On Tuesday, 4 October Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Gediminas Kirkilas submitted conclusions of the Lithuanian Interdepartmental Commission appointed to investigate the causes of the crash of the Russian aircraft fighter SU-27 on the territory of Lithuania to President Valdas Adamkus of the Republic of Lithuania.
Summary of the Conclusions of the Official Government Investigation dealing with the crash of the Russian Federation aircraft fighter SU-27P in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania on 15 September 2005
On Tuesday, 4 October 2005, upon completing an analysis of the circumstances of the 15 September 05 flight of the Russian Federation Air Force aircraft fighter SU-27P, board No 12, piloted by Major Valerij Trojanov, based on all available information the Interdepartmental Investigation Commission has determined that this aircraft had entered the airspace of the Republic of Lithuania without authorisation and, after having run short on fuel, had crashed within the borders of the republic as a result of the following, closely interconnected causes:
1. During this flight, Major Trojanov failed to use all of the navigation equipment available to him in order to determine the location of his aircraft. This might have happened because of the small number of recent flight operations performed by Major Trojanov, regardless of his sufficient qualification as a fighter pilot.
2. During this flight, the Flight Control Services of the Russian Federation have made glaring mistakes in providing proper control of the aircraft piloted by Major Trojanov.
3. The aircraft was technically sound, however, pre-flight preparations of the aircraft were performed in a hasty way and failed to comply with the established, prioritized order of work procedures. That might have influenced the operating accuracy of the navigation systems during the course of this flight.
The Commission concludes that the unauthorised entry of this aircraft, piloted by Major Trojanov, into the airspace of the Republic of Lithuania and its eventual crash within the republic’s borders have resulted from a combination of errors based on organisational, technical and human factors.