TU154 Down in Black Sea

[The Guvnor]

A TU154 operating between Tel Aviv and Novosibirsk, Siberia has come down in the Black Sea with 66 on board.

No info on who the operator is - could be either Samara or Sibir.

[ 04 October 2001: Message edited by: The Guvnor ]

[bertram]

From the BBC


A Russian airliner en route from Tel Aviv to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk has crashed into the Black Sea, the Russian Emergencies Ministry has said.
The ministry said there were 66 passengers and several crew on board.

A spokesman said the plane had gone down 185 kilometers (114 miles) off the Russian coastal city of Adler.

The three-engine TU-154 plane can carry up to 180 passengers.

A TU-154 crashed in the eastern Russian city of Irkutsk in July, killing all 145 people on board.

[Silkman]

A/C belonged to Siber Airlines. 66 pax plus 10 crew on board. A/C had tech stopped on Bulgaria. Witnesses reported an explosion.
Fearing the worst unfortunately.This is the last thing we all need at the moment. :(

[The Guvnor]

Explosion destroyed Tel Aviv-Novosibirsk flight

MOSCOW. Oct 4 (Interfax) - It was an explosion that downed a Sibir airline Tu-154 plane with 66 passengers and crew en route from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk on Thursday, sources in the Russian law enforcement agencies told Interfax.

The explosion and the falling of debris into the Black Sea were seen from an Armenian Airlines An-24 plane en route from Simferopol to Yerevan, they said.

What happened could have been a terrorist attack, the sources said.

Apparently, the aircraft stopped in Bulgaria en-route to Siberia. Given the state of Israeli airport security it is highly unlikely that anyone could have got an IED on board there if indeed it was a terrorist attack.

[goldballs]

A bit more from Sky News below.
[URL=http://www.sky.com/skynews/storytemplate/storytoppic/0,,30000-1031290,00.html]

And this from CNN & BBC.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/10/04/russia.plane.crash/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1579000/1579072.stm

Edit for CNN & BBC

[ 04 October 2001: Message edited by: goldballs ]

[RATBOY]

Condolences to the family and friends of Siber 1812 crew and passengers.

Having flown on Siber as pax thought they ran a pretty respectable operation (wouldn't fly it otherwise). This shouldn't happen to anyone, least of all someone trying their best to make a go of it and do a good job.

Lets wait for the news from onsite but probability of survivors doesn't look too high. Pending the accident report and any prereport facts (or should that be in quotes) I for one will keep the speculation to a minimum


RIP

[JR_wilco]

taken from www.jacdec.de (http://www.jacdec.de)
DATE: 04.10.2001 LOCAL TIME: -
LOCATION: into Black Sea / 190 km off Novorossiysk / Russia
AIRLINE: Sibir Airlines
TYPE: Tupolev 154M REGISTRATION: RA-85693 C/N: 866 Age: 10 years + 7 months
OPERATION: ISP FLIGHT: Tel Aviv -> (Burgas) -> Novosibirsk (S7 1812)
OCCUPANTS: 66 pax + 11 crew FATALITIES: 66 pax + 11 crew INJURIES: 0 DAMAGE TO AIRCRAFT: destroyed
The aircraft was flying en-route at 11.000 meters when a nearby flying Armenian Airlines pilot watched the aircraft disintegrated in mid-air and crashed into sea. A terrorist attack was suspected by russian and israeli officials as the probable cause.
Note: This accident represents the 49th hull loss of a Tupolev 154 and the 1st hull loss for Sibir Airlines.

[Eff Oh]

Latest on Sky News......

"It is suspected that the aircraft was shot down by a surface to air missile!" "It is understood that the Ukranian military were conducting a firing test in the area."

Just gets better and better. Vladamir Putin, the Russian Premier, had earlier said that it was "an act of terrorism." :(

Eff Oh.

[BRUpax]

I'm appalled at the immediate speculation that it may be terrorist action - no matter the source. Granted, aeroplanes very rarely explode at cruising level but it has happened before without foul play involved. I guess that now every time an aeroplane crashes the media (and others) will scream "TERRORISTS".

[markbingo]

BRUpax I agree.

It's not the first time a TU-154 has had a catastophic failure mid air.
The last time was in 6/94 when a China airlines plane had a problem with it's autopilot that overstressed the airframe.

The conclusion was a Mechanical error.

I don't doubt that there was an explosion in the air for that one either.

Let's not go mad on the Terrorism angle without a bit more evidence shall we ?


:(

[Eff Oh]

Before you start shooting ME down in flames... My sources are... BBC news, BBC CEEFAX, ITN news, TELETEXT, Sky news, Sky text, and Channel 5 news/ text!!

I NEVER said that it was terrorism! I merely posted the news report. Vladimir Putin said it was terrorism NOT ME! :mad:

If you look again at my post it says:- "It is understood that the Ukranian Military were conducting firing tests." This implys to me that it was an accident!!

I am not just taking a stab in the dark about this! I dont take pleasure in this sort of thing. I am an airline pilot and hate hearing about an aircraft being lost, HOWEVER it happens!!!! It could happen to any of us.

DONT SHOOT ME. I'M JUST THE MESSENGER!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Eff Oh. :mad:

[Budgie69]

CNN/BBC are reporting Pentagon sources saying "very likely" that this was an accidental shoot down by SAM. Presumably they were watching the exercise on satellite. Were there any NOTAMS?

[pigboat]

Latest local news says the Ukranian Navy has admitted to accidently shooting down the aircraft with a surface to air missile during a military exercise.

[Evo7]

Latest news: the Ukranian defence ministry said that they didn't. (Radio 5 live)

[slingsby]

BBC world service reporting Israeli airspace now closed and all flights suspended in and out of the country. Interesting development. Any one got any further news on this. :rolleyes:

[The Guvnor]

From Sibir's website:

Sibir Airlines with regret confirms that an aircraft of the airline, which was operating Flight 1812 from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk, disappeared from the radar of air-traffic controllers at 13:44 (Moscow Time).

Despite the fact that the cause of the incident is not yet known, we can confirm that on board the aircraft were 78 people of which 12 were crew members. The Tu-154 RA -85693 has been in operation since 1991, flown 16703 hours, and the date of the last major overhaul was December of 1999 after a major overhaul of 3518 hours.

Sibir Airlines has a special hot-line for the relatives and friends of the passengers, who could have been on board the aircraft. Phone numbers: +7 (3832) 169-386, +7 (3832) 169-878, +7 (3832) 169-801.

Sibir Airlines will give further information as it is received

Following is a list of the Sibir Airlines employees on the illfated aircraft.

Alekseyev Victor Viktorovich - Chief Inspector of Flight Safety
Garov Yevgeny Viktorovich - Commander (Pilot)
Levchukov Boris Alexandrovich - Co-pilot
Revtov Konstantin Yuryevich - Navigator
Laptev Valerie Glebovich - Steward
Homjakov Vladimir Dmitrievich - Steward-Instructor
Kostenko Natalia Georgievna - Steward
Savich Alexei Gennadyevich - Steward
Gusarova Elena Vladimirovna - Steward
Voronkov Igor Viktorovich - Steward
Lebedinsky Sergei Ivanovich - Engineer
Shcherbakov Konstantin Petrovich - Technician