Tupolev planes.

[David747]

A few weeks ago, I posted a replay on a topic on Russian airliners, and I remember one person saying that the reason why the Russian airliners do not sell in the west is because of safety. After that topic several Tupolev's have been involved in accidents. Why is the safety record of these planes so bad, second, are all Russian aerospace companies state run still, even after the fall of the Soviet Union? I ask these questions because there is a plan in the works to unite all Russian aerospace companies into one big company in efforts to compete with Airbus and Boeing.

[Stepha380]

Maintenance, Operations... safety depends more on the airlines than on the manufacturer.

[jan_olieslagers]

I am not aware of any clear indication that Russian designed/built aircraft are intrinsically less safe than others. Rather to the contrary, they appear to be of conservative design, and built to stand very rough handling, like operating from soft runways. Which makes them less fuel efficient.
For reasons unclear to me, they also appear to be available at favorable prices, so that they are attractive to operators limited on budget. Unfortunately, operators with low acquisition budgets generally have low maintenance budgets also. Need I say more?

[bits44]

Historically they have a very poor record, which is not to say the aircraft itself is at fault, many other factors come into play.

However the flying public only look at the numbers of accidents not the causes.


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... &cset=true

[bkonner]

Howdy,

The West's relationship with Russia is hot and cold. Will there be an embargo five or ten years from now? Will spare parts be available? Who knows? This may be a factor too.

Bill

[Advisor]

Availability of spares has often been termed as of one of the main reasons in dealing with Russia.

And i think about the cold war....it no more of a relevance as some companies like the Sukhoi and all make a lot of money as now they have a world wide market for their planes....

[bkonner]

Availability of spares has often been termed as of one of the main reasons in dealing with Russia.

And i think about the cold war....it no more of a relevance as some companies like the Sukhoi and all make a lot of money as now they have a world wide market for their planes....

What about Iran and nuclear weapons? Iran is more of a threat to Russia than the US or the EU yet remnants of the cold war still apply to Russia's behavior with the current dispute. I realize there is more to the issue. The energy crisis in the Ukraine last year put real fear in the EU. Yes the cold war is over, but Russia is not a democracy and could be perceived as a threat to the west. Buying Russian aircraft thus may be risky.

Bill