PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Armenian A320 crash whilst attempting to land in bad weather
Old 4th May 2006, 07:58
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Evening Star

Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Northumberland, UK
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was there shear and or microburst activity in the area
As SLF I am wary of making a contribution in R&N. However, I have been to Adler and the place (please understand that I am speaking as a scientist, not an aviator) did strike me as being more challenging then average with regard to the weather. Behind the airport, which is almost at sea level, is the western edge of the Caucasus Mountains, rising quickly to in excess of 1000m.

To give some background, at the moment I am working on a paper looking at some unusual characteristics of storms in Black Sea area. Specifically, I am looking at the Rostov Region area, where the topography does not complicate the issue. One factor I note is the very localised intense downdraughts that are not necessarily coincident with an active cell. It is reasonable to hypothesize that this characteristic will equally apply in Krasnador Region, and that the mountains may even exacerbate this characteristic.

As a non-aviator I can offer no opinion on cause of this tragedy, and note the previous comments about how easy it is to quickly use weather as a thoughtless and 'media friendly' cause. However, if this information is helpful in any way I trust you will forgive my visit to R&N!

Suffice to say, I feel great sadness at this accident and also wish to add my condolences.
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