A court in the Russian Federation recently handed down prison sentences of between five and six years to three air traffic controllers for their roles in an October 2014 accident at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport. The court said the controllers violated Russian safety rules for transportation by allowing a Falcon 50 to strike a snowplow during its takeoff roll. All four people aboard the French-registered jet died in the accident. The snowplow was driven by an airport employee who reportedly lost his situational awareness on the airport prior to the collision. One source claims the plow driver was drunk at the time of the accident. According to a July 2020 story that appeared in the Moscow Times, the plow driver and his boss “were sentenced in 2017 to four and three-and-a-half years in prison, but both were freed in an amnesty.”
Pilot and ATC Associations Call for Release of Russian Air Traffic Controllers
Key Takeaways:
- Three Russian air traffic controllers were sentenced to 5-6 years in prison for their role in a 2014 fatal collision between an aircraft and a snowplow at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport.
- International aviation organizations, including IFALPA and the Global Air Traffic Control Alliance (GATCA), strongly condemned the convictions and called for the controllers' immediate release.
- Critics argue that criminal prosecution of aviation professionals for accidents is detrimental to flight safety, as it discourages reporting, hinders learning from incidents, and undermines the principles of a "just culture" essential for prevention.
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