News Crash landing of Tu154 - 7 of september 2010

[PeterRoss]

Tu-154M plane was forced for blind emergency landing - because of electro and navi equipment malfunction, crew have no information about their location and fuel for only half an hour. Because of this they can't divert to Pechora, Ukhta, Vorkuta or Usinsk where there are more suitable runaway for this class. Our correspondet cites crew which named this landing "a miracle". Right after plane descended under low clouds near Izhmy, crew has noticed a bog in which it was impossible to land. After a turn the commander at first has seen an island on the river opposite to Izhmy, and only after that he has noticed the old runaway, used as a helicopter platform.

The impact was damped by the young trees which have grown since the airport was closed. Because of electric malfunction, the plane couldn't brake on the 1200 meters runaway and overrun about 150-200 meters out in the wood. None of 72 passengers of DRU516 flight hasn't received even a scratch.

Wow. Just wow. It resembles for me the case with that guy who landed Boeing into Hudson.

Link: http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/426642-tu-154-emergency-landing-izhma-komi.html
(it's not some news site, I just have no time now to look for other source of info in english, sorry)

 

[Urwumpe]

It resembles for me the case with that guy who landed Boeing into Hudson.

Was an Airbus A320. *Whistles Beethovens Ode To Joy*

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549"]US Airways Flight 1549 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

And yes, the pictures make it look like a miracle. Luckily Russian landing gears are designed for Russian runways... including the trees. With a similar sized western aircraft, it might have failed dramatically.

 

[N_Molson]

Wow, impressive... Except a few dents, it seems in very good shape, provided it was stopped by trees ! The pilots deserve a "crash landing" medal :thumbup:

 

[Turbinator]

Good old planes, they sure don't build them like that any more. Today, it is as if they are built out of paper mache. If that was one of today's planes you could bet it would have been in a hundred pieces, on fire, with most on board dead or dying. I bet you could take that Tu 154, fix the electrical problem, and not even touch the airframe, and it would still fly.

 

[PeterRoss]

Was an Airbus A320. *Whistles Beethovens Ode To Joy*

All the day this thought was bothering me: "Or was it an Airbus?!!!":lol:

Good old planes, they sure don't build them like that any more. Today, it is as if they are built out of paper mache. If that was one of today's planes you could bet it would have been in a hundred pieces, on fire, with most on board dead or dying. I bet you could take that Tu 154, fix the electrical problem, and not even touch the airframe, and it would still fly.

Yep, the owner company says they want to get airplane back in line. Now they have to figure out how to get it out of the forest and lift up from airfield that is two times shorter than needed.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Good old planes, they sure don't build them like that any more. Today, it is as if they are built out of paper mache. If that was one of today's planes you could bet it would have been in a hundred pieces, on fire, with most on board dead or dying. I bet you could take that Tu 154, fix the electrical problem, and not even touch the airframe, and it would still fly.

Yep, they always left me an impression of a flying steam engine (and slenderness of a swallow, at the same time, however absurd it may sound).

But there's a problem with the sheer mass of this airplane: they are likely to abandon it right where it's now sitting, because there simply are no non-damaging technical means to extract it from the soft dirt it has burrowed into.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Video of people evacuation shot by a passenger who was on this flight:

Few comments on the event:

http://www.utro.ru/articles/2010/09/09/921036.shtml

Wife of flight attendant Rifkat Nizamov told media: "There was no panic on board. Passengers were not aware until the last moment that the plane had a malfunction and the crew was looking for an emergency landing site."

When the plane landed, the people on board thought they'd arrived in a paradise - such beautiful was the forest around. "We went outside and thought it must have been a paradise around us. Clear, cool air, trees, grass were all the way around us." - told Nizamov to his wife. - "Everybody just instantly dispersed around for mushroom picking. There was no communication with any flight controllers. If the locals who have occasionally spotted the plane had not been there, we might have to spend much longer time there. But owing to them, medics, police and emercom have all arrived early."

The attendant's wife added, her husband was going to visit that forest again when he gets a chance.

http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=391243&browser=ff

Eyewitnesses tell that they couldn't believe their eyes at first. Nothing larger than helicopters landed at the small airstrip in Izhma village for the last 20 years.

"My mother had seen it coming first and told me that the plane was going to undertake a forced landing. She crossed herself triple times and prayed - Dear God, please save the people who are inside this plane. Dear God, please do all you can to help it land!" - said Valentina Shabrova, inhabitant of Izhma.

The local people can't call what's happened other than a miracle.

