A Belavia Boeing 737-524 en route from Astana to Minsk diverted to Samara.
Pilots reported a problem in the fuel system. There were 92 passengers aboard, none of whom were reported with any injury. Passengers were assured they would be able to reach their destination.
On March 7, 2013, an Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet registration #RA-89009 was en route from Moskow to Nizhny Novgorod when the landing gear failed. The gear doors failed to close.
Pilots returned to Moscow, and maintained a holding pattern till they landed at 16:52. Pilots made a safe landing at Sheremetyevo Airport.
No injuries to the 84 aboard (77 passengers, 7 crew) were reported.
The Sukhoi Superjet has also suffered engine failures. Less than a month ago, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency suspended flights of four of the 10 aircraft Sukhoi Superjet due to failures in the system of the chassis and wings.
On Feb 26, 2013, a Volga-Dnepr Airlines Antonov An-124 with sixteen aboard arriving from Ulyanovsk at Kaan International Airport was taxiing when its left wing struck a parked Tulpar Air Yakolev 42. You can see the damage it left.
The damaged UTAir, lsf Tulpar Air is a Yakovlev Yak-42D that was unmanned and parked at the time of the incident.
According to preliminary data, the culprit is the commander of the aircraft AN-124. The pilot apparently miscalculated the radius of the turn.
8 of the sixteen aboard were crew. No injuries were reported.
News reports say the pilot will be tested for alcohol.
On Feb 17, 2013 at 9:30, a Vladivostok Avia Tupolev 204-300 with 104 (97 passengers and 7 crew) aboard were en route from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport to Vladivostok when they made an emergency landing at Vladivostok. The plane’s hydraulic system failed.
No injuries were reported.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry did not provide details.
On Feb 05, 2013, an Alrosa Mirny Air Enterprise Antonov An-38-100 with 27 aboard was en route from Mirny Airport to Nakyn field when the luggage hatch opened.
The flight ended eighteen minutes after it started when pilots made an emergency landing.
Red Wings Airlines is grounded. Almost.
Beginning Feb 4, Red Wings will be suspended due to the results of an inspection that turned up pilot training and flight preparation breaches.
The Red Wings fleet is made up of Tu-204 jets.
WE WONDER if the airline is under safety suspension why they are waiting until Feb 4 to ground the airline. If it is truly unsafe, why is it not immediately grounded? Why wait?
Rosaviatsia has said it had found various violations, and claims the airline’s financial problems prevent adequate fleet maintenance.
The airline is owned by Alexander Lebedev who is affiliated with the Novaya Gazeta; his son owns Britain’s The Independent and Evening Standard.
Lebedev said the suspension is unfounded, that his airline was unfairly targeted, a political move, and a campaign against Tu-204 planes.
On January 31, Rosaviatsia officials questioned if Tupolev Tu-204 airliners should have been grounded after Tu-204 reverser failure at Moscow Vnukovo International Airport resulted in an accident that killed 5 Red Wings crew and injured 3.
On December 29, 2013, a Red Wings Tu-204 crashed on landing after overrunning runway 19 when engine thrust reverser shells to fail to deploy at Moscow Vnukovo International Airport. 8 crew aboard, 5 fatalities, 3 injuries.
On December 20, 2012, a Red Wings Tupolev Tu-204-100V skidded off the runway during landing at Tolmachevo Airport . No fatalities.
On May 24, 2009, a Red Wings Tupolev Tu-204 developed fuel system problems and diverted to Krasnodar. No fatalities.
On August 2, 2008, a Red Wings Tupolev Tu-204 made an emergency landing in Minsk after an engine failure. No fatalities.
On Jan 25, 2013, a Ural Airlines Airbus A321-211 with 220 aboard was en route from Sharm el-Sheikh to Kazan Russia.
On approach to Kazan in poor visibility at 3:40 am local time, the first landing approach was aborted, and the rear fuselage of the plane struck an antenna. There is also a mention of an on board system failure.
Pilots made a safe landing on the next approach in spite of damage the rear fuselage contact area and brake line. We have heard of no reported injuries.
The investigation is underway.
The official report is below. Please pardon the translation.
