MOSCOW, March 28 (UPI) — A cockpit conflict may have caused the plane crash that killed 62 people last week at the Rostov-on-Don, Russia, airport, state media reported Monday.
A transcript from the flight recorder, provided to the Russian-language newspaper Kommersant and presented on the state Rossiya-1 television channel, indicated the plane, a FlyDubai Boeing 737-800, attempted two landings at the airport in autopilot mode, in heavy wind and rain. As it ascended after the second attempt, one of the two pilots turned off the autopilot so the plane could land in manual mode.
The plane fell to earth seconds after the autopilot was switched off. The transcript indicates the pilots shouted, “Don’t worry,” “Don’t do that!” and “Pull up!,” in Russian just before the crash.
Rossiya-1 cited analysts who suggested the plane fell because a stabilizing fin in the tail was accidentally activated when the autopilot was turned off. With the fin activated, “the elevator is no longer working and the plane practically does not react to the pilot’s control panel,” the report said.
The television channel theorized that the fin may have been accidentally activated because of “chronic fatigue” on the part of one or both of the pilots.
Investigators opened a criminal inquiry into the crash and have not determined which of the two pilots, who were both killed, made the error.