"But look, we've got used to miracles. Last year, on Saturday, a meteorite fell here. Although we couldn't find it, even though we searched hard. This time it's this plane. And I think in the next year some Cosmonauts shall make a landing here. We have Plesetsk nearby and all this stuff flying over our heads." - assumed another Izhma inhabitant, Alyona Tretiakova.

"Or maybe, the Extraterrestrials will come to us as tourists!" - added her daughter musingly.



---------- Post added at 17:44 ---------- Previous post was at 17:33 ----------

http://gazeta.ru/news/lenta/2010/09/09/n_1545150.shtml

President Dmitry Medvedev: "Some time ago we all have seen how heroically American pilots who managed to land an emergency land a passenger plane, performed." - (meaning the successful landing of American Airlines flight in Hudson river on January 16, 2009) - "But this time our pilots have also displayed an outstanding bravery. The flight's passengers have applied to me, asking to award the pilots. I have not signed an awarding decree yet, but I shall do that promptly".

 

[HR_Oso]

 

[Sky Captain]

Yep, they always left me an impression of a flying steam engine (and slenderness of a swallow, at the same time, however absurd it may sound).

But there's a problem with the sheer mass of this airplane: they are likely to abandon it right where it's now sitting, because there simply are no non-damaging technical means to extract it from the soft dirt it has burrowed into.

Doesn't the Russian military have some sort of disassammable runway made of large metal plates that could be quickly constructed in place and removed after takeoff. Or such an operation would cost more than the plane is worth?

 

[Urwumpe]

Doesn't the Russian military have some sort of disassammable runway made of large metal plates that could be quickly constructed in place and removed after takeoff. Or such an operation would cost more than the plane is worth?

Not sure about the Russian military, but NATO countries have similar technology for quickly creating roads.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Doesn't the Russian military have some sort of disassammable runway made of large metal plates that could be quickly constructed in place and removed after takeoff. Or such an operation would cost more than the plane is worth?

No idea. And if such thing is there, would it allow a 100-tonnes airplane to take off from, or just a tiny shturmovik?

---------- Post added at 21:52 ---------- Previous post was at 21:51 ----------

Cool, but that was a Tu-134 (loaded takeoff weight 47 tonnes) and not a Tu-154 (loaded takeoff weight 102 tonnes). And look, they had to clip the wings anyway.

 

[Urwumpe]

Cool, but that was a Tu-134 (loaded takeoff weight 47 tonnes) and not a Tu-154 (loaded takeoff weight 102 tonnes). And look, they had to clip the wings anyway.

Still, the Mi-26 can lift about 20 tons.

 

[PeterRoss]

Still, the Mi-26 can lift about 20 tons.

By excluding from 47 tons of take-off weight some 16,5 tons of fuel and also clipped wings and engines - well, we can get our 20 tons allright.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Also, reportedly, since the plane had experienced an electric malfunction, many gauges in the cockpit tripped out; to replace the missing artificial horizon, the crew asked an attendant to pour some water into a glass and put this new "gauge" atop the control panel. Combining that with the front view allowed them to perform their approach and landing.

 

[PeterRoss]

I once had a crash-landing of XR2. All electrical systems were shut down because of overheating just a minute before landing. Too bad there is no simulation of water glass in XR2...

 

[Urwumpe]

LOL, smart solution for the problem.

 

[n122vu]

Water glass. Genius.

The crew deserves at least a medal, if not more. Well done.

 

[Hielor]

Also, reportedly, since the plane had experienced an electric malfunction, many gauges in the cockpit tripped out; to replace the missing artificial horizon, the crew asked an attendant to pour some water into a glass and put this new "gauge" atop the control panel. Combining that with the front view allowed them to perform their approach and landing.

LOL, smart solution for the problem.

Water glass. Genius.

The crew deserves at least a medal, if not more. Well done.

I highly doubt this story. A glass of water will be subject to the forces of the plane in maneuvering flight, and will thus be fairly useless as an artificial horizon, and I'd hope that any pilot who's flying planes this big would know that. For example, see this video starting at around 2:05:

The glass of liquid is clearly useless for determining the attitude of a moving plane.

 

[SiberianTiger]

The glass of liquid is clearly useless for determining the attitude of a moving plane.

I know. But probably, they could use it instead of the turn-and-bank indicator? At least, I think, that would tell them, if they were doing a standard turn, or side-slipping.

 

[Turbinator]

Yes, water in glass on a plane is a side-slip indicator. If the water stays in place, and level, you are not slipping in your turn. And not loosing any precious lift that you would need if you had no engine power.