FSB look further into aircraft arrest (400 words)

Published: 1/24/2001

In Nizhny Novgorod, the local press reports have the FSB (KGB successor) instituting a case against East Line. This does not seem to be related to the case opened by the FSB, in Moscow, against East Line in the latter part of 2000, which resulted in the grounding of the airline. The case relates to the landing of an East Line Il-76, carrying clothes and consumer products, at Nizhny Novgorod on the19th of September 2000. The aircraft was en route from Shangyang to Moscow, but was redirected to Nizhni by the Domodedovo dispatchers. The reason for the diversion is unclear, but it may be linked to the FSB activities at Domodedovo on that day, during which another Il-76 en route from China was seized at Kogalym Airport and found to be overweight. The FSB inspection of the Il-76 revealed that the aircraft was severely overloaded and an interview with the aircraft's pilot revealed that he had been ordered to return to China during the flight, but had been unable to do so because he had already left Chinese air space. The Nizhny Novgorod customs decided to detain the aircraft until 20th September, to weigh the cargo. The crew sealed the aircraft and then disappeared from the hotel the next morning, taking the keys with them. The delay however, allowed East Line to fax the authorities that their Chinese customer had overloaded the aircraft and that the customs declaration was, therefore, not a full statement of the aircraft's cargo. On 25th September, the crew returned to Nizhni without the keys. These were made available the following day and the subsequent weighing revealed the plane to have 47 tonnes of cargo instead of the declared 36 tonnes. The cargo was held and the aircraft returned to Moscow on the 27th of September. The situation was further compounded by the FSB's discovery that the declared customer for the shipment was fictitious; further suggesting that the airline may have been involved in smuggling, according to Kommersant, and so justifying the opening of an investigation. The speculation at the time - of why the FSB was involved in a simple contraband investigation (not normally part of its remit) - appears still to be unanswered. Furthermore, the opening of the Niznhi investigation will no doubt stimulate fresh speculation as to why the enormously influential transport group is the subject of interest for the increasingly powerful FSB.

Article ID: 2317