Russian Superjet Suffers Hard Landing as Wheels Fail to Deploy

(Bloomberg) -- Russia’s Superjet 100 regional aircraft was forced to land without all of its wheels deployed following a test flight.

The SSJ100 made the hard landing at the Gromov Flight Research Institute southeast of Moscow on Thursday following a flight aimed at evaluating the aerodynamic performance of winglets due to be added to the aircraft, according to manufacturer Sukhoi.

When the right-hand landing gear failed be fully released the plane dumped fuel and was brought down safely, with no injuries to the pilot, flight-test engineer and certification officer, who were the only people on board. The jet, which was manufactured in 2013 and has performed 294 test flights, will be repaired and returned to operation, the statement said.

The 100-seat Superjet, which began deliveries in 2011, was designed to compete with the C Series model from Montreal-based Bombardier Inc., which has since been taken over by Airbus SE and renamed the A220, and Brazilian producer Embraer SA’s so-called E-Jets.

Customers include CityJet Ltd., which operates the model into London City airport. Italy’s Leonardo SpA has a stake in a venture with Sukhoi that markets the plane to western customers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Jasper in London at cjasper@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net

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