Tupolev 204 destroyed at Hangzhou

[JanetFlight]

Totally burned...it seems no one was injured.
Aviastar RA-64032 in Cainiao special livery.
https://twitter.com/ChinaAvReview/status/1479620396286902279https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1370x1000/fijjt4duyaanbks_104cc795b50c04cc452e4dd6dcf38626e1f5ca02.jpg

[DaveReidUK]

One wonders what cargo it was carrying.

[Cool banana]

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.


https://avherald.com/h?article=4f2d32d7

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/759x500/tu_205_fire_bf3dd0dd4e958827a98da76250fa9b249dde434b.jpg
Very lucky it happened on push back, not inflight.

[krismiler]

One wonders what cargo it was carrying.​​​​​​

I would think something along the lines of PEDS, or lithium batteries.

[Magplug]

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.

[N707ZS]

Fire so hot it melted the undercarriage attachment on the nose.

[Pilot DAR]

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.

[ATC Watcher]

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.

[WOTME?]

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.
Gear parts tend to be Mag alloy which is quite flammable when it melts.

[CargoOne]

Rumour says the fire was caused by oxygen generator located around R1 door serving the jumpseats between the cockpit and cargo deck.

[double_barrel]

The crew evacuated safely, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

I wonder if the engines are salvageable ?

[FiveGirlKit]

https://avherald.com/h?article=4f2d32d7

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/759x500/tu_205_fire_bf3dd0dd4e958827a98da76250fa9b249dde434b.jpg
Very lucky it happened on push back, not inflight.

"You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" Seriously though, why is 1L entry door off, and expelled debris outside the aircraft? Something went bang during the fire methinks, which caused the nose to collapse

[llagonne66]

Rumour says the fire was caused by oxygen generator located around R1 door serving the jumpseats between the cockpit and cargo deck.
Could be consistent with the first picture on Avherald where the damage seems to originate around that door

[Nightstop]

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?

[punkalouver]

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.

https://d3lcr32v2pp4l1.cloudfront.net/Pictures/480xany/9/1/2/92912_tu204firecmak_413818.jpg

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.

[NYCPK]

"Chinese authorities are leading the inquiry, with Russian representatives assigned to support the probe."

Hard to keep a straight face with that line.

[Euclideanplane]

"Chinese authorities are leading the inquiry, with Russian representatives assigned to support the probe."

Hard to keep a straight face with that line.

Please go on to explain how in your opinion it conflicts with established procedures.

[NYCPK]

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....

[Euclideanplane]

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.

[Auxtank]

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.

However, in this case I think it fairly safe to opine that it is. Ummm?