Demand Follows Accident In Which The Lokomotiv Hockey Team Was Lost

Following an accident in which the 43 people, including nearly the entire Lokomotiv ice hockey team, were fatally injured, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has called for "radical changes" for Russia's civil aviation system.

There were two survivors among those aboard the Yak-42, which went down Wednesday. One player and the flight engineer were severely injured.

Media sources including Bloomberg News report that there is a segment of the government calling for the decommissioning of the Soviet-era Yak 42 aircraft, and President Medvedev (pictured) has called for a reduction in the number of airlines operating in the country as well as an increase in the purchase of "foreign" aircraft ... read Boeing and Airbus ... to make flying safer in Russia.

Photo Courtesy www.kremlin.ru

The Yak-42 which went down had been developed by the Yakovlev Design Bureau when Russia still anchored the Soviet Union, and had been flying for more than 30 years, according to Bloomberg. The New York Times reports that eight of the airplanes have gone down since they entered service in 1975, accounting for nearly 600 fatalities.

The replacement of Russian-built planes with American and European jets is already underway, but progressing somewhat slowly. Boeing has 117 aircraft on order from Russian airlines, according to its website, most of the single-aisle 737s, but only 14 have been delivered. Aeroflot has 87 single-aisle Airbus airplanes in service, and there are negotiations in the works for an A380 for the main Russian carrier.

FMI: www.mak.ru/english/english.html