Exactly that -- the airline was making the crew fly late at night without rest, not the crew. Also notice they mention the crew was committed to landing and not delaying the flight -- knowing post-soviet authoritarian management style, I suspect they expected a tough talk with the seniors, had they delayed the flight (a 1-2 hour delay of departure would probably exceed crew's working day and need an even bigger delay and a new crew).
Also, it's just the culture. Many Russian planes like Il-76 land on the front wheels. Why? There's an old belief that you need to fly a bit faster than in the operation manual. To avoid stalls, just in case. I guess, it's an old superstition from the military. Until the last decade, it wasn't reviewed, just perpetuated over generations of pilots.
Often, such companies demand soft touchdowns and reprimand for hard touchdowns. Combined with overspeed, this produced 2012 Red Wings crash[1] -- the plane touched down so softly, and was significantly overspeed, that interceptors and reverse thrusters didn't turn on, and the plane kept just touching the surface without braking.
All this can only be fixed by fixing the management. And that's what CRM system focuses on.
Also, it's just the culture. Many Russian planes like Il-76 land on the front wheels. Why? There's an old belief that you need to fly a bit faster than in the operation manual. To avoid stalls, just in case. I guess, it's an old superstition from the military. Until the last decade, it wasn't reviewed, just perpetuated over generations of pilots.
Often, such companies demand soft touchdowns and reprimand for hard touchdowns. Combined with overspeed, this produced 2012 Red Wings crash[1] -- the plane touched down so softly, and was significantly overspeed, that interceptors and reverse thrusters didn't turn on, and the plane kept just touching the surface without braking.
All this can only be fixed by fixing the management. And that's what CRM system focuses on.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Wings_Airlines_Flight_9268