Russian jet in Indonesia crash was replacement

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MOSCOW: The Russian Superjet plane that crashed in Indonesia killing all on board was a replacement for another plane that had carried out the first part of a promotional tour, its manufacturer said yesterday.

The SSJ-100 Superjet — the first new passenger plane produced by Russia since the collapse of the USSR — was making an exhibition flight in Indonesia on a promotional tour to drum up business.

But the plane which crashed was not the same aircraft which carried out the first part of the promotional tour in Kazakhstan and Pakistan, Olga Kayukova, the spokeswoman for Sukhoi Civil Aircraft which makes the plane told AFP.

The Moskovskiy Komsomolets and Kommersant newspapers earlier reported that the plane had been replaced in the middle of the exhibition tour. — AFP