The media again returned to the death of the Tu-154 near Sochi, the military aircraft in which the Alexandrov ensemble died - as they say, a cultural symbol of the Russian army, and Elizaveta Glinka- Doctor Lisa, Mother Teresa of our Northern spaces. And several more teams of journalists died, for a total of 92 people.
The Tu-154 flew from Moscow, from the Chkalovsky military airfield to Syria, to Damascus on the eve of the New Year to raise the morale of the Russian Aerospace Forces personnel at the Khmeimim airbase.
The flight was like a flight, the crew was under the command of the pilot Volkova I have flown this route more than once. At the Chkalovsky military airfield, near Moscow, it is known - this is a military airfield, a mouse, it would seem, would not slip through, everyone boarded. The plane was heading to Damascus over the Caspian Sea, then had to refuel in Mozdok, fly over Iran, Iraq and through all of Syria to Damascus.
But this time Mozdok was closed and the plane flew for refueling to Adler above the Caucasus, from the Caspian to the Black Sea. For an airplane it’s like for a car to go to refuel at the nearest gas station, well, let’s refuel at another, by the standards of air transport it’s just a stone’s throw away.
In Adler, the plane refueled, and allegedly no one got off or boarded the plane in Adler. They took off and disappeared from radar within a couple of minutes. And then they found the wreckage of the Tu-154 in the Black Sea.
The newspapers wrote about all this in detail immediately after December 25th. And they seem to have started to forget about Tu. And suddenly just before the murder in Kyiv Voronenkova, and before the massive riots in Moscow, suddenly again, look, a new piece of supposed information about the death of the Tu-154.
More precisely, it's not new information, but an interpretation of some of the information we already had.
Apparently, somewhere in the high spheres of those managing our mental health, they decided that the version of the pilot’s error, which they carefully pushed to us all these months, looks unconvincing and so they add interpretations.
I remember the main complaints about the pilots.
They (in essence, we are talking about one, the main pilot - the commander of the board Volkov) are accused of things hitherto unheard of in investigations of aircraft deaths, namely:
- loss of orientation in space;
- in an illusory perception of reality;
— the flight was at night and therefore difficult.
They say that the commander of the ship Volkov (now they began to say that the 4 thousand hours he had flown was not enough to call him an experienced pilot, but earlier they said that Volkov was experienced), mistook the stars reflected in the sea for stars in the sky and behaved accordingly, began to descend, instead of taking off.
Fellow pilots were indignant against such defamation of their deceased comrade. Still some significant part of them.
They reported that night flights are commonplace and half of the flights are night flights, nothing extraordinary.
That in a night flight the ship’s commander “looks only at the instruments,” because what kind of stars are there! That the Tu-154 has a large flight team, that several crew members continuously report to the commander the altitude and everything that is needed.
True, among fellow pilots there were those who actually blamed the pilot for the death of Tu, one “comrade” said so, I have already quoted him, that 4 thousand flights flown are not enough, he romantically said that “only after 10 thousand flown flights does the pilot begin to feel bird."
Returning to the formulations given in the media, in particular, to these “loss of orientation in space” and to “illusory perception of reality,” I said to myself: excuse me, but these are symptoms of what happens to a pilot during an electronic attack.
The version of an electronic attack was at one time dismissed by the investigation.
But she was. And supporters of this version referred to interesting data.
On the eve of the tragedy, it turns out, in Black Sea The French reconnaissance ship Dupuy de Lome entered, which can disable all the aircraft’s electronics with a radio pulse.
The authors of the version claimed that an electronic attack on the Tu-154 could have been launched from this ship. Russia also has means of electronic jamming, supporters of the version argued, saying that it was nothing fantastic, and the plane was military, so those who carried out the attack might not feel like bloodsuckers and murderers.
The status of the flight was the highest that exists (a military ensemble, even a conductor, a lieutenant general, a flight to Syria and similar international political importance).
The nature of the debris and the nature of the injuries inflicted on the bodies (the divers claimed that they were finely chopped into a pulp), as well as the scattering of the debris to long distance indicate an explosion on board. If the plane had broken up on the water, the debris would have been large. And the bodies would not have been chopped into small pieces.
And finally, even the fact that the next morning all civilian ships were prohibited from going to sea in that area, and another fact: the National Guard was posted at the coastal edge, speak for the fact that they are hiding the true cause of Tu’s death from us.
And now comes the second piece of misinformation. Apparently, those at the top decided that you and I might still have doubts about the veracity of the accusations against the pilots.
That’s why they’re putting additional pressure on them. A well-known technique in the criminal world is that murders are always blamed on dead comrades.
Now about the airfield in Chkalovsky.
Pilot Krasnoperov: “I flew from Chkalovsky to the east. And there was no inspection, the security was much worse than in civil airports».
Writer Limonov: “And I flew from Chkalovsky... There was no inspection, no passports were looked at, no luggage was checked. Okay, I a famous person, but there were three guards with me, and they didn’t ask for their passports or inspect their luggage.”
