What happened
On September 27, 2020, at approximately 12:00 local time, a Super Petrel LS amphibious aircraft, registration RA-1576G, was moved from a hangar at a private landing site known as "Kstovo-Vostochny" near Kstovo. The pilot had moved the aircraft out of the hangar to perform a replacement of the propeller. During this maintenance activity, a woman arrived at the hangar on a motorcycle. There were no immediate intentions to conduct a flight at that moment.
Despite the maintenance activity, the aircraft subsequently operated within Class G airspace. The flight was conducted without submitting a flight plan or notification to air traffic control services, and no flight clearance was granted. The crew did not establish communication with air traffic control authorities during the operation.
The investigation
Investigators examined the operational procedures at the private landing site and the communication logs of the Air Traffic Control Center. Due to a lack of eyewitnesses, the commission could not determine the specific decision-making process used by the pilot regarding the flight's commencement or the pre-flight preparation procedures. Meteorological conditions at the time of the accident were found to be within Visual Flight Rules (VFR) limits.