Information on the incident at the international airport “Kazan”
As reported in “Ural Airlines”, January 25, 2013 in “Ural Airlines” incident occurred. Performing flight U6-3045, Sharm el-Sheikh on the Kazan aircraft A321, during the approach to landing in bad weather in the automatic mode (the height of the clouds 30 meters visibility – 800 meters) at the exit from the clouds of the crew determined neposadochnoe position of the aircraft. The pilots decided to execute a missed approach. When a missed approach was touching the fuselage antenna localizer radio beacon. Re-entry is made without comment, the crew and passengers were not injured.
To investigate the causes of the incident, a commission. For the flight U6-3046 Kazan-Sharm El-Sheikh directed backup aircraft.
According to the press service of the airport “Kazan”, in connection with an event, delayed departure flight U6-3046 airline “Ural Airlines” Kazan-Sharm El-Sheikh. Passengers (203) have been registered and are in the sterile area of ??departure. They provided food and refreshments. Reserve board arrived in Yekaterinburg at 09:24 Moscow time. After preparing the aircraft for flight, aircraft will fly to destination, estimated it will happen at 10:15 MSK 25.01.2013.
Airport “Kazan” is working normally.
On Sat Jan 12, 2013, Polet Airlines Saab 340 engaged in flight 770 was en route from Belgorod to Moscow when the left engine developed engine failure. The pilots made a safe landing in Voronezh at 21:04.
17 passengers and 3 crew were aboard. There were no injuries reported.
Passengers were provided an alternative flight to Moscow on Sunday.
The incident is under investigation.
On January 12, 2013, an S7 Airlines Airbus A319 en route from Moscow to Rostov-on-Don made a fast landing at Rostov-on-Don Airport, sliding 40 meters past the end of the runway. Reports are of poor traction on wet concrete.
The fifty passengers aboard the flight disembarked safely. No injuries were reported although the plane suffered some damage.
Weather conditions may be to blame for the accident.
THe runway was shut down after the accident, resulting in a number of flights having to divert to other airports.
On January 9, 2013 at t 01 h 10 min, a Mordovia Airlines Antonov 24rv#RA 46640 landing at Saransk Airport, Mordovia Russia skidded off the runway.
The flight was from Krasnodar to Kazan, with a fuel stopover in Saransk airport.
The plane was carrying a flight crew and the “Ariada – Akpars” hockey team. Five crew and twenty-nine passengers were aboard. There were no injuries reported. Passengers were provided an alternative flight for the remainder of their trip.
The Red Wings Tupolev jet that crashed on December 29 had three survivors, two men and a woman.
Their conditions are improving.
The five fatalities included the captain, first officer, flight engineer, and two flight attendants. One of the now-deceased flight attendants had survived a while with traumatic brain injury, but succumbed.
Russian investigators have started analysing the flight recorders.
Nose sections of the aircraft have been removed to a hangar used by the VARZ-400 maintenance company
Reports are that the runway was inspected an hour and a half before the flight landed and overrun it. Speculation is that there may have been a braking (thrust reverser) issue.
On Dec 31st 2012 Rosaviatsia released a modification to the aircraft operations manual requiring flight crew to apply reverse thrust only if the engine is operating
Application of reverse thrust is prohibited on a malfunctioning engine.
To apply reverse thrust the engine should be pulled to idle for 1-2 seconds, then command reverse thrust at minimum thrust, verify yellow “thrust reverser unlocked” followed by green “REV” indications appear, only then apply high reverse thrust. Rosaviatsia reported there have been a number of cases where the green “REV” indication did not appear (editorial note: there have been rumours since the Dec 20th overrun, that the crew had applied reverse thrust, the reverser however had not opened and at least one of the engine was delivering full forward thrust instead).
On December 29, 2012, at 16:33, a Red Wings Tupelev 204-100V was on a ferry flight from Pardubice Airport Czech Republic to Moscow-Vnukova Airport, Russia when it crashed-landed in snow, overrunnning the runway. Weather conditions showed heavy gusts accompanying a light snowfall. The Federal Air Transport Agency said that the plane touched down in the proper landing area but for some reason was unable to stop on the runway.
Initially traffic controllers refused to authorise landing, and the plane had to circle the airport. Fire trucks were not on standby; they were undergoing maintenance and were nearly an hour late.
The captain, copilot, flight engineer and one flight attendant were killed. Two died on the scene, one died en route in the ambulance, and one died at the hospital. Four crew survived with serious injuries. Pieces of the plane caught fire.
