Dirty oil caused Russian plane crash

Metal shavings in the engine oil were the likely cause of the Antonov An-24 plane crash in Russia’s Ob River that killed six and injured more than 20 people on July 11, according to Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee.

The plane, which was en route from Tomsk to Surgut and carrying 36 people, attempted an emergency landing several minutes after the crew reported a fire in the aircraft’s left engine.

The Russian Interstate Aviation Committee said the pilots had received an oil contamination alert before the left-hand engine caught fire. The turboprop aircraft had been cruising at 19,700 feet when signs of a problem developed.

“The crew decided to implement an early descent, agreeing with the Nizhnevartovsk airport flight control,” the IAC said. “During the descent, a fire broke out in the plane’s left engine. After the crew tried twice to put out the fire without success, it decided to make an emergency landing on a sand spit on the bank of the river Ob.”

Soviet-designed An-24s have been involved in a series of accidents over the past several years, including several fatal crashes. Last week’s crash prompted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to instruct the government to consider the early retirement of all An-24s, the last of which was produced in 1979, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.