MOSCOW, June 22 (UPI) -- A test pilot familiar with the airport where a Russian passenger jet crashed said Wednesday the crew may have confused a highway with the runway.
Vadim Bazykin told RIA Novosti the mistake is an easy one to make in bad weather. The Petrozavodsk airport was in thick fog at the time of the crash late Monday.
"We also took this highway for the runway on several occasions in poor weather," Bazykin said.
Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin blamed the weather for the crash Wednesday, ITAR-Tass reported. Investigators have suggested the pilot, who was killed in the crash, may have made mistakes.
Eight of the 52 people on board were pulled from the wreckage of the plane before it began burning and survived the crash. One, a 10-year-old boy, died Wednesday.
The TU-134 plane was scheduled to arrive at Petrozavodsk just after midnight Tuesday on a flight from Moscow.
