The German daily Bild Zeitung (the most popular newspaper in Germany) published some comments last Wednesday on the Almaty Challenger crash. For those who read German, link is
http://www.bild.de/BILD/berlin/aktue...=3628176.html#
For those who don't, a certain Rishat Tustkbaev, who appears to be the airport manager and a member of the "Special Commission" was reported as saying it was pilot error.
Since Kazahkstan is a member of the Interstate Aviation Commission, the Russian MAK is the responsible investigating body, and I don't know what relation the "Special Commission" has to it.
Tustkbaev is reported as saying that the pilots did not have anti-ice on; that they didn't follow all safety requirements; that the captain gave the copilot misleading instructions; and that the copilot was not experienced enough (he had 60 hours on type).
Two seconds after "start" (I guess they mean the unstick point) the aircraft rolled 64° right and the wing touched the ground. Apparently, to recover, SOPs say pull the throttles back and the crew did not do this.
Tustkbaev is reported as putting all the blame on the pilots.
I report this here only for the record. There is a lot of obvious rubbish. If they rolled 64° right two seconds after liftoff and there is no mechanical explanation then it looks very much as though the right wing lost lift or never had any. Icing is the obvious suspect and, regardless of whether the crew had anti-ice on or not, one wants to know when and how the aircraft was de-iced. And of course the airport is responsible for the quality of de-icing and it is the airport chief who is speaking out.
Any suggestion that a 64° roll within two seconds of liftoff is something that experienced pilots can handle is nonsense. If you don't have lift on your right wing, physics dictates what happens next, not number of hours on type.
PBL