At 5.27 Moscow time after takeoff from the Sochi airfield, located in the city district of Adler. The plane was performing a scheduled flight on the route Moscow - Khmeimim (Latakia, Syrian Arab Republic).
Artists of the Academic Twice Red Banner Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army named after A.V. Alexandrova in front of Russian soldiers and officers. Among the dead were the artistic director of the group, People's Artist of Russia, Lieutenant General Valery Khalilov, deputy head of the ensemble Andrei Sonnikov, chief choirmaster Konstantin Mayorov, and five soloists. In total, the ensemble lost almost half of its creative staff.
The plane, flying from the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow to the Syrian Khmeimim airfield, was supposed to refuel in Mozdok. However, due to bad weather, the Tu-154 was sent to Sochi. Upon arrival at Adler airport, the plane was taken under guard by employees Border Service FSB of Russia and military personnel of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
An employee of the coast guard of the FSB border troops, who witnessed the crash of the Tu-154, said that before the disaster he had “an unnaturally raised nose.” The border guard was on a boat in the Black Sea. According to him, the plane, instead of gaining altitude, began to quickly descend towards the surface of the sea, as if about to land, and the next moment it touched the surface of the water with its tail, which fell off upon impact.
The maximum altitude to which the plane rose was about 250 meters, and the speed was within 360-370 kilometers per hour.
To eliminate the consequences of the aviation accident, the work of operational headquarters and operational groups Southern Regional Center and the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia for the Krasnodar Territory. In cooperation with the relevant structures of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Rosaviation, Rosmorrechflot, Border Directorate of the FSB of Russia, Ministry of Health of Russia, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Investigative Committee of Russia and government authorities Krasnodar region search and rescue operations were organized. They were carried out by forces totaling about 3.6 thousand people, more than 500 pieces of equipment, 45 watercraft, 15 aircraft, 16 helicopters and 20 unmanned aerial vehicles were used. aircraft. Search work was carried out using modern underwater robotic systems. Psychological support and medical assistance were provided to the families of the victims.
December 26, 2016 was declared a day of mourning in Russian Federation in connection with the plane crash of the Tu-154 plane near Sochi.
In the area of the search operation at a distance of 1700 meters from coastline along the take-off axis of the aircraft by divers at the bottom of the Black Sea. By acoustic means in this place the radius of their dispersion was determined, which was about 500 meters.
The main phase of the search and rescue operation at the crash site. Rescuers brought to the surface all the main fragments of the crashed plane.
Fully search work in the Black Sea at the site of the Tu-154 crash.
More than half of the victims of the Tu-154 plane crash over the Black Sea in the Moscow region. After the funeral was completed, a memorial stone was placed at the burial sites of the victims.
On the fact of the Tu-154 crash, the military investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Sochi garrison on the grounds of a crime under Article 351 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of flight rules resulting in grave consequences). Head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin. On his instructions, a criminal case was opened for further investigation.
Issues related to establishing the causes of the disaster. In addition to the military, it includes representatives of the Ministry of Transport, the Interstate Aviation Committee, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Tupolev aviation concern.
Specialists and the laboratory and research base of the scientific and technical center of the Interstate Aviation Committee are also involved in the investigation of the disaster.
At the beginning of the investigation into the accident, the commission accepted more than 15 versions of the incident. The FSB called the main versions: foreign objects getting into the engine, low-quality fuel, pilot error and technical malfunction. Signs and facts indicating the possibility of committing a terrorist act or sabotage on board an aircraft. Flight recorders raised from the water made it possible to reduce the number of versions of what happened by half.
Based on the results of the investigation, it was established that the cause of the incident could have been a violation of the spatial orientation (situational awareness) of the aircraft commander, which led to his erroneous actions with the aircraft controls.
A genetic examination of the bodies of those killed in the Tu-154 plane crash near Sochi will be carried out by forensic experts from the Russian Ministry of Defense. This was reported by official representative Russian Ministry of Defense Major General Igor Konashenkov.
“A decision was made to deliver all those killed in the Tu-154 plane crash of the Russian Ministry of Defense to Moscow for identification and genetic examination by specialists of the 111th Main State Center for Forensic and Criminalistic Expertise of the Russian Ministry of Defense,” Konashenkov said at a briefing.
On the morning of December 25, information appeared that a Tu-154 Russian Ministry of Defense aircraft flying from Sochi to the Khmeimim airbase disappeared from radar.
Something extreme happened in Tu-154 before the crash, expert
The fall of the Tu-154 into the Black Sea immediately after takeoff from Adler airport could have been preceded by extreme situation situation on board, which did not allow the crew to transmit a distress signal to the ground, believes the former shift manager of the main center of the unified system of the organization air traffic Russia Vitaly Andreev.
