Another Tu-154 down
 

Reports just coming in of a crash in Russia's Tula region, south of Moscow, involving yet another Tu-154, all according to the BBC. 54 pax and 8 crew on board apparently...anyone have any more info?

MOSCOW, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Air controllers on Tuesday lost
contact with an airplane with 44 passengers on board, Interfax
news agency reported.
It quoted Emergencies ministry as saying contacts with
Tu-154 flying from Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi were
lost at 1900 GMT when it was expected to be 140 km (90 miles)
from the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
Earlier Russian news agencies said that around the same time
another Russian passenger plane with more than 50 passengers on
board went missing near the town of Tula, south of Moscow.

2 Aircraft missing in Russia
 

ITN have just reported that 2 airliners have gone missing in Russia. One is believed to have crashed and was believed to have had 60 people on board.

Sorry. Just seen the other post

ITN reporting 62 people, 54 + 8 crew. They are also reporting that a second airliner has "gone missing in the country"

So, what are we talking about here? Two 154s down, or a screw up in the Reuters story?

Sounds like 1 x 154 has gone down. And TASS are reporting that another aircraft crashed at the sametime.

UPDATE 2-Plane crashes in Russia
(Adds missing plane report, changes dateline from LONDON)
MOSCOW, Aug 24 (Reuters) - A plane carrying 62 people
crashed in Russia's Tula region south of Moscow on Tuesday,
Itar-Tass reported.
The Tu-154 aircraft, with 54 passengers and eight crew on
board, crashed near the village of Buchalki, some 180 km (110
miles) south of Moscow, the agency said, quoting a local civil
defence and emergencies official.
In a separate report, Interfax news agency said air
controllers lost contact with a Tu-154 taking 44 passengers from
Moscow to the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
It quoted the Emergencies Ministry as saying contact stopped
at 1900 GMT when it should have been 140 km (90 miles) from the
southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
It was not immediately clear if this was the plane that
crashed near Tula, more than 800 km (500 miles) northeast of
Rostov.
Tupolev's Tu-154 jet remains the standard medium-range
airliner on domestic flights in Russia, according to aviation
websites. Some 48 metres (157 ft) in length, it can carry up to
180 passengers for up to 4,000 km (2,500 miles).

The close reported times of the two crashes is most suspicious...

____________________________________________


Two Russian passenger jets crash

Tuesday, August 24, 2004 Posted: 6:04 PM EDT (2204 GMT)

(CNN) -- Two passenger planes have crashed in Russia Tuesday night, Russian officials and a news organization said.

A passenger jet carrying 34 passengers and eight crew members in the Tula region crashed about 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Moscow, the ministry reported.

A second plane went down about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia, government-run news agency Ria Novosti reported.

A ministry spokeswoman said she could only confirm that the second plane had been lost to radar.

The first plane disappeared from radar at 10:56 p.m. (2:56 p.m. ET), a ministry spokeswoman said.

The Tupolev-134 had taken off from Moscow's Domodedovo Airport and was en route to Volgograd, in southern Russia.

The second plane, a Tupolev-154, disappeared at 11 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) after having taken off from the same airport en route to Sochi in southern Russia, Ria Novosti reported.

There was no immediate word how many people were aboard the second plane.

The Tupolev-154 is a standard medium-range airliner on domestic flights in Russia, according to aviation websites.

MOSCOW, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Two Russian passenger planes with
a total of more than 80 people on board went missing within
minutes of each other late on Tuesday and one was confirmed to
have crashed, the Emergencies Ministry said.
A ministry spokeswoman said a three-engine TU-134 with 34
passengers and eight crew flying from Moscow to Volgograd
crashed after contact with it was lost at 2256 Moscow time (1856
GMT).
The wreckage was found near the town of Tula some 150 km (90
miles) south of Moscow.
Just three minutes later, air traffic controllers lost
contact with another passenger plane -- a four-engine TU-154
with 44 passengers and eight crew on board -- flying from Moscow
to the Black Sea resort of Sochi, she said.
Contact was lost as the plane was flying near the southern
city of Rostov-on-Don.
Initially, Itar-Tass news agency said that a TU-154 with 54
passengers and eight crew on board had crashed near Tula.
Tupolev's Tu-154 jet remains the standard medium-range
airliner on domestic flights in Russia, according to aviation
websites. Some 48 metres (157 ft) in length, it can carry up to
180 passengers for up to 4,000 km (2,500 miles).

BBC News 24 just reported that witnesses reported seeing an explosion before the crash, but they didn't specify which crash the report reffered to.

:(

MOSCOW, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Witnesses saw an explosion on
board a Russian passenger plane just before it crashed late on
Tuesday near the town of Tula, Interfax news agency quoted local
authorities as saying on Wednesday.

