Tu-204 and idle engines
The Tu-204 passenger plane belonging to S7 Airlines, which took off from Frankfurt am Main on January 14, 2002, was supposed to land at Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport. However, due to weather conditions such as high winds and snowstorms, the pilots were prohibited from landing and had to fly to an alternative airport in Omsk. However, just as we approached ten, the fuel ran out.
Fortunately, the crew landed the plane without a single engine and brought it to a stop with emergency braking. The plane skidded off the runway and crashed into a snowbank. There were 117 passengers and 22 crew members on board. None were injured and the aircraft sustained only minor damage and resumed operations soon after. The Tu-204 continued flying until March 22, 2010, when it had a serious accident and was canceled.
Miracle on the Hudson
On January 15, 2009, a US Airways Airbus A320-214 took off from New York to Charlotte. Just 90 seconds after takeoff, the plane crashed into a flock of birds. The aircraft commander immediately sent a distress signal – both engines failed, but the pilots were able to turn the plane around and urgently land the plane in the Hudson River. All 150 passengers on board survived, but 78 suffered minor injuries and hypothermia. They were evacuated from the plane to land by boats.
The US National Transportation Safety Board found bird remains and feathers in the engine during its investigation into the accident. Also, at first the pilots were tasked with landing the plane on water, but they were allegedly able to do so at other nearby airports as well. However, it was possible to prove that the pilots were innocent and did their best.
After inspection, the aircraft was sent to the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte. All passengers received compensation.
Crew error led to disaster
On 4 December 2010, a Tu-154M aircraft operated by South East Airlines took off from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport for Makhachkala, but less than ten minutes had passed since the start of the flight and instability in the fuel supply system began to appear within two years. one of three engines and soon failed completely, so the crew decided to return to Vnukovo. The dispatcher stopped this offer and suggested landing at the nearest Domodedovo airport. The crew went there and later reported that the third engine had also shut down and the steering system and generators had stopped working.
As a result, the plane managed to make a hard landing, skidding off the runway and crashing into a dirt hill. As a result, the fuselage of the plane was split in two. There were 163 passengers and 8 crew members on board. Two of them could not be saved and 83 people were injured of varying severity.
Following the disaster, a criminal case was filed under Article 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation under “Violation of traffic safety rules and operation of air transport, resulting in the death of two people due to negligence.” The results of the investigation established the guilt of the crew: the disaster was caused by errors that occurred both during flight and during landing with one engine running. For example, the flight engineer accidentally turned off the fuel tank boost pumps, causing the engines to stall.
On January 22, 2015, flight commander Zakorzh Zakorzhaev was sentenced to a 3-year suspended sentence for violating traffic safety rules and conducting air transport, but was released from the sentence under amnesty. The airline paid compensation of over 16 million rubles to all victims.
aircraft without power supply
On September 7, 2010, Alrosa Airlines’ Tu-154M aircraft took off from the city of Udachny to Moscow, and 3.5 hours later, the power supply on the ship was completely cut off. Neither navigation, radio communications, nor electric fuel pumps worked.
Pilots began to reduce altitude and look for a suitable landing area when they accidentally discovered an airport closed to aircraft in the city of Izhma. And although it was not suitable for landing aircraft like the Tu-154, there were no other options.
At the same time, they already knew about the aircraft’s power supply problems on the ground. Dispatchers saw the plane heading towards Izhma airport and reported the situation to local emergency services.
The crew managed to land the plane on the third attempt. Although it rolled off the runway and was damaged, none of the 71 passengers and 9 crew members on board were injured.
In the investigation of the incident, it was revealed that the incident was caused by a short circuit in the battery. The pilots avoided accusations, and passengers on the flight wanted to reward the crew for their professionalism and saving lives.
The repaired aircraft began to be used in regular transportation again in a short time.
Egyptian miracle
On August 15, 2019, the Airbus A321 aircraft of Ural Airlines took off from Zhukovsky Airport towards the Moscow – Simferopol route. But just a few seconds later, a flock of seagulls appeared in his path. After the ship collided with the birds, the commander gave an emergency signal due to the failure of one of the engines. The pilots attempted to return to the departure airport, but the second engine also failed. It was decided to land the plane in the corn field just ahead.
Although the landing was difficult, it was successful. All 225 passengers and 7 crew on board survived. 74 people were injured of varying severity. The aircraft received critical damage and was written off.
On August 16, 2019, Vladimir Putin signed a decree awarding the Order of Courage to five flight attendants of the crashed plane. Pilots Damir Yusupov and Georgy Murzin were awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
Every flight is dangerous
According to historian Sydyp Baldruev, who is also an expert in Russian aviation history, accidents and disasters involving aircraft do not occur often, although they scare everyone much more than traffic accidents that many people experience every day.
“People are more afraid of planes than cars, which crash every day. Understand that the highest standards for aviation safety apply. However, any flight cannot be guaranteed to be safe and, moreover, can be potentially dangerous. After all, even the most technically advanced and modified aircraft can suffer damage due to a simple accident: birds, weather and, most importantly, the human factor. And you can never predict when and how it will happen.
For example, the Airbus A310, popularly considered “poor”, is actually one of the safest, but has gained a bad reputation due to the fact that it “went into adventures” dozens of times – it was hijacked, captured by terrorists, involved in accidents and disasters. But cases are rare when these incidents are associated not with a person or circumstances, but with technical problems,” the historian shared.
He was skeptical of current safety ratings because they did not take into account many important factors.
“Today, statistical lists and accident ratings are created that show which planes are more dangerous to fly than others. However, there is no common standard in the methodology of these ratings. Data on simple malfunctions that do not result in losses are not specified; somewhere they only mention planes with more than 6 people – accordingly, accidents with small planes are not taken into account; number of aircraft in operation somewhere and total flight time etc. is also not taken into account. Therefore these statistics are highly speculative. When it comes to accidents – in each specific case – many factors are involved and it is impossible to determine any single rule,” said Sydyp Baldruev.