Aeroflot (SU, Moscow Sheremetyevo) has withdrawn six of its older SSJ 100/95s from commercial service following a directive from Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya).
The order, which also affects one SuperJet in service with IrAero (IO, Irkutsk International), was issued last week after defects were found in parts of the aircraft's horizontal stabilizer.
Interfax reports that Rosaviatsia has since warned all SuperJet operators to conduct tests on the brackets securing the stabilizer's hinge zones. Mexico's Interjet (AIJ, Toluca), which operates twenty-two SuperJets, has said it will comply with the directive and that customers may be affected as aircraft are withdrawn from service for inspection.
For its part, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (Zhukovsky) has since issued a statement confirming the finding but noting that the requisite design, production and technical resources are available to solve the issue.
"Operators will be sent further instructions and recommendations to prevent the appearance of such defects during the course of continued operations," it said.
