Tupolev TU-154

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-85321

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Almaty - Barnaul - Chita - Khabarovsk

MSN:

79A321

YOM:

1979

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

174

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

On final approach to Chita-Kadala Airport, the aircraft was too high on the glide and the captain did not want to initiate a go-around. So, he pushed on the control column and the aircraft nosed down and struck the ground 240 meters past the runway 11 threshold. Upon impact, the nose gear was torn off. The aircraft continued for few hundred meters then veered off runway to the right and came to rest in flames in a grassy area, broken in two. All 184 occupants were rescued, among them four were injured. The aircraft

Probable cause:

Wrong approach configuration on part of the crew who failed to perform a go around manoeuvre while the position of the aircraft on the glide was against published procedures. The following contributing factors were reported:
- The crew made an incomplete approach briefing,
- The crew failed to follow the points mentioned on the approach charts prior to reach the approach circuit,
- The crew failed to follow the procedures related to flaps and undercarriage,
- The altitude of the aircraft over the inner marker was 1,030 meters instead of the prescribed 750 meters,
- The speed of the aircraft was 90 km/h over the prescribed approach speed,
- Wrong decisions on part of the crew,
- Poor crew coordination.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-154B-1 off Nouadhibou: 1 killed

Date & Time: Aug 7, 1980 at 0304 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

YR-TPH

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Bucharest – Nouadhibou

MSN:

78A277

YOM:

1978

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

162

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

On a night approach to Nouadhibou Airport, the crew encountered limited visibility. When the aircraft reached the decision height of 300 feet on final, a missed approach procedure was initiated when the captain thought he had a visual contact with the runway. He decided to continue the approach when the airplane contacted water and crashed into the sea less than one km short of runway threshold. A passenger was killed while 18 others were injured. The airplane was destroyed,

Probable cause:

Controlled flight into terrain (water) after the crew continued the approach after passing the decision height in marginal and limited visibility.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-154B-2 in Almaty: 166 killed

Date & Time: Jul 8, 1980 at 0039 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-85355

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Almaty - Rostov-on-Don - Simferopol

MSN:

79A355

YOM:

1979

Flight number:

SU4225

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

156

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

166

Aircraft flight hours:

2438

Aircraft flight cycles:

1124

Circumstances:

Following a night takeoff from Almaty Airport, while climbing to a height of 120-150 meters, at a speed of 355 km/h, the airplane entered an area of very high outside temperatures (between +30 and +40° C.). High winds and downdrafts were encountered as well. The airplane nosed down then descended and struck the ground at a speed of 400 km/h some 3,996 meters from the end of the runway. It struck a farm, exploded and crashed. None of the 166 occupants survived the crash and nine people on the ground were injured, three seriously. Debris scattered on 840 meters long and 130 meters wide.

Probable cause:

The accident was the consequence of the impact on the aircraft of an unpredictable, rarely encountered intense atmospheric turbulences area with downdrafts up to 14 meters per second (50 km/h) and a tailwind up to 20 meters per second (72 km/h). The following contributing factors were reported:
- The airplane was operated with a total weight close to the maximum allowable for those conditions,
- The high altitude of the airport,
- A high OAT.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-154A in Orenburg

Date & Time: Mar 1, 1980

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-85103

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Simferopol - Sochi - Orenburg - Novosibirsk

MSN:

75A-103

YOM:

1975

Flight number:

SU3324

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

152

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

6922

Aircraft flight cycles:

3075

Circumstances:

On final approach to Orenburg, the aircraft dropped below the glide path and the crew did not take the decision to attempt a go around. The three engine aircraft hit the ground 68 meters short of runway threshold with a positive aerodynamic force of 3 g, bounced and touched down again 635 meters further. On the second touchdown, the positive aerodynamic force was 3,9 g, causing the aircraft to brake in two. The airplane went out of control and eventually came to rest. Two crew members and one passenger were injured.