“After take-off and a short flight - two minutes - the plane lost contact and did not transmit a signal to the ground about any problems, this may indicate that there was a problem on board emergency situation— either an external influence on the car, or an encounter with an obstacle that was unlikely to be there,” says Andreev, who has worked in aviation for 47 years.
He adds that “The Tu-154 is a very reliable car, and miracles don’t happen, they don’t just fall.”
“In my practice, there have been cases when Tu-154s landed when all three engines failed, or, for example, the famous landing in the taiga on an abandoned runway,” the expert adds.
“Those versions of problems on board that are now being voiced - unbalance of the rudders, deviation from the established flight path - absolutely could not prevent the crew from transmitting a signal about this to the ground,” Andreev added.
“This means that something extreme happened, from practice - such situations are possible when a ship is hijacked,” he added.
The expert clarified that the data from the self-written intercom (SPU) “will be able to explain with an accuracy of 99.99% what was happening in the cockpit at the time of the disaster.”
A Tu-154 aircraft of the Russian Ministry of Defense, which was heading to Syria, crashed in the Black Sea on Sunday morning.
According to the military department, there were 92 people on board - eight crew members and 84 passengers, including eight military personnel, 64 artists from the Alexandrov ensemble, nine representatives of Russian television channels, the head of charitable foundation"Fair Aid" Elizaveta Glinka, known as Doctor Lisa, two federal government employees.
The possibility of a terrorist attack on the Tu-154 plane has been practically ruled out - source
The large spread of debris from the Tu-154 that crashed near Sochi is explained by water hammer, a source in the emergency services told Interfax.
“Apparently, when the aircraft collided with the water surface, a water hammer occurred, which resulted in a large scattering of debris,” the source said.
In turn, the source in security forces reported to Interfax that a terrorist attack is not considered among the main versions of the disaster and such a version is practically excluded.
“The plane took off from the Chkalovsky airfield, which is a well-guarded military facility. It is not possible to penetrate there in order to plant an explosive device on board. In turn, the airport in Sochi is a dual-use airport and is heavily guarded. The entry of unauthorized persons or the carrying of unauthorized items by any employee is excluded,” the source said.
Konashenkov: 27 ships and vessels, 37 divers, 4 helicopters, UAVs and remote-controlled deep-sea vehicles are involved in the search for the plane
Briefing by the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov on the situation with the crash of the TU-154 plane in the Sochi area as of 15:00:
“According to updated data, 10 bodies of the dead have now been lifted aboard the rescue vessel.
The search and rescue force continues to build up in the area where the Ministry of Defense Tu-154 plane crashed.
A search area with an area of 10.5 km2 has been formed.
The area is divided into sectors and distributed among the forces involved. The search is organized around the clock. Floodlights and special equipment were sent to illuminate the coastline in the dark.
The search involves 27 ships and vessels, 37 divers, 4 helicopters, UAVs and remote-controlled deep-sea vehicles.
In the near future, more than 100 deep-sea divers with special equipment will be delivered to the area of the plane crash from other fleets.
In total, more than 3 thousand people take part in search and rescue activities.
At the Adler airfield, teams providing medical and psychological assistance are on duty, and vehicles have been allocated to transport relatives to places of temporary accommodation at the city’s sanatorium and resort institutions.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Tu-154 crash would be thoroughly investigated.
“A thorough investigation into the causes of the disaster will be carried out and everything will be done to provide support to the families of the victims,” he said during an emergency press conference.
About the likelihood of a terrorist attack
On the topic of the likelihood of a terrorist attack.
Air Force Major, pilot instructor Sergei Krasnoperov:
— What could have caused the disaster of this liner, in your opinion?
- Only the “black box” that will be lifted from this liner will tell about this. But, as you say, the versions - pilot error and equipment failure - are the real reasons, as always happens in such cases. But it is too suspicious that the plane, after taking off while climbing, literally a few tens of minutes, disappears from the radar screens.
- Now they have clarified that this happened in the seventh minute, while gaining altitude or during a turn, apparently over the Black Sea.
“This means that the engines were working properly, the fuel was normal. If this happened on takeoff, fuel could be the cause. The situation may be similar to the tragedy in Sharm el-Sheikh; there, too, very little time passed after takeoff.
— Do you mean the version of the terrorist attack?
- Certainly. What is very strange is that a plane crashes on takeoff very rarely, especially of this class. The Tu-154 has three engines and is very reliable. I myself flew on them as a passenger very often.
— Why don’t you look into the plane’s malfunction? After all, the Tu-154 is far from a new aircraft.
- Yes, but they are very reliable. I can look at the design of the aircraft from the point of view of the pilot, and believe me, what is connected with the control of the aircraft, there is such a reliable control system, not like electronics now, but there are cable backup systems, including aircraft control systems, that is, if one system fails , another one enters. Considering the experience of the pilots who now fly these planes, this situation is still very strange to me, that it was only the seventh minute after takeoff. I understand that the plane took off from our airfield, and it was monitored by an electronic surveillance system, so it could not have been that someone was flying up to it, it could have crashed into something.
