Sukhoi Crash Impacts Indonesia's Aviation Industry - Flight Safety President

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah SINGAPORE, May 11 (Bernama) -- Flight Safety Foundation president and chief executive officer William R. Voss said Indonesia's aviation industry has been impacted by the Russian Sukhoi SuperJet-100 crash. "This is also a tragic loss for Superjet Sukhoi," he said in a statement made available here Thursday. Voss said this was a multi-national aircraft which used the most state-of-the-art technology and was positioning itself in the commercial aircraft industry. "To lose the aircraft is a blow to the company. We must now wait for a full investigation to determine the cause. "We extend our deepest sympathies to the families and victims of the tragic crash in Indonesia today. "We know first-hand, the hard work being done in Indonesia to improve the level of safety, and the tragedy is magnified by the loss of some of the aviation industry officials who were working to achieve this goal," he added. Russia's first passenger jet since the fall of the Soviet Union disappeared from radar screens south of Jakarta on Wednesday, 21 minutes into what was meant to be a brief demonstration flight. The aircraft was taking part in an international air show in Indonesia when it got lost around Mt Salak about 3pm local time, descending to 6,000 feet. Flight Safety Foundation was established as an independent international, non-political organisation in 1947, to improve global aviation safety through research, education and advocacy. -- BERNAMA