Probable cause:

Wrong approach configuration on part of the crew who failed to follow the approach checklist and published procedures. A series of errors and omissions on part of the flying crew led the aircraft descending below the glideslope and despite several alarms sounded, the captain failed to attempt a go-around manoeuvre. An inappropriate usage of approach charts, stabilizers at -5,5°, flaps at 45° and procedures violation caused the airplane to follow a wrong approach path. Also, the controller in charge of the approaches cleared the crew to land in lieu of giving the instruction to initiate a go-around.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-154B in Maksatikha: 4 killed

Date & Time: May 19, 1978 at 1332 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-85169

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Baku - Leningrad

MSN:

76A169

YOM:

1976

Flight number:

SU6709

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

126

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

3308

Aircraft flight cycles:

1567

Circumstances:

While cruising at an altitude of 9,600 meters on a flight from Baku to Leningrad, all three engines stopped simultaneously. Shortly later, all generators failed as well, causing the electrical system to be inoperative. Unable to maintain altitude and speed that dropped to 370 km/h, the crew attempted an emergency landing in an open field. After touchdown, the airplane slid for 1,518 meters, struck various obstacles and came to rest in flames. Four passengers were killed while 130 other occupants were rescued, some of them were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

Probable cause:

In-flight failure of all three engines after the fuel transfer system failed while being connected on manual mode. Technical analysis were unable to determine the exact cause of the fuel transfer system failure but it is possible this was caused by the malfunction or the failure of a switch or other electrical components.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-154 near Damascus: 4 killed

Date & Time: Mar 23, 1978

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

LZ-BTB

Flight Phase:

Damascus Governorate (مُحافظة دمشق‎)

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Sofia - Damascus - Sharjah

MSN:

72A027

YOM:

1972

Location:

Damascus

Country:

Syria

Region:

Asia

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

7800

Circumstances:

On approach to Damascus Airport, the crew failed to realize his altitude was too low when the three engine airplane struck the slope of a mountain located 22 km from the airport. The aircraft was destroyed and all four crew members were killed. They were performing a cargo flight from Sofia to Sharjah with an intermediate stop in Damascus.

Ground fire in a Tupolev TU-154A in Novosibirsk

Date & Time: Feb 18, 1978

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-85087

Flight Phase:

Parking

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

MSN:

74A-087

YOM:

1974

Location:

Novosibirsk-Tolmachevo

Novosibirsk oblast

Country:

Russia

Region:

Asia

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While parked at Tolmachevo Airport with negative temperatures, ground employees in charge to clean the cabin installed a heater on a vehicle to heat the cabin. The aircraft engineer who performed the work left the operating heater unattended and left. At the same time, an oily rag was forgotten in front of the inlet of the air heater, which was subsequently drawn into the air heater, caught fire and was thrown through the sleeve into the aircraft cabin. The fire was not detected rapidly so it spread in the cabin and destroyed a large part of the aircraft. There were no injuries.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-154A near Al Bayda: 59 killed

Date & Time: Dec 2, 1977

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

LZ-BTN

Flight Phase:

Charter/Taxi (Non Scheduled Revenue Flight)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Jabal al Akhdar (الجبل الاخضر)

Site:

Desert

Schedule:

Mecca - Benghazi - Tripoli

MSN:

74A054

YOM:

1974

Location:

Al Bayda

Country:

Libya

Region:

Africa

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

159

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

3700

Circumstances:

The aircraft was completing a charter flight from Mecca to Tripoli with an intermediate stop in Benghazi, carrying Libyan pilgrims flying back home. While descending to Benghazi Airport, the crew was instructed by ATC to divert to Al Bayda as the airport was closed due to foggy conditions. In the area of Al Bayda, the crew was unable to locate the airport due to fog and completed several circuits when the airplane ran out of fuel. The pilot-in-command attempted an emergency landing in a desert area located few km from Al Bayda Airport when the aircraft crashed. 59 passengers were killed while 46 others occupants were injured and 60 escaped uninjured.

Probable cause:

Forced landing following a fuel exhaustion.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-154 in Kiev

Date & Time: Dec 31, 1976

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-85020

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site: