'Navigator was drunk' in north Russia air crash disaster

A plane crash in northwest Russia in June that killed 44 people was partly caused by a 'slightly drunk navigator,' according to a flight safety investigation report. The Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) for Russia and other former Soviet states, said in its report that the crew decided "not to go round for a second approach" before landing, when the plane was already below a "minimum safety altitude." "The subordination of the captain to the navigator, who was in a state of agitation and slightly intoxicated," was a contributing factor to the accident, the report says. It also cited poor crew resource management (CRM) by the captain as a contributory factor. The RusAir Tupolev Tu-134, with 43 passengers and nine crew on board, was flying from Moscow to Petrozavodsk, the main city in the Karelia region. It crashed and caught fire after landing on a highway just short of the airport.