Guys, no offense, but I think you're a little too much fixated on the fact that it was specifically PAF airplane in the Russian airspace. I suggest you check the 1996 air crash in Croatia, Dubrovnik, when USAF CT-43 carrying VIPs crashed in IMC into the mountain near the airport. The accident is classified as CFIT (
http://flightsafety.org/fsd/fsd_jul-aug96.pdf), the same thing as in this case.
There are many similiarites among these accidents:
- delay of departure
- military crew carrying civilian VIPS (and resulting pressure on pilots)
- bad airmanship
- IMC preventing use of the destination airport
- botched non precision approach
- disregard to SOP
- unfamiliar airport
The low down can also be found here (
1996 Croatia USAF CT-43 crash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
My point is - VIPs + military personel, procedures and aircraft = recipe for tragedy.
Military aviation has FAR lower safety standards than GA, and in the same time those guys that don't have problem with evading rebel's shoulder launched missiles on the approach to Kabul, have great problem putting VIPs
in their place.
I really don't see any comercial pilot who wouldn't in a blink of an eye divert to alternate.