“Initially it was reported that the signal from the radar screens simply disappeared, but the plane did not send any distress signals.
“This suggests that the plane, as in Sharm el-Sheikh, instantly lost speed and simply fell into a spin position, that is, uncontrollable. In this case, the pilot simply, with such an overload, which happens in this case, not only could not report to the dispatcher, but was also unable to turn on the distress signal. Just imagine, the liner just begins to rotate violently. Therefore, I think the plane was destroyed, as it happened in Sharm el-Sheikh, where its speed was first 780 km/h and then suddenly became 170 km/h, and a loss of altitude of 1000 m. Now we need to look at the radars, exactly how the speed dropped. That is, the plane could glide and land on the water. Recently there was an incident with a Tu-154, when 37 people were saved. The pilots were then able to land the plane on an unfamiliar field with strong wind, in a severe snowstorm, and they saved almost all the people.
In this situation, there were simple weather conditions; if something had happened to the plane, to the engine, it would have simply turned around and started gliding towards the airfield and landed in the coastal zone. Even if the plane would have collapsed, the pilots, the crew, and the passengers would have been alive, you know? And then there is a sharp drop, this happens when something abnormal happens, something explodes, something falls off. As a rule, the tail of these planes can only fall off. And in all other cases, the pilot could easily transmit information and turn on the distress signal, but this did not happen. This means that something was abnormal and abrupt in the seventh minute of the flight. So, I can’t blame the crew, and the equipment doesn’t break down so suddenly.
— The scattering of fragments at such a speed, and its speed in the build-up is about 600-700 km/h, already there it goes over, at such a distance it may well be. But if the plane had fallen intact, then there would not have been such scattering of fragments, believe me. The plane fell apart, simply fell apart, which means it exploded, which means that somewhere someone was given a suitcase, considering that it was a flight to Syria, and musicians from the ensemble were flying, they could have brought something with these musical instruments, someone... I could have planted it. Believe me, such scattering of fragments only happens when an airplane is destroyed in the air. It just explodes, that's all. And when the liner just falls, it creates an oil stain, and then parts float up. A plane, if it falls, dives into the water, simply disappears, and is found after some time. And then they even found a person who was already in the coastal zone, damaged by debris. This suggests that the debris fell to the ground in a disorderly manner, which means it exploded in the air.
President of the Alpha Veterans Association Sergei Goncharov.
“With a high degree of probability, I can say that this is not a terrorist attack, for several reasons,” says Sergei Goncharov, president of the association of veterans of the Alpha anti-terror unit. - First. This is an aircraft that is serviced by the Ministry of Defense, and, believe me, the discipline in the Ministry of Defense is still quite serious, and the people who service these flights, they are proven people, naturally have all forms of clearance in order to do this work.
Second. There were people flying on this plane, our comrades, who practically all knew each other, and, as I understand it, no one put strangers on this plane. And the luggage that was there, naturally, was checked by precisely those people who were flying on this plane.
Third. The plane, as I understand it, was not in the air for so long, the sea waters provide opportunities, if it had been an explosion or some kind of flash, then, probably, there would have been eyewitnesses who could have seen it or, at least, could have recorded it . And one last thing. The wreckage of the plane has already been discovered, which means that they did not fly as far apart from each other as happens in some...
- One and a half kilometers for the sea, this distance, as you understand, is absolutely small. All this gives me reason to say that we must lean, as I understand it, towards the versions of either a pilot error, or the refueling that took place that did not meet some criteria. In any case, we must express our condolences to all those who died. Unfortunately, this tragedy has darkened our pre-holiday days. But in any case, I believe that now the Ministry of Defense will carefully look into it and dot the i's. The only thing that confuses me is why the crew could not give any information to the dispatchers. This is a fact that I cannot answer yet, I think the investigation will answer.
Sergei Alekseevich, there were probably similar events in tragic world practice. And why did the crew, if we try to understand now using parallel analogies, couldn’t do the very first thing that every pilot probably does if he understands that the situation is beyond the normal standard - send a distress signal? Using examples of other situations, can you explain how events could have developed, why this could have happened?
- If we are talking about a terrorist act, then when there is an explosion on board the plane or in the luggage compartment, the communication system immediately disappears, and purely technically, the ship’s commander cannot give the dispatcher any information. Apparently, if some kind of technical short circuit occurred here, some technical problem that did not allow the crew to contact the dispatchers (I repeat once again, this is a problem that will be dealt with after the debris is raised)... If only this there was a terrorist attack, at the moment, in any case, there would be indirect evidence of what happened on the plane, in particular, a flash, an explosion, or at least we would have some new, albeit subjective or indirect, hints about that that the plane was blown up or crashed in the air due to an explosion.
From official sources:
“Preliminarily, during the climb, the crew encountered a critical technical malfunction, which led to a disaster,” said an Interfax source in the emergency services.
