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   TZUTC: 0200                     
   In the first eight days of this month, eleven incidents involving passenger   
   aircraft occurred in Russian airspace, including onboard fires, decompression   
   and landing gear problems. This is reported by the Moscow Times. There may be   
   a connection with the fact that Russian aviation has been deprived of spare   
   parts since the beginning of last year as a result of the Western boycott.   
       
   The Moscow Times, an independent bilingual newspaper - which has been   
   operating from Amsterdam since 2022 due to censorship - published a list of   
   the incidents.   
       
   For example, an Airbus A319 from Rossiya Airlines lost pressure during the   
   flight on Friday, a fire broke out in an Aeroflot Boeing 777 due to a short   
   circuit on Wednesday and the left engine of an Aeroflot Airbus A321 failed on   
   December 2. In these and eight other cases, the pilots managed to land   
   successfully, but the number of incidents is high.   
       
   The list also includes problems with Russian-made aircraft.   
       
   There may be a connection with the general boycott that Western countries in   
   particular imposed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.   
   The Russians have since been deprived of parts in many areas, including   
   aviation. Russian airlines are also no longer allowed to fly to most European   
   airports and therefore mainly operate on domestic routes.   
       
   The media in Russia itself barely mentions the situation in aviation, because   
   President Putin's regime rejects all unwelcome reports.   
       
   Due to the lack of parts, the Russians have to improvise when maintaining   
   aircraft. They patch up old material or buy counterfeit parts elsewhere,   
   including in China, with all the risks that entails. A former Nordwind   
   Airlines pilot spoke to the British site AviationSource about "Russian   
   roulette" in this regard.   
       
   Besides, aviation in Russia was known as one of the most unsafe in the world   
   even before the war in Ukraine.   
      
   --- DB4 - 20230201   
    * Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)   
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