IRC suspends Boeing 737 flying certificates for Russian-based aircraft

Russia’s airline regulator, the Interstate Regulatory Committee, has issued a statement suspending all flying certificates for Boeing 737s that are operational in Russia. The suspension of these flight certificates has not, however, seen flights themselves suspended as a spokesman for Russia’s aviation watchdog, Rosaviatsya, which is obliged to comply with IAC safety recommendations, said it had not been notified.
The IAC has made it clear that the certificate suspension will remain in place until it receives notification from both Rosaviatsya and the US Federal Aviation Administration relating to the safety of Boeing 737 control surfaces on the tail of the aircraft. This comes as a result of concerns relating to tail control surfaces that date back to the 2013 crash of a Tatarstan Airlines 737 which killed all 50 people on board.
Referring to the US National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA stated that “The FAA is assisting the Russian accident investigation authority as an “advisor” to the NTSB, which was appointed a US ‘accredited representative’ for the investigation into the 2013 Boeing 737 accident in Kazan, Russia.” However it declined to make any further comment relating to this ongoing investigation.
A Boeing spokesman in Seattle said the company planned to “meet with Russian officials to understand their concerns,” and a Rosaviatsya spokesman added that a meeting was planned for Friday between Russian airlines, Rosaviatsya and the IAC – which oversees the aviation industry in certain ex-Soviet countries – about Boeing 737 certificates.
Currently about one fifth of the 737 fleet, or 200 planes, are based in Russia and the whole fleet of Pobeda, an Aeroflot enterprise and low-cost carrier established last year, comprises Boeing 737s.