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Russian Rusline/RusAir Tupolev Crash Kills 44, 8 Gravely Injured Survive


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Alexey Litvinov

What: Rusline/Rusair Tupolev TU-134A en route from Moscow to Petrozavodsk
Where: outskirts of the Besovets village, Petrozavodsk, Russia
When: Jun 20 2011 at 11:40 pm
Who: 43 passengers and 9 crew
Why: On approach to the airport, the plane struck the ground about 2600 feet shy of runway 2. On impact, the plane burst into flame, and skidded into the gardens of a residential area, although missing residences.

Eight passengers were retrieved alive from the wreckage, in conditions ranging from severe (6) medium severe (1), critical grave (1). 44 were killed. The injured were ported to Moscow via IL-76 with a full medical team aboard (15 doctors, 5 psychologists.) One crew member survived, Julia Skvortsova, an attendant, is struggling for survival.

The fire was under control by 1 a m on June 21. The investigation has just begun, and is cautioning the local papers not to jump the gun assuming runway lighting failure.

Metars: ULPB 201949Z 10002MPS 2100 RA BR OVC004 15 Q0993 TEMPO 1500 RMK QBB120 QFE741/0988 SC0, 6
ULPB 201900Z 15001MPS 3000 BR OVC005 15/14 Q0994 NOSIG RMK QBB170 QFE741/0989 SC0.6

The RusAir site expresses condolences to all who lost loved ones in the tragedy. The local family hotline numbers are:

8 (495) 626 37 07 ?oskva
8 (814) 256 16 34 ?etrozavodsk

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