Pilot Error Blamed For August's Russian Air Crash

Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee has blamed pilot error for August's crash of a Pulkovo Airlines jet near the Ukrainian city of Donetsk.

All 170 passengers and crew onboard were killed.

The investigative committee's final report said the crew failed to follow procedures that would have prevented the plane from stalling, causing it to plummet to the ground.

It said a junior pilot-in-training was at the controls at the time of the accident and that the more experienced captain failed to assist him.

The Tupolev-154 crashed while flying through bad weather, on a flight from the Russian Black Sea resort of Anapa to St. Petersburg.

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org

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Relatives of passengers killed in the August tragedy

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