UNLIKE THE WAGNER GROUP LEADERSHIP
Kwan Wei Kevin Tan
Tue, June 11, 2024
Recent aviation accidents have claimed the lives of Iran's president and Malawi's vice president.
But Russia says Vladimir Putin is safe if he travels on their "very reliable" domestic aircraft.
Russian flight safety incidents have more than doubled in the past year, per JACDEC.
A Russian official says the country's leader, Vladimir Putin, won't get caught in a plane crash if he travels on domestic aircraft, state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday.
"The Russian president uses domestic aircraft. These are very reliable vehicles," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
Peskov was speaking at a press briefing when he was asked about the recent aviation accidents that claimed the lives of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Malawi's Vice President Saulos Chilima.
Raisi was flying over northwestern Iran when his helicopter crashed on May 19. Iran's foreign minister, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province, and other officials were also on board the helicopter. No one survived the deadly incident.
Chilima, meanwhile, was killed in a plane crash along with nine other passengers on Tuesday. Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera said Chilima's plane was found "completely destroyed" near a hill in northern Malawi.
However, Peskov said such incidents were unlikely to occur with Russian aircraft, given what he said were Russia's rigorous safety standards.
"All machinery in our country that transports citizens is also maintained at the proper level. There are very strict standards in this regard, which are, of course, observed," Peskov said.
"We have monitoring agencies," he continued. "The system works."
To be sure, Russia doesn't exactly have the best record when it comes to flight safety.
In February, the Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC) revealed that Russian flight safety incidents have more than doubled in the past year, going from 37 cases in 2022 to 81 in 2023.
The Russian aviation industry's flight safety problems are in large part due to crippling economic sanctions the West imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Such restrictions have made it difficult for Russia's airlines to maintain their aircraft since they can't buy new planes or parts.
In fact, the number of flight safety incidents in Russia might be much higher, says JACDEC founder and CEO Jan-Arwed Richter.
"These numbers only reflect cases that became public. There is still a dark figure of unreported incidents," Richter told The Telegraph in February.
Business Insider
Kremlin Explains Why Putin Won’t Die in a Crash Like Iran’s Presiden
Allison Quinn
Kwan Wei Kevin Tan
Tue, June 11, 2024
Recent aviation accidents have claimed the lives of Iran's president and Malawi's vice president.
But Russia says Vladimir Putin is safe if he travels on their "very reliable" domestic aircraft.
Russian flight safety incidents have more than doubled in the past year, per JACDEC.
A Russian official says the country's leader, Vladimir Putin, won't get caught in a plane crash if he travels on domestic aircraft, state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday.
"The Russian president uses domestic aircraft. These are very reliable vehicles," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
Peskov was speaking at a press briefing when he was asked about the recent aviation accidents that claimed the lives of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Malawi's Vice President Saulos Chilima.
Raisi was flying over northwestern Iran when his helicopter crashed on May 19. Iran's foreign minister, the governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province, and other officials were also on board the helicopter. No one survived the deadly incident.
Chilima, meanwhile, was killed in a plane crash along with nine other passengers on Tuesday. Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera said Chilima's plane was found "completely destroyed" near a hill in northern Malawi.
However, Peskov said such incidents were unlikely to occur with Russian aircraft, given what he said were Russia's rigorous safety standards.
"All machinery in our country that transports citizens is also maintained at the proper level. There are very strict standards in this regard, which are, of course, observed," Peskov said.
"We have monitoring agencies," he continued. "The system works."
To be sure, Russia doesn't exactly have the best record when it comes to flight safety.
In February, the Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC) revealed that Russian flight safety incidents have more than doubled in the past year, going from 37 cases in 2022 to 81 in 2023.
The Russian aviation industry's flight safety problems are in large part due to crippling economic sanctions the West imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Such restrictions have made it difficult for Russia's airlines to maintain their aircraft since they can't buy new planes or parts.
In fact, the number of flight safety incidents in Russia might be much higher, says JACDEC founder and CEO Jan-Arwed Richter.
"These numbers only reflect cases that became public. There is still a dark figure of unreported incidents," Richter told The Telegraph in February.
Business Insider
Kremlin Explains Why Putin Won’t Die in a Crash Like Iran’s Presiden
Allison Quinn
THE DAILY BEAST
Tue, June 11, 2024
The prospect of Russian President Vladimir Putin dying in a fiery plane crash came up Tuesday when the Kremlin was asked if it had any concerns about aircraft safety in the wake of two world leaders plummeting from the sky in recent weeks.
The vice president of Malawi was confirmed dead Tuesday in the latest plane crash, just a couple weeks after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed when his helicopter went down.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured that Putin uses “domestic aircraft,” which he claimed are “very reliable” and “subject to special maintenance.” In fact, he said, all Russian aircraft are maintained in accordance with “strict standards” that ensure safety.
Russians Terrified by Putin’s Bunker Mentality as He Turns 70 With His Finger on the Nuclear Button
“There are regulatory agencies, so the system works here,” he said.
His assurances, strangely, came just a few hours after the Russian Defense Ministry announced that a military jet had gone down in the mountains of North Ossetia and killed all crew members on board after a “technical malfunction.”
The International Civil Aviation Organization, part of the United Nations, deemed Russia one of the four most dangerous countries to fly in after at least 180 aviation accidents there last year, twice as many as in 2022, Novaya Gazeta Europe reported. The country had a poor flight safety record even before Western sanctions left airlines deprived of spare parts for foreign-made planes.
Data from the Aviation Safety Network shows more plane crash fatalities in Russia over the past two decades than in any other country.
Tue, June 11, 2024
The prospect of Russian President Vladimir Putin dying in a fiery plane crash came up Tuesday when the Kremlin was asked if it had any concerns about aircraft safety in the wake of two world leaders plummeting from the sky in recent weeks.
The vice president of Malawi was confirmed dead Tuesday in the latest plane crash, just a couple weeks after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed when his helicopter went down.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured that Putin uses “domestic aircraft,” which he claimed are “very reliable” and “subject to special maintenance.” In fact, he said, all Russian aircraft are maintained in accordance with “strict standards” that ensure safety.
Russians Terrified by Putin’s Bunker Mentality as He Turns 70 With His Finger on the Nuclear Button
“There are regulatory agencies, so the system works here,” he said.
His assurances, strangely, came just a few hours after the Russian Defense Ministry announced that a military jet had gone down in the mountains of North Ossetia and killed all crew members on board after a “technical malfunction.”
The International Civil Aviation Organization, part of the United Nations, deemed Russia one of the four most dangerous countries to fly in after at least 180 aviation accidents there last year, twice as many as in 2022, Novaya Gazeta Europe reported. The country had a poor flight safety record even before Western sanctions left airlines deprived of spare parts for foreign-made planes.
Data from the Aviation Safety Network shows more plane crash fatalities in Russia over the past two decades than in any other country.
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