Passengers accused Azimut of deliberately setting fire to SSJ100 for insurance purposes

Six passengers of the SSJ100 airplane of Azimut Airlines, which was flying Sochi - Antalya and caught fire on landing, filed a lawsuit against the airline, accusing it of deliberately setting fire to the aircraft for the sake of obtaining insurance. This was reported by Turkish TV channel Oda TV on December 24.

According to his data, the passengers who appealed to the court permanently reside in Antalya. They accused Azimut, the crew commander and co-pilot that they committed deliberate arson of SSJ100 in order to obtain insurance payment fraudulently. The plaintiffs cite Article 101 of Turkey's Civil Aviation Law, which stipulates that the captain of an aircraft is primarily responsible for operating the aircraft in such a way that the lives and property of the passengers remain safe.

The passengers' lawyer Kandaş Gürol asked the court to examine all documents, especially the insurance policy, black box transcripts, maintenance, repair and safety reports of the SSJ100. It is specified that a month and a half before the fire at Antalya airport, the plane had a fire that put the lives of passengers and crew in danger. After this incident, the aircraft continued to perform flights. Oda TV did not specify what kind of fire we are talking about.

Thefire of the plane of the airline "Azimut" during landing at Antalya airport occurred on November 24. The portal AirportHaber reported that because of the fire temporarily closed the runway of the airport. Deputy airport manager Suat Seyitoglu specified that the SSJ 100 had an engine fire, later the fire was extinguished. A criminal case was opened the next day because of the incident. According to preliminary estimates, the damage from the fire amounted to at least 1 million rubles.

The Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Antalya reported that some Russians safely left the airport. The rest decided to wait for baggage claim and were provided with food. Passengers who were supposed to return to Russia on the SSJ 100 that caught fire stayed in a hotel until the reserve flight arrived.

Later, on November 28, Rosaviatsia said that the Federal Service for Supervision of Transport would conduct an unscheduled inspection of Azimut for compliance with aviation legislation.