Despite aging fleets and lack of flying time for pilots, Russian airlines boast one of the world's best safety records on passenger flights – a feat that officials explain by a sound safety system inherited from Soviet times and recently adopted regulations.

"Russia's aviation safety record is surprisingly good, given the bad situation in the industry," said Igor Samoilov, head of the Analytical Department at the Civil Aviation State Research Institute.

The annual number of deaths from passenger flight crashes has dropped from 700 to 900 20 years ago to only 43 in 1999. The number of passengers carried also dropped during that period, but not as drastically, from 140 million to 20 million passengers a year.

On regular flights, Russia's safety record is twice as good as the world average, said Alexei Mayorov, safety inspection chief at Transaero airlines.

He said that the pilot-training scheme and strict safety requirements inherited from Soviet times help to keep safety standards high, despite the poor economic state of the industry and little practice for pilots. Because of the industry's decline, pilots' flight practice on some airlines has dropped below the 25 to 40 hours a month necessary to keep in shape, according to Mayorov.

State aviation officials attribute Russia's positive safety record to recently adopted regulations governing licensing of operators. "Finally, a good system for airline licensing and certification has been adopted, which has had a positive impact on flight safety in Russia," said one Russian aviation safety official, who asked not to be identified.

"Between 1991 and 1993, new airlines were formed as a result of privatization, and they did not observe safety requirements. Consequently, 1994 was the worst year in terms of air safety. Since then, the safety record has been improving as the industry has become more regulated."

Meanwhile, safety standards have not been properly observed by Russia's smaller airlines, especially on charter flights. "The free market had a negative impact on flight safety in Russia," said Mayorov. He added that not a single person died in a plane crash in Russia in 1998 and 1999 and that the casualty statistics were accounted for by charter transportation.

Russian planes on charter flights in developing countries are normally responsible for negative safety statistics, experts say. In the last five years, more Russian planes have crashed in Africa than in Russia. "Weather conditions are bad there, runways are bad, and there is no proper navigation system," Mayorov said.

Failure to observe maximum tonnage limits on cargo flights has also led to crashes. In some situations, up to 60 tons of freight were loaded on Il-76 aircraft, which have a maximum capacity of 40 tons.

Unlike many other countries, Russia has no state aviation safety program to set down and enforce rules. Although relevant proposals have been submitted to the State Duma lower house of parliament, there has been no response. "Aviation safety should not be ignored," said Mayorov. "No airline has enough financial resources to be able to fix this problem by itself," he added. "This is a state-level problem."