Kremlin describes Putin’s plane as “very reliable” after crashes that killed heads of state in Iran and Malawi

Raisi was flying over northwestern Iran on May 19 when his helicopter crashed. Also on board the helicopter were Iran’s foreign minister, the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials. No one survived the deadly incident.

Chilima was killed in a plane crash on Tuesday along with nine other passengers. Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera said Chilima’s plane was found “completely destroyed” near a hill in northern Malawi.

However, Peskov said that given Russia’s strict safety standards for Russian aircraft, it was unlikely that such incidents would occur.

“All machines in our country that transport citizens are also maintained at the proper level. In this regard, there are very strict standards, which, of course, are observed,” Peskov said.

“We have surveillance agencies,” he continued. “The system works.”

Certainly, Russia does not have the best record when it comes to flight safety.

In February, the Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC) announced that the number of safety incidents in Russian air traffic more than doubled last year, from 37 cases in 2022 to 81 in 2023.

The Russian aviation industry’s flight safety problems are largely due to the crippling economic sanctions imposed by the West following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Such restrictions make it difficult for Russian airlines to maintain their aircraft as they cannot purchase new aircraft or spare parts.

In fact, the number of aviation accidents in Russia may be much higher, says JACDEC founder and CEO Jan-Arwed Richter.

“These figures only reflect cases that have become public. There is still a large number of unreported incidents,” Richter told the Telegraph in February.