As a Pravda.ru source at the operational headquarters stated, “so far, according to preliminary data, the situation is as follows. The pilot and crew, and in the case of the Tu-154 it is larger, were professional, they had no flight accidents - everyone is almost sure that this was not a human factor. A professional captain and navigator participated in the landing of the tumbling Tu-154.
This is also not a terrorist attack, with a probability close to one - the plane is maintained and controlled in a special zone, control at Sochi airport has been tight since the time of the Olympics. The weather conditions, let's say, are not the best, yesterday Simferopol was closed due to weather and Sochi was a backup, but they were still flightable. Unless, of course, the liner got caught in a sudden tornado that formed by chance. Or into a flock of birds that “shut up” all the engines simultaneously on takeoff, at the moment of full thrust - there is an ornithopark nearby. Most likely a technical malfunction, and so instantaneous and critical, such as switching the stabilizer to a dive in Rostov, that the crew did not have time to fix it work out, nor report. Because even the failure of two engines on the Tu-154 does not kill; the crew would have landed the plane on the water one way or another.
And it’s stupid when they talk about an old plane, about “it’s already banned.” It was not banned, but withdrawn from use by commercial airlines, because it consumes a lot of fuel, exceeds noise standards, and indeed its interior environment cannot be compared with a Boeing or Airbus. An airplane does not have "old age", it has airworthiness - it is either fit to fly or not. In the USA there are "Douglas" aircraft from the 1950s and 1960s. I will say more, “black boxes” - parametric recorders have already been located, they will be lifted by specialists with bathyscaphes. All debris and bodies, naturally, will also be raised - 70 meters is now an accessible depth.” What happened is undoubtedly a tragedy. The reasons will be sorted out, since the investigation is taken under the tightest control in reality. high level. Additional information They will also provide decryptions of the black boxes. Now they have already begun to raise the bodies of the dead. According to TASS, by midday, four bodies had been discovered and recovered.
An operational headquarters for receiving relatives has been created and is operating in Sochi dead passengers airplane. Psychological and psychiatric care teams are on duty at Sochi airport. The city mayor held an emergency meeting of the emergency situations commission. "Kommersant correspondent in Krasnodar region reports that local residents did not see the flash or hear the explosion at the time of the disaster,” the press notes.
Politonline.ru’s sources in the Russian FSB also explained why everyone who approached the liner, serviced it and was involved in technical training was being checked. “The version of the terrorist attack is not a priority, but it must also be worked out. Yes, the FSB checks everyone who was in contact with the deceased aircraft, records are reviewed, interviews are conducted - to exclude the version, and not because it is being “secretly investigated.”
Test pilot, Hero of the Russian Federation, Anatoly Knyshov:
- The Tu-154 is a completely reliable aircraft, which is operated not only by the Ministry of Defense, but also in civil aviation. It has proven itself to be reliable and comfortable. The fact that there were military specialists on board suggests that the plane was in full readiness. Because before every flight there is a check - this type aircraft, it has a certain approval, airworthiness certification.
What happened... Anything can happen in aviation, but after takeoff, when the engines are running at takeoff mode and the crew does not have any information about any malfunctions of individual systems or engines, otherwise, if such information were available, the pilot, according to instructions, would turn around and land at the departure airfield. In this situation, we can say that, apparently, there was something on board. Because planes don’t just crash or land in an emergency. But why the crew did not provide information about what happened to them is also a question.
- What are the options for complete failure of the systems on board?
- One of the options is the failure of three engines. But in any case, the crew informs the dispatch service, informs the Ministry of Defense about one reason or another. In this situation, in my opinion, a sudden loss of communication, a sudden depressurization of the aircraft led to the fact that the crew was unable and did not have time to report the reason that happened on board.
Anatoly Nikolaevich, now that they are saying that the plane was refueling in Sochi, could poor quality fuel have caused the emergency? Or is this now more of an exception to the rule?
- When refueling occurs at any airport, both in the Russian Federation and abroad, the crew and crew that services (and I think there is a technical team on board that services this type of aircraft), they always check the fuel type according to the passport , its characteristics and so-called fuel samples are taken even before refueling. Therefore, I cannot yet say that this is the cause of low-quality fuel, only a commission can determine it; they will definitely take samples at the site of the plane crash (residues of fuel will be found somewhere in any case). They will be able to find out the quality of the fuel, the condition of the systems, and the readiness of the crew. Because in any case, if there was low-quality fuel, it would have been impossible for three engines to fail at the same time, which could have led to such a catastrophe. The cause is explosive. There is a sound alarm and light alarm that warns the crew about a particular malfunction. This warning didn't work. Because the warning works for the crew, it provides information so that the crew competently and correctly implements the recommendations that they have already worked on on the ground. It’s sad that this is happening to our colleagues, namely from the Ministry of Defense, precisely to those who were heading there, to a hot spot, where they could support our military personnel before the New Year. This is a tragedy that we will all experience.
