What the Donetsk landing crash inquiry concluded
Ukraine's air accident investigators had closed their file on South Airlines Flight 8971, blaming the pilot's handling of a landing in weather beyond his qualifications.
What did investigators conclude about the 2013 crash at Donetsk airport? By 1 November 2019, the answer had been public for three days. On 29 October 2019, the National Bureau of Air Accidents Investigation of Ukraine announced the end of its investigation into South Airlines Flight 8971.
The flight was an Antonov An-24 passenger aircraft. On 13 February 2013 it crashed on landing at Donetsk International Airport. Five of the 52 people on board were killed.
The Bureau's conclusion centred on the pilot. It said the accident was caused by excessive speed reductions as he attempted to land. It added that the weather conditions at the time were beyond his qualifications.
The finding set out a cause for a crash that had happened more than six years earlier. For a public institution, it marked the formal close of an inquiry into a fatal passenger flight.
