Tatarstan Airlines operator of the Boeing 737-500 that crashed in November in Kazan only flies seven planes. (Maybe 6, now?) The one that crashed was leased from a Bulgarian company, with a history of minor accidents.
Fifty people died on the Tatarstan Airlines jet that dived nose-down to a fiery grave in Kazan. The investigation says that even though the two pilots were on their second go-around (i.e. second attempt to land), everything was working until impact. Recovering from the botched landing attempt, they pulled up at a too steep angle. From a height of 700 m the airplane entered a nose down attitude, reaching a -75° pitch. They died trying to dive to recover momentum, and impacted at 450 km/h.
Human error? Sleep deprivation? The crash embodies what is wrong with Russian Airlines.
Russia has withdrawn the operating license for Tatarstan Airlines due to
“noncompliance by the airline with certification requirements for Russia’s civil aviation, violations of the established norms of flying hours, working and relaxation time.” The action came after it was discovered that Tatarstan Airlines breached rules regarding personnel training and rest times for flight and cabin crew. Of course, Tatarstan Airlines is
Currently there’s a political wrestling match going on whether or not to ban planes over twenty years old.
In my opinion? They could buy all the new planes they want, but unless they supplement with proper training and rest protocols, safety issues will remain the same.
The Boeing-737 flight that crashed in Kazan may have done so under the command of a
Pilot In Command (PIC) who had never performed a real go-around. The PIC had 1000 night flight hours and was properly trained, according to authorities—but if that is the case, how is it being reported that the PIC had never performed a go-around? What is verifiable is that there is a large debris field, a nose down crash. Note how windy it is while they are on the field putting out tape and spraying. Also there is a video being posted that shows a nosedive: http://lifenews.ru/#!news/122878 though whether this is actually the Tatarstan Airlines flight in question is, in fact, questionable.
The PIC had 25000 hours and the copilot had 1900 hours. Reports are that the “pilot of Kazan crash had put the plane into nosedive.” The plane hit nose first. We do not know if it was at the steep angle in the video above or in a more normal angle.
The black box has been recovered, and the preliminary report may be available soon.
Six crew members and 44 passengers died. Their bodies have not been identified yet, through the manifest has been released.
On November 17, 2013 at 6:23 pm, Flight 363, an Ak Bars Aero/Tatarstan Boeing 737-500 en route from Moscow to Kazan, after several go-arounds, and more than one landing pass. On the second (?) attempt, an hour later, it crashed on landing at Kazan. On touchdown, the jet’s nose hit the ground.
The plane caught fire on impact after a fuel tank caught fire. None of the 44 passengers or 6 crew survived the fire.
The leased 23 year old plane was registered as VQ-BBN.
The Metars were reported as:
“The visibility was five thousand meters, the runway was dry. You cannot even imagine better conditions.”
NOTAMS:
A4677/13 – AD CLSD DUE TO TECR. 17 NOV 18:20 2013 UNTIL 18 NOV 08:00 2013. CREATED: 17 NOV 18:29 2013
Transport Prosecution Office has opened a criminal investigation.
The passenger list includes Alexander V. Antonov (regional head of Russia’s Federal Security Service) and Irek Minikhanov, son of the president of Tatarstan.
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What: Tatarstan Airlines Airbus A319-112 Where: Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia When: Dec 1, 2012 8:30 am Who: 109 passengers Why: Preparing for take-off to go to Moscow at 8:30, the Tatarstan Airlines Airbus overran the runway, ending up in a snowbank. The problem according to LifeNews was ice on the runway.
No passengers were injured. A wing is mired in the bank of snow, tying up the runway for takeoffs and landings.
The flight was delayed until 13:00 Moscow time. The incident is under investigation.
Aleksandr Galimov, the last of the Russian Hockey team had been found after the crash standing in the river, tearing off his burning shirt. He survived the crash but died Monday at the burn clinic, five days after the crash.
The plane struggled to gain altitude on takeoff and crashed about a mile from the end of the runway.
The Yak-42 is an aging Soviet-designed narrow-body aircraft, the frequent focus of safety concerns after a series of problems and crashes.
After the last fatal Yak-42 crash crash of this behemoth is blamed on pilot error, it is my opinion that someone is in denial.
What: Tatarstan Air/ Yak Service Yakovlev Yak-42 en route from Yaroslavl Russia to Minsk Belarus Where: Yaroslavl When: Sep 7th 2011, 16:05 Who: 37 passengers (including the Lokomotiv Yaroslav Hockey Team) 8 crew Why: The flight took off from Yaroslavl but failed to climb, and struck an antenna outside of the airport, then struck the ground. Tunoshna ATC and other witnesses saw the flight roll (list) left and impact the ground.
Five fire brigades and a group of psychologists are on the scene.
Visibility was above 50km and it was partly cloudy according to local radar.
The plane is broken in two, the fuselage in the Volga river and the tail of the plane on the bank, a thousand feet from the airport. Reports are that the plane hit an antenna and Russian media quoted a flight traffic controller saying that the pilot failed to gain adequate height on takeoff.