The search is now underway. In particular, there was information that the search for the aircraft in the Black Sea was being carried out by 7 sea vessels, a Mi-8 helicopter from Sochi airport joined the search. But there was information that the possible point where the plane crashed was in the mountains. Can you explain why there is such contradictory information coming out now?
- Any aircraft that takes off is monitored by dispatch services, locators and helps the crew correctly build the trajectory to enter the route. If they evade somewhere, the dispatcher says: you are evading. Because on this air route there are possibly several types of aircraft - in the opposite direction, in the same direction. And the dispatch service controls and is responsible, to some extent, for the safety of being on this route. But even if the dispatch service, the locators could not notice where the mark from this type of aircraft was located... Because each dispatcher has the type of aircraft and its call sign displayed on the screen. And when this tag disappears, a command is immediately given to the search service (in this case, these are helicopters that are now searching in the area where the tag may have disappeared). And the situation in the mountains may be such that they have dropped below the detection zone.
- What could be the reason for this behavior of the crew?
- It could have been the explosive nature of the plane itself, that is, an explosion could have occurred, and no one could report it - neither the correspondents who were there, nor the crew themselves. I can't imagine anything else here.
PS. Almost the entire choir of the Alexandrov ensemble died
The deceased director of the Department of Culture of the RF Ministry of Defense.
Elizaveta Glinka. She was also on board the crashed plane.
Dead journalists.
PS2. Regarding the rejoicing freaks from Ukraine and Russia, it can be noted in this regard that at such moments the difference between people and moral monsters is clearly demonstrated.
Alexey Pushkov: Those killed in the disaster are heroes of the war on terror
Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Commission on Information Policy Alexey Pushkov commented on the plane crash in Sochi.
“Those who died in the disaster flew to Syria to support our military. All of them are heroes of the war on terror. Their flight, their impulse was interrupted. Their spirit lives on,” he wrote.
Those killed in the disaster flew to Syria to support our military. All of them are heroes of the war on terror. Their flight, their impulse was interrupted. Their spirit lives on.
Let us remind you that while performing a scheduled flight from Sochi airfield after takeoff, the Tu-154 aircraft disappeared from radar radars. Later, the military department reported that 1.5 kilometers from Black Sea coast Fragments of the Tu-154 hull were discovered at a depth of 50-70 meters in Sochi. Among the passengers were journalists from Channel One, NTV, the Zvezda TV channel, musicians from the Alexandrov Ensemble, as well as Doctor Lisa.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared nationwide mourning in the country in connection with the crash Russian plane in the Black Sea.
He stated this during an emergency press conference.
“Tomorrow, nationwide mourning will be declared in Russia,” Putin said.
Let us remind you that during a scheduled flight from Sochi airfield after the Tu-154 took off, it disappeared from the radar. Later, the military department reported that fragments of the Tu-154 hull were discovered 1.5 kilometers from the Black Sea coast of Sochi at a depth of 50-70 meters. Among the passengers were journalists from Channel One, NTV, the Zvezda TV channel, musicians from the Alexandrov Ensemble, as well as Doctor Lisa.
Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, singer, Iosif Kobzon was supposed to fly on the Tu-154 plane of the Russian Ministry of Defense that crashed over the Black Sea to Syria. TASS reported this on December 25 with reference to the People's Artist.
“On the 14th we had a concert with them in the Hall of Columns, and Valery Khalilov (director of the Alexandrov Ensemble - approx.) asked me to fly with them, but I said that I have a medical visa and I have to fly for treatment, especially since that I visited Syria with them and Khalilov once. So I said, next time sometime. But see how it turned out next time"
Kobzon said.
He assured that if he was offered, he would be ready to perform again for Russian military personnel in Syria.
“I am sincerely sorry, this is just shocking news for me. This is a great tragedy for culture, for the army audience. They were flying on a combat mission."
Russian TV channel published the first video of the wreckage of a crashed Tu-154
The Russian TV channel Life showed the first footage from the crash site of a Russian Ministry of Defense plane, which fell into the Black Sea. The sent footage shows the wreckage of the Tu-154 military aircraft in the water.
The media published a video of the rescue operation in the area where the Tu-154 crashed
The first video of the rescue operation in the area of the crash of the Ministry of Defense Tu-154 plane has appeared.
Let us remind you that during a scheduled flight from Adler airfield after the Tu-154 took off, it disappeared from the radar. Later, the military department reported that fragments of the Tu-154 hull were discovered 1.5 kilometers from the Black Sea coast of Sochi at a depth of 50-70 meters. Among the passengers were journalists from Channel One, NTV, the Zvezda TV channel and 68 musicians from the Alexandrov Ensemble, as well as Doctor Lisa.
Doctor Lisa
The list of passengers published by the Ministry of Defense includes the director international organization“Fair Aid” Elizaveta Glinka (also known as Doctor Lisa). According to an Interfax source, Glinka flew on board this plane from Moscow to Sochi, but was not heading to Syria.
