Tupolev 204 destroyed at Hangzhou
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Tupolev 204 destroyed at Hangzhou
Totally burned...it seems no one was injured.
Aviastar RA-64032 in Cainiao special livery.

Aviastar RA-64032 in Cainiao special livery.

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Accident: Aviastar T204 at Hangzhou on Jan 8th 2022, burst into fire during push back
An Aviastar TU Tupolev TU-204, registration RA-64032 performing freight flight 4B-6534 from Hangzhou (China) to Novosibirsk (Russia) with 8 crew and 20 tons of general cargo and 26 tons of fuel, was being pushed back for departure when an open fire started in the cabin. Emergency services responded, upon arrival of emergency services about 2 minutes after the emergency call the fire had already broken through the crown of the aircraft. The crew evacuated safely, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
An Aviastar TU Tupolev TU-204, registration RA-64032 performing freight flight 4B-6534 from Hangzhou (China) to Novosibirsk (Russia) with 8 crew and 20 tons of general cargo and 26 tons of fuel, was being pushed back for departure when an open fire started in the cabin. Emergency services responded, upon arrival of emergency services about 2 minutes after the emergency call the fire had already broken through the crown of the aircraft. The crew evacuated safely, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Very lucky it happened on push back, not inflight.
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The aircraft was lost when the fire services were only a few hundred metres away. There is no way that fire would have been survivable in flight. There will be some very severe questions to be answered about the oversight of dangerous air cargo.
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Aluminum does not stand up well to fire. I've known two planes, one of which I owned, to burn completely, and there was nothing left which had been aluminum, other than some globs of aluminum on the ground.
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Impressive photos. Re Lithium batteries : It would be interesting to know the time taken between the first shot (0:13 in Twitter ) and the photo posted by cool banana /avherald. I have read the report of the small Ultra Light electric aircraft fire in Netherlands ( Pipistel Alfa electro in 2018) , where a single 27 Kg battery pack burned for 45 minutes while airport fire trucks spraying it continuously with water, There was almost nothing left of the aircraft afterwards. If the cargo in this Tu 204 was Li batteries the fire would have lasted much longer and there would be far more damage afterwards. I would say.
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Gear parts tend to be Mag alloy which is quite flammable when it melts.
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It doesn’t look like it was pushing back. The aircraft is within the yellow lines behind and no sign of a Tug (they could have vanished asap though). It looks like an Oxygen bottle fire, was it being serviced i.e. topped up?
Last edited by Nightstop; 10th Jan 2022 at 17:16.
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Russian investigators believe the fire on a Tupolev Tu-204 freighter which broke out in Hangzhou in January last year started in the aircraft’s cockpit.
The aircraft, operated by Russian carrier Aviastar-Tu, was being prepared for a service to Novosibirsk with 22t of freight.
Eight personnel were on board the twinjet including three flightcrew, three reserve crew members, and two technicians.
It was being towed to an engine-start point with its auxiliary power unit operating when the fire broke out, says the Interstate Aviation Committee in a newly-published safety review.
“The fire zone has been identified, which is located in the cockpit,” it adds.

Source: Interstate Aviation Committee
Aviastar-Tu’s aircraft was destroyed by the fire which broke out during towing
Chinese authorities are leading the inquiry, with Russian representatives assigned to support the probe.
St Petersburg’s university of the state fire service has carried out analysis of the origin and physical spread of the fire through the aircraft, and sent its conclusions to the Chinese investigators.
Three flightcrew members were seriously injured, says the Interstate Aviation Committee, and the investigation has resulted in recommendations to check crew oxygen systems on Tu-204s and Tu-214s to ensure the “absence of leaks”, and to examine the general condition of oxygen units and lines.
The fire was extinguished by emergency services at the airport, without its reaching the fuel tanks.
But the twinjet (RA-64032) suffered extensive damage during the accident. The aircraft, powered by Aviadvigatel PS-90A engines, was originally delivered to Perm Airlines in 2002.
The aircraft, operated by Russian carrier Aviastar-Tu, was being prepared for a service to Novosibirsk with 22t of freight.
Eight personnel were on board the twinjet including three flightcrew, three reserve crew members, and two technicians.
It was being towed to an engine-start point with its auxiliary power unit operating when the fire broke out, says the Interstate Aviation Committee in a newly-published safety review.
“The fire zone has been identified, which is located in the cockpit,” it adds.

Source: Interstate Aviation Committee
Aviastar-Tu’s aircraft was destroyed by the fire which broke out during towing
Chinese authorities are leading the inquiry, with Russian representatives assigned to support the probe.
St Petersburg’s university of the state fire service has carried out analysis of the origin and physical spread of the fire through the aircraft, and sent its conclusions to the Chinese investigators.
Three flightcrew members were seriously injured, says the Interstate Aviation Committee, and the investigation has resulted in recommendations to check crew oxygen systems on Tu-204s and Tu-214s to ensure the “absence of leaks”, and to examine the general condition of oxygen units and lines.
The fire was extinguished by emergency services at the airport, without its reaching the fuel tanks.
But the twinjet (RA-64032) suffered extensive damage during the accident. The aircraft, powered by Aviadvigatel PS-90A engines, was originally delivered to Perm Airlines in 2002.
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Because certain governments are more protective of the reputation of their major assets it is not unusual to find some countries are very reluctant to admit any version of the accident based on FDR facts and seek to obfuscate....
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Well, this is after all a forum for professional pilots, so snarky and boundary slanderous attacks on independent investigators might be kosher.
It is not a given that every conclusion to an accident report is necessarily given as a result purely of the opinion of the respective government(s) though.
It is not a given that every conclusion to an accident report is necessarily given as a result purely of the opinion of the respective government(s) though.
Well, this is after all a forum for professional pilots, so snarky and boundary slanderous attacks on independent investigators might be kosher.
It is not a given that every conclusion to an accident report is necessarily given as a result purely of the opinion of the respective government(s) though.
It is not a given that every conclusion to an accident report is necessarily given as a result purely of the opinion of the respective government(s) though.