Superjet Crash Threatens Fragile Prestige of Russian Industry | Aviation International News

Superjet Crash Threatens Fragile Prestige of Russian Industry

The crash of a Superjet 100 in Indonesia could undermine the prestige of the Russian airliner industry.

A Sukhoi SSJ100 performing Cat IIIA landing tests in Keflavik, Iceland, landed with its gear retracted Sunday. (Photo: Superjet International)

By Gregory Polek • Senior Editor

May 14, 2012

While the May 9 crash of a Superjet 100 during a demonstration flight in Indonesia most importantly took a human toll, it also might have dealt a serious blow to the aspirations of the Russian civil aircraft industry to compete with Western manufacturers in the global market. Slowly gaining operational experience with Aeroflot and Armavia, the program has struggled to gain acceptance among Western airlines, largely due to the negative reputation earned by the Soviet airliner industry and two decades of subsequent Russian irrelevance. Now, it will carry a blemish to its image no amount of marketing by Sukhoi and Superjet International can easily remove, at least until investigators rule out a technical fault.

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