The plane overran the runway and struck the M3 highway embankment, breaking into three parts. The fuselage landed on the highway 320 meters from the end of the runway. A BBC report said the aircraft was in several pieces, with the cockpit on the highway. Kiev Highway and Vnukovo Airport were both shut down temporarily.
On December 27, 2012, an Aeroflot Airbus en route from Sheremetyevo to Copenhagen suffered an engine failure.
Pilots returned to Sheremetyevo and made a safe landing after ten minutes in the air.
Passengers were provided an alternative flight.
On December 26, 2012, an Atran-Aviatrans Antonov 12BP en route from Chelyabinsk to Vorkuta with eight crew aboard made an emergency landing in Chelyabinsk after an engine failed.
Pilots landed safely 15 minutes after take-off due to a malfunction of the fourth engine.
The plane is undergoing inspection. No injuries were reported and no damage to the plane during landing.
The National Commission on Safety Transportation announced that the Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 that crashed into a mountain in Indonesia seven months did so as a result of pilot error. All 45 Aboard were fatalities.
Indonesian authorities claimed that the plane functioned adequately and there were no malfunctions of safety gear.
The fact that the pilot digressed from the route, and that the (foreign) pilots were not well aware of the mountainous terrain may be behind part of the decision. As a demonstration flight, the pilots were probably encouraged to make dramatic maneuvers at a terrible price.
Thirty-eight seconds prior to the impact, cockpit instruments issued a warning saying “pull up, terrain ahead”. Later the warning “avoid terrain” was issued six times, but the instruments were turned off because the crew assumed there was a problem with the database.
Officials said that “The crew was not aware of the mountainous area surrounding the flight path,”
The Jakarta radar service was incapable of informing flight crews of minimum safe altitudes.
The Russian pilots, while experts, were not intimate with the Indonesian topography.
Six minutes after takeoff, the pilot and co-pilot requested Jakarta ATC for permission to drop from 3,000 meters to 1,800 meters on the scheduled half-hour flight. Six minutes later, the plane struck Mount Salak.
READ MORE:
Sukhoi SuperJet-100 Demo Disaster Final Report In October
Russian Pilots Bail out of Sukhoi Jet
The Investigation of Sukhoi Superjet’s Crash holds Answers to Many Questions
Black Boxes Located and in Indonesian Custody
Sukhoi-Superjet Goes Missing on Demo Flight over Indonesian Mountains
What: Transaero Airlines Boeing 777-312 Moscow – Khabarovsk
Where: Yemelyanovo International Airport
When: Dec 13, 2012
Who: 1 fatality
Why: While en route, a five year old child, Jaroslav Zaripov who was suffering from cancer, became ill. The pilot dumped fuel in order to land.
The pilot diverted to Krasnoyarsk but the child died as the plane was landing. He has a twin who is cancer free, and who had not yet been told his brother died.
The West Siberian Transport Investigative Committee is investigating.
What: Nordwind Airlines Boeing 767 en route from Krasnoyarsk to Phuket
Where: Krasnoyarsk Airport
When: Dec 9 2012
Who: 279 passengers
Why: While en route, the Boeing flight from Krasnoyarsk to Phuket developed flaps problem. After an alarm indicated the problem, the pilot returned to Krasnoyarsk and made a safe landing at 15:35. The plane was examined, and passengers were “sent to the Phucket reserve board.” (We take this to mean they were pointed to alternative flights to their destination.)
There were no reported injuries. The incident is under investigation by the Yenisei transport office.
What: NordStar Airlines ATR 42–500
Where: Tolmachevo Airport Russia
When: Dec 5, 2012
Who: 31 aboard 4 crew, 27 passengers
Why: The press service of the West Siberian Transport Prosecutor’s Office reported a hard landing of the NordStar Airlines ATR 42–500.
The plane had taken off normally but the gears would not retract. THe pilot informed ATC and returned to the airport where pilots made a safe landing (though reported as a “crash” landing.) No one was injured.
The West Siberian Transport Prosecutor’s Office will be investigating.
What: Yakovlev Yak-42
Where: Surgut Airport, Russia
When: Dec 5, 2012
Who: 120 aboard, 113 passengers
Why: Taxi for take-off was aborted when the Yak 42’s cabin filled with smoke.
The captain reported the smoke to ATC, and passengers evacuated safely. No cause for the smoke has been determined.
