Posted on 12/29/2016 3:43:05 PM PST by BenLurkin
The three-engine Tu-154, flying to Syria from the southern Russian city of Sochi, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing all 92 aboard. Why it went down remains a mystery, although Russian officials are leaning toward accidental causes, such as mechanical problems or pilot error, rather than an act of sabotage.
...
Bainetov also said that an analysis of the pilots’ remarks before the crash indicated an “emergency situation” on board, but he did not elaborate.
Earlier, the Russian tabloid Life, which is close to the security services and regularly obtains surveillance camera footage after accidents, said the captain yelled “the flaps!” and a string of profanities shortly before the plane crashed. The flight was in the air for a total of 70 seconds and reached an altitude of 820 feet, Bainetov said Thursday.
Sokolov said 19 bodies, along with 230 body parts, have been retrieved by divers at the crash site.
Tu-154 jets, which have been in service for 33 years, were once the workhorse of the commercial airline industry here and are still widely used by government ministries.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Much to early to tell what this means.
He might have been calling for flaps hoping to make an emergency landing.
Or the flaps could have gone into some position not compatible with flight.
Who serviced the flaps the last time and were they tampered with?
Pilot may have been in a hurry on the checklist and forgot to deploy the flaps before takeoff. It’s happened before.
Aircraft stalls and crashes.
Not a surprise. Errors and omissions unrelated to anything but human fallibility explain most accidents.
Never flew nor studied heavy jets so I assumed that the aircraft would not have gained any altitude loaded heavily if the flaps were not properly set for takeoff.
I would have thought it would go into the bushes at the end of the runway when it ran out of the ground cushion..
Not arguing the point as I have no time in big iron.
Xactly. Recall the Northwest DC-9 flight out of Detroit Wayne about 1992 or so. No flaps set; lifts off barely and promptly crashes in Romulus near I-94.
My Detroit area terminal was located just down the street from the crash site and for several years after I was spooked every time I used the onramp to I-94 where so many had perished.
TU-154 is a gas guzzling loud beast that is currently the fastest cruising airliner since the Concorde left service.
Which may barely get it off the ground loaded with no flaps and crash soon after.
Apparently never got above 820 feet
That’s what I was thinking also. I was a student at U of M when that DC-9 went down.
TU-154 is a gas guzzling loud beast that is currently the fastest cruising airliner since the Concorde left service.
Which may barely get it off the ground loaded with no flaps and crash soon after.
...
I like your line of thought. An old Soviet airliner like that probably requires special procedures to fly and lacks the safety features of modern airliners.
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