Crashed Russian Tu-134 pilot drunk: investigator

Updated: 2011-09-19 20:05

(Xinhua)

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MOSCOW - The navigator of a Tu-134 plane that crashed in northern Russia in June killing 47 people was slightly drunk, the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) said in a Monday report.

The MAK for Russia and other former Soviet republics believed the drunken navigator partly caused the fatal crash.

"The subordination of the captain to the navigator, who was in a state of agitation and slightly intoxicated" was a contributing factor to the accident, the report said.

It added that the crew decided "not to go round for a second approach" before landing, when the plane was already below a "minimum safety altitude."

The tragedy was also attributed to the poor crew resource management by the captain, the report said.

On June 20, a Russian Tu-134 passenger plane crashed in heavy fog on a highway about 1 km away from the Petrozavodsk airport in northwestern Russia, killing 47 people and injuring five others.