The foundation's statement notes that Glinka actually took off on this flight: she accompanied a humanitarian cargo for the Tishrin hospital in Latakia. “The IGO “Fair Help” does not have any information in connection with the disaster,” it says.
Doctor Lisa's husband, lawyer Gleb Glinka, told Snob that his wife was on board at the time of the crash. There is no other confirmation of this information.
The website of the Human Rights Council under the President, of which Glinka was a member, published a statement by its head, Mikhail Fedotov, in which he confirmed that Doctor Lisa was supposed to take medicines to a hospital in Latakia.
“Dr. Lisa was everyone's favorite. And there was a reason: for many years, she provided palliative medical care almost every day, fed the homeless, clothed them, and gave them shelter. It was she who took sick and wounded children from Donbass under bullets so that they could get help in the best hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg. It was she who organized a shelter for children with amputated limbs, where they undergo rehabilitation after hospital,” the statement said.
What did Doctor Lisa do?
Elizaveta Glinka gained all-Russian fame after she organized a collection of aid for the victims during major forest fires in the European part of Russia. The foundation provided humanitarian aid and equipment to fire victims and volunteer firefighters. In 2012, the Doctor Lisa Foundation organized a collection of humanitarian aid for flood victims in Krymsk (Krasnodar Territory). Together with TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak, Elizaveta Glinka organized a charity auction, which raised more than 16 million rubles for flood victims.
Humanitarian assistance during military conflicts
After the outbreak of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, Glinka took part in providing assistance to people living in eastern Ukraine. She repeatedly traveled to Donbass during hostilities and brought from there to Moscow children in need of treatment, and also donated medicine and humanitarian aid. In total, since March 2014, Doctor Lisa has visited Donbass almost 20 times.
During the war in Syria, Glinka traveled to the country on humanitarian missions - she was involved in the delivery and distribution of medicines, organizing medical care for the civilian population.
Disaster investigation
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Vladimir Putin was promptly informed about the incident. The President, according to Peskov, is in constant contact with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who held a video conference with the leadership of the Armed Forces to organize search and rescue operations. The Ministry of Defense commission to investigate the plane crash flew to Adler early in the morning.
The President instructed Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to form a state commission to investigate the Tu-154 crash. The commission was headed by Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov. December 26 has been declared a day of mourning.
A criminal case under the article “Violation of flight rules or preparation for them” (Article 351 of the Criminal Code) was opened by the Investigative Committee. As official representative of the department Svetlana Petrenko told RBC, a group of employees of the central apparatus of the Investigative Committee, who have extensive investigative experience, was sent to Sochi aviation accidents. According to the head of the press service of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office, Natalia Zemskova, a joint group of employees of the supervisory agency and the Ministry of Defense also flew to Sochi.
Emergency services discovered an oil slick 6-8 km from the coast in the Black Sea. The wreckage of the plane was found at a depth of 50-70 m, one and a half kilometers from the coast. Personal belongings of passengers are found 12-14 km from the coast; the first body was found 6 km from the coast.
The head of the monitoring service of the central joint All-Russian Water Rescue Society, Vladimir Gritsikhin, believes that the wreckage of the Tu-154, under favorable conditions, can be lifted from the bottom in a week. “The depth of 50-70 m is not great; it is quite possible to carefully lift large fragments with soft pontoons. The depth is such that it is unlikely that anyone will be saved, but it is possible to recover all the fragments of the plane. I think that everything can be extracted in a week if the services work in time. The Ministry of Emergency Situations has good specialists, if they call, we will get involved,” he told TASS.
This is the fifth plane crash involving a Tu-154 in the last ten years.
On January 1, 2011, a Tu-154 B-2 aircraft flying from Surgut to Moscow caught fire. runway. 134 passengers and crew members were evacuated, three people were killed and about 40 were injured. The plane was completely burned out.
On April 10, 2010, the Tu-154 of the President of Poland, flying from Warsaw to Smolensk, crashed while landing at the Severny military airfield in Smolensk region. 89 passengers and eight crew members, including Polish President Lech Kaczynski, were killed.
On July 15, 2009, a Tu-154 crashed in Iran while flying from Tehran to Yerevan. There were 153 people on board the plane plus 15 crew members; the passengers included mainly citizens of Armenia, as well as Iran and Georgia. They all died.
On August 22, 2006, a Tu-154M flying from Anapa to St. Petersburg lost control and fell into a flat tailspin. The plane crashed near settlement Sukhaya Balka near Donetsk. 160 passengers died, including 49 children and ten crew members.
Versions of what happened
The official reasons for the plane crash have not yet been announced. Roshydrometcenter notes that weather conditions in the area of the crash on the morning of December 25 were normal and easy for piloting the aircraft. An Interfax source in the emergency services stated that one of the versions of the plane crash is that a bird got into the Tu-154 engine (near Sochi there is a station for migratory birds and an ornithological park). In addition, according to the source, versions of a technical malfunction of the Tu-154 and the possible refueling of the aircraft with low-quality fuel are being considered. According to a RIA Novosti source, the cause of the crash could have been a crew error.
