A Sukhoi Superjet 100 landed on its belly at Keflavik International Airport in Iceland over the weekend during a test evaluation of the airplane’s fully automated landing gear.
The incident occurred while the jet was performing a landing with a simulated engine failure amid strong crosswinds. None of the five individuals aboard the Superjet were injured during the event, but one reportedly hurt his leg while evacuating the airplane.
The belly landing constitutes another bout of poor publicity for the Superjet 100 program, which gained worldwide attention last year when one of the airplanes crashed in Indonesia during a demonstration flight, killing all 45 people on board. Investigators determined that the airplane crashed into a mountain after the captain turned off the jet’s terrain-warning system.
Sukhoi says the latest incident will not affect the Superjet 100’s commercial use, as it occurred during flight testing for a supplemental type certificate that is not related to airline operations.
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