 OCTOBER 2022, 12:01
Residual nitrogen in oxygen tanks of the pilots might have been the reason for the plane crash in a residential area in the Russian city of Irkutsk. The pilots of the Su-30 plane might have fainted.
Source: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation; Russian Kremlin-aligned information agency RIA Novosti, citing an emergency service representative
Quote: "Residual nitrogen in oxygen tanks might have been the reason they fainted."
Details: Reportedly, a mistake by the ground crew might have caused this.
At the same time, the Investigative Committee of Russia is considering two main versions of events surrounding the plane crash: aviation equipment failure and piloting mistake.
The investigators are reportedly conducting an additional inspection of the scene. Fuel samples and the unified gas discharge device with medical oxygen were seized; chemical and forensic examinations were appointed, and withdrawal of technical documentation of the aircraft was carried out.
The administration and staff of the aviation enterprise were interrogated, too.
Background:
- On late 23 October, a Su-30 fighter jet crashed into a two-storey private house in the Russian city of Irkutsk during flight tests. Both pilots died; the owners of the destroyed house were not injured.
- On the evening of 17 October, a Su-34 fighter-bomber fell near a nine-storey residential building in the Russian city of Yeisk (Russia’s Krasnodar Krai). The pilots ejected. A fire started in the building. According to latest reports, 15 people died and over 20 were injured.
- Russian investigators concluded that the reason for the plane crash, which resulted in 15 fatalities, were seagulls that got into the jet’s engine.
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