Well done Reuters...idiots :rolleyes:

With continuing battles in Chechnya and the Moscow bus stop bomb explosion, let us not hope...

I would not blame Reuters too much on the number of engines of each aircraft. Remember, it is 2:30 AM in Moscow and they had to get someone out of bed who probably knows s*it all about aircraft types, because as I recall, it is not a 24-hour bureau. I'm sure corrections will be made later when the London editors sift through the stuff.

Airlines and flights - from RIA Novosti:

Volga-Avia Tu-134, flight 1303 Moscow-Volgograd

Sibir Tu-154, flight 1047 Moscow-Sochi

From DER SPIEGEL:

Zwei russische Passagierflugzeuge abgestürzt

Zwei Flugzeuge vom Typ Tu-154 sind auf dem Weg von Moskau nach Süden abgestürzt. Beide Maschinen verschwanden etwa gleichzeitig vom Radar der Flugüberwachung. Augenzeugen berichteten von einer Explosion vor dem Aufschlag der ersten Maschine.

Moskau - Die erste Maschine schlug in der Region Tula nahe des Dorfes Butschalki rund 180 Kilometer südlich von Moskau auf, sagte ein Sprecher des russischen Ministeriums für Katastrophenschutz der Nachrichtenagentur ITAR-TASS. Rettungskräfte seien auf dem Weg zur Unglücksstelle, hätten den Absturzort aber noch nicht erreicht. An Bord seien 54 Passagiere und 8 Besatzungsmitglieder gewesen.

Das Flugzeug der Gesellschaft "Wolga-Aviaexpress" sei gegen 18 Uhr vom Moskauer Flughafen Domodjedowo abgeflogen, erklärte der Sprecher weiter. Gegen 19 Uhr sei die Maschine vom Radar der Fluglotsen verschwunden. Augenzeugen berichteten, sie hätten eine Explosion gesehen, bevor das Flugzeug auf den Boden aufschlug.

Fast zeitgleich verlor die Flugüberwachung ein zweites Flugzeug vom Bildschirm. Die Maschine vom gleichen Typ sei mit 44 Passagieren auf dem Weg von Moskau an den Kurort Sotschi am Schwarzen Meer gewesen, berichtete das Ministerium für Katastrophenschutz. Der Kontakt sei abgebrochen, als sich die Maschine rund 140 Kilometer südlich der Stadt Rostow am Don befand. Rostow liegt knapp 1.000 Kilometer südlich von Moskau.

In Washington erklärte ein Sprecher des Außenministeriums: "Wir sind offenkundig besorgt über die Nachrichten. Wir verfolgen die Entwicklung genau und versuchen, die Fakten zu ermitteln."

Die Tupolew 154 ist das gebräuchlichste Mittelstreckenflugzeug für Inlandsflüge in Russlands. Die 48 Meter lange Maschine kann bis zu 180 Passagier über rund 4.000 Kilometer transportieren


Translation (with the help of Google :O ) :

Two Russian airplanes of the type Tu-154 fell on the way from Moscow to the south. Both machines disappeared about at the same time from the radar of the air traffic control. Eye-witnesses reported of an explosion before the impact of the first machine. The first machine crashed in the region of Tula close to the villageof Butschalki approximately 180 kilometers south of Moscow, a speaker of the Russian Ministry for disaster control told the press agency Itar tass. Rescue forces are on the way to the crash site. There were 54 passengers and 8 crew members on board. The airplane of the company "Volga Aviaexpress" departed at 6pm from the Muscovite airport Domodjedowo. Around 7pm the machine disappeared off the radar of air traffic control. Eye-witnesses reported to have seen an explosion, before the airplane impacted on the ground. Nearly at the same time air traffic control lost a second airplane off radar. The machine of the same type was with 44 passengers on the way from Moscow to the health resort Sotschi at the black sea, reported the Ministry for disaster control. The contact broke off, when the machine was approximately 140 kilometers south the city Rostow at the Don. Rostow lies about 1,000 kilometers south of Moscow. In Washington a speaker of the State Department explained: "We are obviously anxious over the messages. We pursue the development exactly and try to determine the facts." The Tupolev 154 is the most common medium-haul aircraft for inland flights in Russia. The 48 meters long machine can transport up to 180 Passenger over approximately 4,000 kilometers .

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe...ash/index.html

that can be nothing else since they left the same airport. bombs

That's what we said abot TWA800, SR111 and Egypt Air

Two planes from the same airport go down within 3 minutes of each other, neither made mayday calls, eyewitnesses saw explosion while the plane was in the air. Its pretty clear its terrorism.

Russian president has now asked the FSB security services to investigate. FSB usually only get involved in suspicious circumstances. Russian news agencies are also reporting russian airports stepping up security after crash.

Any chance it was a mid air ?