Investigation reveals human error behind crash of Saratov Flight 703

Russian investigators have revealed what caused Saratov Airlines flight 703 to crash minutes after takeoff in Moscow. Photo / Supplied

Flight 703 had been in the sky for only six minutes when it suddenly plunged and crashed.

Sixty-five passengers, including a five-year-old girl, and six crew were on board the scheduled domestic flight operated by Russia's Saratov Airlines in February.

All were killed when the regional jet crashed in on the outskirts of Moscow, mere moments after taking off from the capital's Domodedovo international airport.

CCTV footage from a resident's backyard showed the terrible moment the plane hit the ground.

In the wake of the crash, a day of mourning was declared by the government of Orenburg, the Russian city where most of the victims were from, and a crisis centre was set up for their devastated relatives.

Now, they finally have some answers.

A report handed down by Russian investigators has blamed human error for the crash of Saratov flight 703, saying the pilots didn't switch on the heat detection sensors on the plane.

That caused critical airspeed sensors to become covered with ice, which contributed to the Antonov An-148 aircraft becoming "uncontrollable" and its deadly dive.

"The principal version of the crash has been confirmed: it was caused by the erroneous actions of the crew," Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement published by AFP.

"According to the data from the black boxes, the pilots did not switch on the heat detection sensors during the climb, leading to them becoming iced-up.

"The main pilot Valery Gubanov received incorrect information about the aircraft's drop in speed and decided to increase speed by sending the plane into a dive. The aircraft then became uncontrollable."

The report backs up an initial report by investigators the day after the fatal crash.

It's not the first time iced-up sensors have been found to be responsible for a plane tragedy.

It was also the cause of the 2009 crash of Air France flight 447, which plunged into the Atlantic Ocean while flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing all 228 people on board.

The three pilots on the Airbus A330 were found to have received faulty airspeed data after the key sensors iced over, which set off panic and confusion in the cockpit that resulted in the plane plunging into the ocean. It took nearly two years for flight recorders to be recovered.

Iced-up censors were believed to have caused the 2009 crash of an Air France plane that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean after departing Rio de Janeiro bound for Paris. Photo / AP

Saratov Airlines has gone bust since the February crash of flight 703. Immediately after the crash, Russian aviation officials ordered all its flights to be suspended, and the carrier's plans to rebrand fell through.

It stopped operating on May 30 after it failed to get approval to extend its operating licence.

The crash also thrust into the spotlight Russia's recent troubling history of plane crashes, many involving ageing aircraft and dangerous flying conditions, AFP reported.

In November, six people were killed when a light aircraft crashed in far eastern Russia — incredibly, a three-year-old girl was the only survivor.

A wing flap fault was found to have caused a military plane carrying Russia's famous Red Army Choir to crash shortly after taking off from Sochi in December 2016, with all 92 people on board killed. "Commander, we are going down," were the pilot's last words, according to Russian reports.

Earlier in 2016, all 62 passengers and crew died when a FlyDubai jet crashed in bad weather during an aborted landing at Rostov-on-Don airport in southern Russia.

Reports of that crash were particularly chilling as one of the few things to survive was a tragic final selfie taken by a passenger who'd bought a last-minute ticket for the flight.

According to The Atlantic, plane crashes are four times deadlier than the world average in Russia, which was named the most dangerous place to fly in 2011 by the Aviation Safety Network.