“If a bird had been hit, the crew would have had the opportunity to report to the ground. After takeoff, the crew gained a sufficient altitude; birds don’t fly at that altitude,” flight safety specialist Alexander Romanov emphasized in a conversation with RBC, pointing out that he considers a terrorist attack to be one of the most likely versions of what happened.
Fontanka in the Ministry of Defense notes that the FSB has joined the investigation. Special service officers are checking everyone who might have approached the ship at the Chkalovsky military airport and in Adler. Security forces are working on a version of a terrorist attack. This information is confirmed by RBC’s interlocutor in the FSB. According to him, we are talking about a standard check that is carried out in such cases. The FSB public relations center was officially unable to either confirm or deny information about a possible terrorist attack.
“If there was an instant loss of communication with the crew, then it was most likely an explosion of the plane or a collision in the air with some object,” Yuri Sytnikov, a member of the Presidential Commission for the Development of General Aviation, told RBC.
“The plane was landing for refueling, in this case many technical services approached the plane, so people had the opportunity to put an explosive device in the compartments,” Romanov is sure.
According to Honored Test Pilot Hero of Russia Yuri Vashchuk, equipment failure is unlikely. He believes that an incident on board the plane could have led to the disaster.
A Kommersant correspondent in the Krasnodar region reports that at the time of the crash none of the local residents I didn’t hear the explosion or see the flash.
Interfax's source in law enforcement agencies excludes the possibility of a terrorist attack. “Apparently, when the aircraft collided with the water surface, a water hammer occurred, which resulted in a large scattering of debris,” the agency’s source said.
“This happened after takeoff, when the landing gear and flaps are retracted. There are a lot of technical things that can happen here. As a result, the plane may simply roll over due to its low speed,” noted Honored Test Pilot of the USSR Viktor Zabolotsky in a conversation with RBC.
“For three engines to fail at once, something supernatural must happen. The failure of even one engine is a critical situation, but I don’t think it could lead to a disaster. Something happened on board, to which the pilots did not have time to react. So, for example, it happened with the crash passenger plane over Egypt. The plane depressurized at lightning speed, and it lost control,” Vashchuk told RBC.
The president of the Association of Veterans of the Alpha anti-terrorism unit, Sergei Goncharov, told RBC that a version of a terrorist attack may exist, but not as a priority. “This is a Ministry of Defense aircraft, it is maintained at a high level by trusted people. All the people who knew each other were on the plane; there were no strangers. The plane did not fly over the sea for so long, and if there had been an explosion, one of the eyewitnesses would have heard it,” Goncharov noted.
There were no complaints about the plane
The crashed Tu-154 was produced more than 30 years ago, but “there were no complaints about its technical condition,” an Interfax source in the emergency services told Interfax. Before departure, the plane was in good working order; in general, the Tu-154 was operated “in a gentle manner.”
The Ministry of Defense said that the last repair of the airliner took place in December 2014, RIA Novosti reports. The crashed aircraft was piloted by first class pilot Roman Volkov, who had flown more than 3,000 hours.
The Tu-154 that crashed near Sochi underwent three major repairs during its operation, the press service of the Russian Machines corporation told TASS. “The Tu-154 aircraft number 85572 was produced on March 29, 1983 at the Kuibyshev aircraft plant (now the Aviakor aircraft plant). The last, third overhaul of the aircraft took place at Aviakor in December 2014. Since the completion of this overhaul, Aviakor has not received any requests from the operator for scheduled periodic maintenance of the aircraft or extension of resources. Accordingly, Aviakor did not provide maintenance for this aircraft,” the company said in a statement.
After the plane crash, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said that the decision to decommission Tu-154 aircraft “would be premature.” “The service life of this aircraft today is 40 years, and if we take foreign analogues, then some aircraft have a service life of up to 60 years, so in aviation there are completely different principles for assigning a resource, the question of operating time before the cycle,” Manturov noted.
Since the early 2000s, the Tu-154 has been decommissioned almost everywhere.
S7 Airlines was the first to announce the withdrawal of Soviet-made aircraft - Tu-154 and Il-86 - from its fleets. In November 2009, St. Petersburg-based Rossiya Airlines stopped flying the Tu-154. The carrier replaced these aircraft with Boeing 737, but later opted for the A320 family. Aeroflot announced its plans in 2008 and completed the process in early 2010. The main reasons for the removal of the Tu-154 from fleets are the low fuel efficiency of the aircraft, as well as the high accident rate.
In January 2014, only 80 Tu-154 aircraft remained in service in the world. As of July 2016, the only commercial operator of Tu-154 aircraft in Russia was ALROSA Airlines with two aircraft.
The last aircraft of the family with serial number 998 was released on February 19, 2013 and transferred to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