Two passengers, flight engineer and the Russian player Alexander Galimov have been hospitalized with severe burns to 90% of their bodies. A third (unnamed) individual also has been hospitalized. Currently all bodies have been recovered. 103 rescue personnel were on hand, and 44 machines, including TSEPP aircraft.
The team was heading to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk.
The charter flight was operated by Yak-Service Airlines, a Tatarstan Air plane. According to Russian FAA press officer, the plane “went through cursory maintenance service before departure to Yaroslavl and fully complied with all safety standards. The plane was built in 1993 and was certified airworthy until October 1.”
There has been discussion whether RA-42433 or RA-42434 was involved.
Flight crew
Andrei Solomentsev — pilot
Igor Zhivelov — copilot
Nadezhda Maksumova — flight attendant
Vladimir Matyushin — flight engineer
Elena Sarmatova — flight attendant
Elena Shavina — flight attendant
Sergey Zhuravlev — mechanic
Alexander Sizov — flight engineer – survived[21]
Passengers
Defenceman Vitaly Anikeyenko, 24 (Ukraine)
Defenceman Mikhail Balandin, 31 (Russia)
Centre Gennady Churilov, 24 (Russia)
Centre Pavol Demitra, 36 (Slovakia)[12]
Defenceman Robert Dietrich, 25 (Germany)
Right winger Alexander Galimov, 26 (Russia) – survived[13] [14]
Defenceman Marat Kalimulin, 23 (Russia)
Right wing Alexander Kalyanin, 23 (Russia)
Right wing Andrei Kiryukhin, 24 (Russia)
Centre Nikita Klyukin, 21 (Russia)
Goaltender Stefan Liv, 30 (Sweden)[15]
Centre Jan Marek, 31 (Czech Republic)[15]
Left wing Sergei Ostapchuk, 21 (Belarus)
Defenceman Karel Rach?nek, 32 (Czech Republic)[15]
Defenseman Ruslan Salei, 36 (Belarus)[16]
Defenceman Maxim Shuvalov, 18 (Russia)
Defenceman K?rlis Skrasti?š, 37 (Latvia)[17]
Forward Pavel Snurnitsyn, 19 (Russia)
Centre Daniil Sobchenko, 20 (Ukraine)
Left wing Ivan Tkachenko, 31 (Russia)
Defender Pavel Trakhanov, 33 (Russia)
Defenceman Yuri Urychev, 20 (Russia)
Centre Josef Vaší?ek, 30 (Czech Republic)[15]
Left winger Alexander Vasyunov, 23 (Russia)[18]
Goaltender Alexander Vyukhin, 38 (Ukraine)
Left wing Artem Yarchuk, 21 (Russia)
Team staff
Head coach Brad McCrimmon, 52 (Canada)[19] (1989 Stanley Cup champion)
Assistant coach Alexander Karpovtsev, 41 (Russia)[20] (1994 Stanley Cup champion)
Assistant coach Igor Korolev, 41 (Russia)[20]
Yuri Bakhvalov, video operator
Aleksandr Belyayev, equipment manager/massage therapist
Nikolai Krivonosov, fitness coach
Yevgeni Kunnov, massage therapist
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov, massage therapist
Vladimir Piskunov, administrator
Yevgeni Sidorov, coach-analyst
Andrei Zimin, team doctor
The Russian Emergencies Ministry sent out the following letter (loosely translated)
Russian Emergencies Ministry Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief www.mchs.gov.ru
The collapse of the Yak-42 in the Yaroslavl region RE: the fall occurred 07.09.2011g 5.16 Yak-42 (to fire) in the locality Tunosha Yaroslavl region Yaroslavl region (2.5 km northwest of the airport Tunosha) follow the route of “Yaroslavl-Minsk”.
According to preliminary data, on board were 45 people, 37 passengers and 8 crew members. Emergency rescuers recovered the two male survivors. They were taken to the hospital. The accident attracted 103 people and 44 units of machinery, including the Russian Emergencies Ministry – 64 men and 17 units.
Psychologists Main Directorate of Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia in the Yaroslavl region, the group TSEPP Russian Emergencies Ministry sent aircraft, an additional leave of two psychologists from Moscow. Conducted on-site rescue activities. Water extracted from the body 26. Center for emergency psychological care Russian Emergencies Ministry opened a telephone hot the Emergencies Ministry of Russia:
8 (495) 626-37-07
The operator of the jet in question has been under scrutiny over failing to pass safety standards from Russian and European regulators.
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What: Tatarstan Airlines en route from Antalya, Turkey to Ekaterinburg, Russia Where: aboard the plane Why: Instead of the 148-seat Boeing 737 that was booked, they had a 142-seat 737; and 6 passengers were given the choice of waiting for the next flight or flying standing up. During turbulence, the passengers sat on the floor. The airline offered them $200 in compensation. The passengers are asking for $4,700.
(Can you imagine how much they’d be asking if they were in the US?)
What is this, a third world country where there are no rules and laws about flight safety? Well, Tatarstan flies out of Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia.
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