Emergency workers explore the site of Sunday's AN-148 plane crash in Stepanovskoye village, about 40 kilometres from Moscow's Domodedovo airport. (AP photo)MOSCOW: Human error may be to blame for the crash of a Russian plane that killed 71 people, Russian investigators said Tuesday, noting that the plane's pilots failed to turn on the heating unit for its measuring equipment, resulting in flawed speed data. The pilots put the An-148 on autopilot after taking off from Moscow's Domodedovo Airport but took manual controls back when they saw conflicting speed data, with one indicator showing the plane's speed at zero. It emphasised that the flawed speed data resulted from the "icing of pressure measurement instruments that had their heating systems turned off." Earlier reports indicated that the plane's captain had chosen not to have the plane undergo a de-icing treatment before takeoff.

Source: Bangkok Post February 13, 2018 14:15 UTC