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JAKARTA, Indonesia – Rescuers say they have discovered bodies near the wreckage of a Russian-made passenger plane that smashed into a steep Indonesian volcano with 45 people on board. Search and rescue spokesman Gagah Prakoso said his teams reached the remote, rugged site near the crater on Thursday afternoon. They found the Sukhoi Superjet-100 scattered along the jungly slopes. Family members, many of whom spent a long, sleepless night at the airport, broke down in tears on hearing the news the plane had been spotted on the side of a cliff Thursday morning. Others stared blankly ahead in disbelief. "From...

Russian plane hit side of steep volcano- no survivors Rescuers found shattered wreckage earlier today of the Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100 that hit the side of an Indonesian volcano at full-speed during a sales demonstration flight- all 45 people on board were feared dead. "So far we haven't found any survivors, but we are still searching," he said as teams of soldiers, police and volunteers continued to troop up the slopes. The spot is basically unreachable on foot. so evidence and bodies are being placed in nets/hammocks and raised by helicopters from the Indonesian Air Force. The Sukhoi Superjet...

Just what they didn't need... Sukhoi SuperJet 100 After $1.4B in development, successful presentation/flights at the 2011 Farnborough Air show, and even Russian domestic commercial service, the Sukhoi SuperJet 100 seemed to be moving along towards attaining the respect and cash-generating exports Putin was looking for when the Kremlin orchestrated Sukhoi's collaboration with Italy's Finmeccanica and other foreign suppliers (including Boeing). The $32M plane features a number of firsts for a Russian commercial airliner, such as fly-by-wire technology and even a stunning Pininfarina-designed business-class. Putin, Medvedev, and Berlusconi tour the SuperJet's cabin Yet earlier today a new SuperJet 100 with 50 passengers aboard...

At 35,000 Feet, a Russian Image Problem By ANDREW E. KRAMER MOSCOW — Airlines are a cautious lot, slow to trust a new airplane maker with multibillion-dollar orders and passenger lives. It took Embraer, a Brazilian maker of regional jets, two decades to become a major supplier to the industry. So Sukhoi, a Russian company best known for making supersonic fighter jets, did not exactly get off to an auspicious start. When it delivered one of the first of its highly promoted new 100-seat Superjets to Aeroflot in June, a piece of safety equipment immediately broke down, prompting Sukhoi to...

The advanced Russian passenger jet linier Sukhoi Superjet-100 has arrived in India for an airshow, the Aviation Holding Sukhoi’s press service told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. The air liner will take part in the show’s flying program. Visitors and specialists will have an opportunity to see it on the ground, too. The aircraft was successfully demonstrated at three world airshows - Le Bourget (Paris), MAKS (Russia) and Farnborough (UK). “Demonstration flights in Bangalore will show the world aviation community once again that the Russian plane meets all standards of the world market, and customers will see for themselves the ability of...

The Interstate Aviation Committee Committee (IAC) will issue a type certificate for the Sukhoi SuperJet-100 plane on February 3. The IAC Aviation Register has also decided to issue a certificate of civil aircraft designer to Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company. The company said “the type certificate will allow commercial operation of the plane and confirm its conformity with the rules and regulations of the Interstate Aviation Committee.” The new plane will replace Tu-134 jets. The first SSJ-100 should be handed over to Armavia in early 2011. Currently, orders for 170 new planes have been confirmed. Aeroflot plans to receive the first...

Italy is ready to buy a significant number of Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100 medium-haul airliners, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday. "This is our first civil aircraft... which corresponds with the most recent civil aviation requirements, and our Italian partners are now ready to buy them in quite large numbers," Putin said during a United Russia party congress in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, accompanied by Putin and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, inspected a Superjet aircraft in Sochi last Friday. The plane arrived in the southern Russian city on a test flight...

First commercial Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) SN 95007 designed for Armenian Armavia airlines made its maiden flight, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft company said. "During the flight, a crew carried out functional test of aircraft systems and equipment, engine, confirmed flight characteristics of the aircraft in an operational range," the company said adding that the aircraft is expected to arrive in Moscow soon, where in accordance with aviation regulations, its performance on typical routes will be tested. The Superjet 100 is a family of medium-haul passenger aircraft developed by Sukhoi in cooperation with U.S. and European aviation corporations, including Boeing, Snecma, Thales,...

Aerospace firm Sukhoi said Thursday that it planned to sign a “firm contract” to sell 30 SuperJets to a customer from Southeast Asia next week. The company said in a statement that the deal would be sealed at the Farnborough International Airshow, which starts July 19 and runs for a week. “This will be our biggest foreign contract for planes that have a catalogue price of $31.7 million each,” Sukhoi spokeswoman Olga Kayukova said Thursday. Sukhoi chief executive Mikhail Pogosyan said June 11 that the company will supply the first three of its SuperJet passenger airplanes this year as Russia...

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian and US scientists have successfully tested hypersonic aircraft technology which could revolutionise international flight, officials said. The trial was the first of up to 10 tests to be conducted at the Woomera desert range as part of a joint US-Australian military research operation, said Defence Science Minister Warren Snowdon. The programme, called Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE), is investigating hypersonics technology and its potential for next generation aeronautics. "Hypersonics is the study of flight exceeding approximately five times the speed of sound, and this trial has successfully tested the flight and mission control systems that...

MOSCOW, April 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's new Superjet 100 airliner will be one of the big draws at Le Bourget 2009 when it makes its debut appearance in Paris, a top official of the major international air show said on Tuesday. The 48th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget on June 15-21, which marks 100 years of technological innovation in aeronautics and space conquest, will be the first chance for most aviation enthusiasts to get a look at the new plane. "The Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 airplane will be a genuine star at our anniversary air show, primarily because...

Russia's first entirely new commercial plane for some time, the Superjet 100, has completed its maiden flight. The plane, which will be able to carry between 75 and 110 passengers, must make about 100 incident-free journeys before being deemed to be airworthy. Built by Russian manufacturer Sukhoi, the first planes are due to be delivered at the end of 2008 but the project has been hit by delays. China, Japan and India are all seeking to become mid-range planemakers.