What: Yakutia Boeing 737-86-N en route from Rimini Italy to Rostov Russia
Where: Rostov Airport
When: Dec 1, 2012
Who: 120 aboard
Why: The Yakutia flight was landing at Rostov Airport and skid off the runway when the pilot applied brakes.
Passengers disembarked safely with no injuries.
It took half an hour to tow the plane the ten yards back to the runway with a 20 ton truck.
No injuries were reported. Passengers exited the plane via “ladder.” (Possibly a mistranslation!) The plane stopped on soft ground off the runway while it was raining.
What: Yak-42 en route to Novosibirsk
Where: Tolmachevo Airport
When: Nov 30, 2012
Who: 38 aboard, no injuries
Why: Vladimir Puchkov’s transportation failed when a Yak-42 lost one of three engines while en route to Novosibirsk. THe engine began to vibrate and was shut down, which is standard procedure.
Pilots made a safe landing at Tolmachevo Airport in Novosibirsk.
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.
Ice is the friend of no plane.
But there was no excuse for the icing problem on the UTAir flight that we are calling the Tyumen crash.
On that flight, both Pratt & Whitney Canada PW124 engines were operating till impact. The plane reached 690 feet and banked 35 degrees to the right, then rolled left banking at 50 degrees, demonstrating instability in the roll axis. Why? Ice.
The ATR 72 had a decent safety record until the 1993 icing incident that caused a fatal crash. This problem was handled by Avions de Transport Regional, the planes designers, by adapting the icing characteristics of the aircraft. They added icing boot extensions to the wing leading edges. (A deicing boot is a ice protection system installed on aircraft surfaces to permit a mechanical deicing in flight.)
The UTAIr 72 was not de-iced at Tyumen before the fatal flight. There’s not much benefit to adding a safety feature if it is ignored.
The ATR 72-210 is equipped with PW 127 engines with a maximum certified takeoff rating of 2750 SHP, and a normal power rating of 2475 SHP. The ATR 72 employs a four bladed propeller. The engine has a reduction gearbox assembly . Because the ATR 72-210 is “stretched” ( much longer than the 42s) ATR 42 pilots are warned about taking off an ATR 72 with too excessive a takeoff pitch angle, which would cause the tail would strike the runway. The ATR 72 has a maximum takeoff weight of 47,465 lbs., and carries 11,020 lbs. of fuel. The engine noise and vibration from the props can get uncomfortable.
Most pilots would not need to be reminded that de-icing is essential when the conditions for ice are likely.
The NTSB has investigated fifty icing accidents and 202 fatalities from 1998 to 2007. We might be able to conjecture that at least some of these incidents would not have happened if the planes had been properly de-iced to begin with, though for some this is too simplistic an assumption.
There were fatal consequences to ATRs which ignored de-icing as demonstrated by the UTair ATR 72 that crashed after taking off from Tyumen in Siberia, killing 31 and mangling 12.
After the disaster, UTAir said that all UTAir planes would henceforth have mandatory de-icing, a change from allowing the pilot to decide whether or not to deice.
Icing has also been determined as the as cause of two earlier fatal ATR 72 crashes:
Icing can take place in a temperature band from minus 12 to plus 4 Celsius.
We have seen a dozen ATR 72 accidents caused by other events:
What: Airbus A340 en route from Paris to New Caledonia
Where: Khabarovsk Russia
When: 1:10 pm
Who: 242 passengers, 14 crew
Why: The pilots were well underway when they received an indication that one of its four engines was on fire.
The pilots diverted to Khabarovsk. The airport responded with a 54 person emergency response team.
The flight made a safe landing, with no injuries. Passengers evacuated without incident.
What: Sasovskoye Civil Aviation Flying School Yakovlev YAK-18T
Where: Petelino, Russia
When: Nov 7, 2012
Who: 2 aboard, 2 fatalities
Why: On November 7, 2012 at 2:36 pm, on the Petelino landing pad the Yak-18 RA-44302 Sasovskoye (Sasovo) flight school MTU CR FATA plane was in an accident.
The crew performed accounting and training flights. On board were the pilot/instructor and a third year student. According to preliminary information, the plane suffered an in-flight engine failure. When performing a forced landing the aircraft impacted with the ground. All aboard were killed. The accident is under investigation.
