Pilot error eyed in deadly crash of Russian airliner as Indonesians start ... - New York Daily News

Investigators looking into the deadly crash of a Russian airliner into the side of an Indonesian volcano focused Thursday on possible pilot error as hopes faded for finding any survivors.

In their last exchange with air traffic control, the crew of the Sukhoi Superjet-100 asked permission to descend from 10,000 to 6,000 feet — and minutes later they dropped off the radar screen.

The wreckage was found a day after Wednesday's disaster.

"We're still looking for survivors. But it doesn't look good," said Gagah Prakoso, a spokesman for Indonesia's national search and rescue agency.

There were 45 people on the demonstration flight — mostly Indonesian airline industry types and a few reporters — that was aimed at attracting Indonesians to invest in Russian airliners.

Kornel Mandagi Sihombing was believed to have been on that flight, and his devoutly Christian family was praying that he was spared.

"When I heard about the accident I tried to contact him several times but to no avail," his wife, Indriyati Ayub, told the Jakarta Post.

As Ayub prayed, rescue workers began the grim and difficult task of retrieving the bodies from the jungle-covered slope of the mist-shrouded mountain.

The bodies were placed in nets and hauled up into hovering helicopters — and in some cases, there was little left to be buried.

"I cannot say anything about the condition of the bodies," Prakoso said, but he added that: "A high speed jet plane hit the cliff, exploded and tore apart."

The airliner took off at 2:21 p.m. Wednesday for a quick test flight, the second one of the day.

Twenty-one minutes later, it was gone.

While it had been drizzling, investigators said the pilot made no Mayday call and gave no explanation for why the crew wanted to fly at a lower altitude.

It's also not clear if crew members got the OK to do so from the tower.

Their taped exchange is now part of the investigation.

The $35 million Sukhoi Superjet-100 is Russia's first new model of passenger jet since the fall of the Soviet Union two decades ago. The Russians were hoping it would help revive the country's moribund aerospace industry.

— With News Wire Services

csiemaszko@nydailynews.com