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MOSCOW, July 9 (RIA Novosti)-
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The Airbus A-310 jet after it crashed
at the airport. | Russian
prosecutors said Sunday they were focusing on the possibility that a technical
fault may have caused an air crash earlier in the day in Siberia that left more
than 100 people dead. "[Various] versions of the Airbus crash are being
considered, but one of the main ones is a technical fault with the plane,"
the Prosecutor General's Office said. Rescuers said 102 people had been killed
and 54 injured after the Airbus A-310 overshot the runway in Irkutsk and hit a
wall. It then burst into flames. Sibir Airlines, which owned the plane, said
there were 192 passengers on board and eight crewmembers. Fifty-four people are
being treated in the hospital. Irkutsk, 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) east
of Moscow, is the main airport for holidaymakers heading for Lake Baikal, a popular
destination for Russians in the summer. Transportation Minister Igor Levitin,
who has been appointed the head of a government commission into the tragedy, said
the runway was wet after rain, but an official from the Emergency Situations Ministry
said the landing gear may have caught fire as the plane landed. On May 3,
an Armenian A-320 crashed in the Black Sea killing all 113 people on board.
In 1997, a Russian-made airliner crashed near Irkutsk with the loss of all 145
passengers and crew. | |
Around 150 dead' in Russian Airbus Crash
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A310 tails for comparison |
Sunday, July 9, 2006 Posted: 0500 GMT (1300 HKT)
MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- A Russian passenger plane
crashed on landing in the Siberian city of Irkutsk early Sunday, killing around
150 passengers, Russian news agencies reported. Officials confirmed they have
recovered 65 bodies. The plane, on a flight from Moscow to Irkutsk, veered
off the runway as it was landing at about 7:50 a.m. local time (2250 GMT Saturday),
hit a concrete barrier and burst into flames, Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman
Irina Andrianova said. Russian news reports said that many children were
among the passengers. They were traveling on vacation on Lake Baikal, which is
near Irkutsk, the ITAR-Tass news agency said. Rescue workers who were sifting through the wreckage of the aircraft
so far had found 65 bodies, said another Ministry spokeswoman Natalya Lukash.
Russian television pictures showed the wreckage of the aircraft , which crashed
into a one-story structure on the airport perimeter, with a plume of smoke pouring
from it. Firefighters in protective gear and helmets clambered on top.
Lukash said that 55 people were injured in the crash. Most of the other passengers
were feared dead, the Emergency Situations Ministry said. The Interfax
and ITAR-Tass news agencies reported that around 150 people had died, quoting
a preliminary toll from the regional prosecutor's office and transport ministry.
The Sibir Airbus A-310 was carrying a crew of eight and 192 passengers.
"The aircraft veered off the runway on landing. It was traveling at
a terrific speed," Andrionova said.
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Rudder appears structurally
integral in this photograph | The plane hit a
concrete barrier, collapsing the front section of the aircraft, she said. It then
burst into flames. It took five emergency services more than two hours
to extinguish the flames, Andrianova said. The Emergency Situations Ministry
said there was no information yet about the likely cause of the crash.
Relatives of the passengers onboard the flight to Irkutsk were expected later
Sunday to arrive at Moscow's Domodedovo airport where it took off from.
In May, another Airbus aircraft crashed in stormy weather off Russia's Black Sea
coast while readying to land, killing all 113 people on board. Airline
officials said they believed the crash of the Armenian passenger plane was due
to driving rain and low visibility.
Among other deadly crashes in Russia
in recent years, in July 2001, a Tu-154 Russian passenger plane crashed and burst
into flames in Siberia, killing all 143 people on board. And in March,
1994, a half-empty Airbus A-310 belonging to Russian state airline Aeroflot crashed
near the Siberian city of Novokuznetsk, killing 70 people. Investigators said
the crash was caused mainly by the pilot's teenage son inadvertently disconnecting
the autopilot.
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See data just below. Shows Hourly METARS
(airfield weathers for Irkutsk) - indicating that at the time of the accident
(082250Z) the weather was a static overcast at 500ft
to 600ft with visibility 3500m in rain, rainshowers, cumulo-nimbus, only
a 1 to 2 degree spread between wet and dry bulb
(i.e. very misty), and with a steady barometer. I'm guessing
that they came out of the cloud cover in a heavy rainshower
with a bad line-up and misjudged their short
approach path to the lengthy 3210m runway
30 [usable length is 2765m];
tried to recoup and recover and blew it badly
(landing far too far in - down the runway). Conditions would have been
prime for a microburst (mixture of heavy outflow,
downdrafts and updrafts due to the CB
- i.e.the thunderstorm activity). Wind
was otherwise light and not far off the runway head (i.e. a v slight crosswind
from the left). Once upon the ground, panic-stricken
heavy manual braking on wet
rubber deposits may well have blown tires and caused them to lose directional
control at high speed. The virtues of going around off an unstable approach are
well documented. There had been no prior emergency
situation reported to ATC. Aircraft was seen to have landed very fast (i.e.
with a strong following wind of up to 35kts - due to the microburst).
A mobile phone camera has caught footage of it's landing. The
company ran its first A310 flight from Irkutsk to Moscow in July 2004. Sibir has
ten airliners of this class. This a/c was a former Aeroflot(delivered as F-OGYP
on:9.08.1996) plane c/n:422 delivered to S7 (prev known as Sibir Airlines) on
18.06.2004 UIII 082300Z
28005MPS 3500 -SHRA OVC006CB 11/09 Q1002 NOSIG RMK QBB190 > QFE707/0943
30290250 > UIII 082200Z 28004MPS
250V310 3500 -SHRA OVC005CB 11/10 Q1002 NOSIG RMK > QBB170 QFE707/0943
30290250
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=11549934
and
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=11549932
Irkutsk Airfield
Data: Fire Category 8 Emergency Services: AVBL Navigational Aids: AVBL
Airfield Restrictions: Nil Noise Restrictions: Nil Aircraft Maintenance:
Minor repairs at aircraft repair base Refuelling: AVBL without limitation
Runway 1: Heading 115/295, 3,165m (10,383ft), 72/R/C/X/T, ICAO Cat. I, Rwy
115, ILS 115, Lighting: HIALS CatI:PAPI, Restrictions: Rwy 12 threshold is displaced
by 400m towards ARP, Rwy 295, ILS 295, Lighting: HIALS CatI:PAPI,
Restrictions: Rwy 30 usable length is 2765m
SEE
ALSO
http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library%5CrgAD.nsf/0/1FB3DA8F97901D5186256A9A005897A2?OpenDocument
i.e.
this
link (summary below)
ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY:
This amendment supersedes an existing airworthiness directive (AD), applicable
to all Airbus Model A300 B2, A300 B4, A310, A319, A320, A321, A330, and A340 series
airplanes; and Model A300 B4-600, A300 B4-600R, and A300 F4-600R (collectively
called A300-600) series airplanes. That AD currently requires certain repetitive
checks, and replacement of the braking dual distribution
valve (BDDV) if necessary. This action requires, for certain airplanes,
inspecting and/or replacing the BDDV cover. For all other airplanes, this action
provides for optional termination of the repetitive checks. This amendment is
prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign
civil airworthiness authority. The actions specified
by this AD are intended to prevent failure of the alternate braking system, which
could result in the airplane overrunning the end of the runway during landing.
DATES: Effective September 4, 2001. |
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