On 27 January 2001, an Antonov An-70 prototype crashed close to Omsk Tsentralny Airport, Russia during testing of the aircraft.

[2] The crew successfully made a 180-degree turn to head back towards departure airport but crash landed hard in the snow and ice within several hundred yards of the runway.

[3] The accident investigators found that the pilots acted with remarkable skill to turn the aircraft around and crash-land it on the field without lowering the landing gear.

The fuel crystallization theory was discounted very early by the team of experts investigating the accident, leaving an engine or a propeller malfunction the only remaining possibility.

[2] The cause of the crash landing of the An-70 near Omsk remained the subject of much debate for a long time and the reason for heated exchange of accusations between the Antonov Design Bureau and the OAO Motor-Sich - the manufacturer of the D-27 engine.

A report released by the investigation team in mid-March, by Ukrainian "Aviation and Time" magazine, provided preliminary details into the cause.

[2] According to the report, immediately after take-off one of the engines was automatically shut off by its electronic safeguards after it exceeded the safe RPM limit.

Much of this negative publicity was instigated by competitors of Antonov, specifically ZMKB "Progress" and OAO Motor-Sich in Russia and in the West.