Russia suspends airline after crash

Russia's aviation authorities have suspended the license of the Moscow-based airline Rusair following a plane crash last month that killed 47 people. A RusAir Tupolev Tu-134 plane, with 43 passengers and nine crew on board, crashed in heavy fog and burst into flames on a motorway near Petrozavodsk, the main city in the Karelia region, on June 21. "Due to violations revealed during an investigation, the operator's license has been suspended," Russian federal aviation authority Rosaviatsia spokesman Sergei Izvolsky told RIA Novosti. Investigators believe pilot error was to blame for the crash. RusAir is a privately-owned airline that also runs charter flights to Europe. The Tupolev Tu-134, along with its larger sibling the Tupolev Tu-154, has been the backbone of the Russian and Soviet air industry since the 1960s.