The Atlantic

Russia's Air Industry Is a Victim of Its Own Success

As more people choose to fly, the country’s airliners are having a tougher time finding qualified personnel.
Source: Mikhail Grigoryev / Reuters

Four minutes after taking off from Moscow on Sunday afternoon, a Saratov Airlines Antonov An-148 headed for Orsk plummeted 6,000 feet into the ground, killing all 71 one people on board. In the aftermath, the images that appeared on television were all too familiar. Jagged metal scattered in a snowy field. Trees ripped apart, debris hanging from their branches. Police lines and disconsolate relatives. Roses placed beneath the departures screen at Moscow's Domodedovo airport.

On Monday, Russia's investigative committee said that the plane had not broken up or caught fire

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