Air crashes in Russia down 30 percent

The number of air crashes in Russia decreased by 30 percent in the first half of 2010, RBC news agency reported.

The number of people died in air-traffic accidents fell 50 percent against the same period of 2009, according to the figures published by Russia's Federal Transportation Inspection Service.

At the same time, however, the number of non-lethal air-traffic accidents rose 45 percent, including serious accidents -- by 37 percent.

This year, all air crashes that led to the passengers deaths happened with the planes operated by private companies, a senior official from the service said.

Russia's Federal Transportation Inspection Service controls over 4,400 civil aircraft.

Source:Xinhua