RusAir Flight 9605
Encyclopedia
RusAir Flight 9605 was a scheduled RusAir
flight, operated as a RusLine
service between Domodedovo International Airport
and Petrozavodsk Airport
using Tupolev Tu-134A-3
equipment, that crashed on approach to Petrozavodsk shortly after 23:40 local time (19:40 UTC
) on 20 June 2011, killing 45 people and injuring seven more. By 26 June 2011, two more people had died in hospital from injuries received during the crash, bringing the total number of fatalities to 47, with an additional five people injured.
, registration
RA-65691, c/n 63195. It was manufactured and first flown in 1980.
highway while on final approach to Petrozavodsk Airport, about 1200 m (3,937 ft) short of the runway. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. The crash happened about midnight local time in reportedly poor weather, including heavy fog
and the aircraft had apparently attempted to land on the highway before crashing. The head of the federal air transport agency said the plane had hit a 15 metres (49.2 ft) tall pine tree before it crashed, adding that there was no fire or explosion on board the aircraft before the incident.
According to airport officials, the plane was flying off-course by about 200 meters and started its descent much earlier than appropriate. Petrozavodsk
ground control said they recommended the pilots take a second approach due to the low visibility and bad weather conditions. The pilot, according to the official, replied that he would attempt the first approach and said he could land the plane. According to the office of the emergency ministry in Karelia
, the republic in which the incident occurred, radio contact with the plane had been lost at 23:40 local time (19:40 UTC
), shortly before the aircraft crashed.
Three people who survived the initial crash later died of their injuries.
was among the dead, as well the CEO and chief designer of Gidropress Sergei Ryzhov, and the deputy CEO and chief designer, Gennady Banyuk, also the chief designer of the Russian VVER
-1000 for the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant
in India and Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant
in Iran, Nikolai Trunov.
with doctors and psychologists on board.
On 23 June, at a conference of senior Russian government officials, it was announced that as a result of the incident the government planned to remove all Tu-134s from commercial service, as well as ban the operation of aircraft carrying more than nine people or weighing more than 5700 kilograms (12,566.3 lb) lacking a ground proximity warning system
.
Both the flight data recorder
and the cockpit voice recorder
have been recovered.
ITAR-TASS
reported initial speculation by a law enforcement official in the area that the aircraft might have suffered mechanical problems while approaching the airport, possibly leading to a decision to land on the highway. However, preliminary investigation by the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) ruled out technical failure as a possible cause of the crash. Pilot error has been identified as the most likely cause.
In September 2011, the report into the crash was published by the MAK; according to the committee, the primary cause of the incident was the failure of the crew to perform a go-around, with contributing factors including a slightly drunk navigator and poor communication among the cockpit crew. The navigator’s alcohol level was 0.8‰, and he actively encouraged the captain to make the landing. The captain’s submission to the navigator’s will and the decision to land with no visibility were cited as causes of the crash.
RusAir
RusAir is an airline with its headquarters in Moscow, Russia. It provides aviation services within western Russia and eastern Europe, including business flights, aviation management and project support. It also offers international medevac services....
flight, operated as a RusLine
RusLine
RusLine is an airline based in the Omega Plaza business centre in Moscow, Russia. It operates scheduled flights out of its bases Domodedovo International Airport, Yekaterinburg Airport, Krasnodar International Airport and Volgograd International Airport.-History:The airline originally had its hub...
service between Domodedovo International Airport
Domodedovo International Airport
Moscow Domodedovo Airport or Domodedovo International Airport is an international airport located in Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia, south-southeast of the centre of Moscow...
and Petrozavodsk Airport
Petrozavodsk Airport
Petrozavodsk Airport is a joint civil-military airport in Russia located northwest of Petrozavodsk in Besovets, Shuya Rural Settlement . It services small airliners. It is a minor airfield with 12 parking stands and a small amount of tarmac space.The airfield has seen military use as an...
using Tupolev Tu-134A-3
Tupolev Tu-134
The Tupolev Tu-134 is a twin-engined airliner, similar to the American Douglas DC-9 and the French Sud Aviation Caravelle, and built in the Soviet Union from 1966–1984. The original version featured a glazed-nose design and, like certain other Russian airliners , it can operate from unpaved...
equipment, that crashed on approach to Petrozavodsk shortly after 23:40 local time (19:40 UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
) on 20 June 2011, killing 45 people and injuring seven more. By 26 June 2011, two more people had died in hospital from injuries received during the crash, bringing the total number of fatalities to 47, with an additional five people injured.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was a Tupolev Tu-134A-3Tupolev Tu-134
The Tupolev Tu-134 is a twin-engined airliner, similar to the American Douglas DC-9 and the French Sud Aviation Caravelle, and built in the Soviet Union from 1966–1984. The original version featured a glazed-nose design and, like certain other Russian airliners , it can operate from unpaved...
, registration
Aircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
RA-65691, c/n 63195. It was manufactured and first flown in 1980.
Incident
The aircraft crashed onto the A133Russian federal highways
Russian federal highways are the most important highways in Russia which are the federal property. The following motorways are designated as federal.*All highways...
highway while on final approach to Petrozavodsk Airport, about 1200 m (3,937 ft) short of the runway. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. The crash happened about midnight local time in reportedly poor weather, including heavy fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
and the aircraft had apparently attempted to land on the highway before crashing. The head of the federal air transport agency said the plane had hit a 15 metres (49.2 ft) tall pine tree before it crashed, adding that there was no fire or explosion on board the aircraft before the incident.
According to airport officials, the plane was flying off-course by about 200 meters and started its descent much earlier than appropriate. Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia. It stretches along the western shore of the Lake Onega for some . The city is served by Petrozavodsk Airport. Municipally, it is incorporated as Petrozavodsky Urban Okrug . Population:...
ground control said they recommended the pilots take a second approach due to the low visibility and bad weather conditions. The pilot, according to the official, replied that he would attempt the first approach and said he could land the plane. According to the office of the emergency ministry in Karelia
Republic of Karelia
The Republic of Karelia is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:The republic is located in the northwestern part of Russia, taking intervening position between the basins of White and Baltic seas...
, the republic in which the incident occurred, radio contact with the plane had been lost at 23:40 local time (19:40 UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
), shortly before the aircraft crashed.
Casualties
There were 43 passengers and nine crewmembers on board the aircraft, a total of 52, of which 47 were killed and the remaining 5 injured. Of the survivors, one was a flight attendant. The other crew members were among the fatalities.| Nationality | Dead | Injured |
|---|---|---|
 RussianRussians The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.... |
38 | 5 |
| Russian Russians The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.... /  American (multiple citizenshipMultiple citizenship Multiple citizenship is a status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a citizen under the laws of more than one state. Multiple citizenships exist because different countries use different, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, citizenship requirements... ) |
4 | |
 UkrainianUkraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia... |
2 | |
 BelarusianBelarus Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,... |
1 | |
 DutchNetherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
1 | |
 SwedishSweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
1 | |
| Total | 47 | 5 |
Three people who survived the initial crash later died of their injuries.
Notable casualties
FIFA football referee Vladimir PettayVladimir Pettay
Vladimir Leonidovich Pettay was a Russian international football referee.Pettay was born in Pudozh. In 1992 he played 24 matches as a midfielder for second-league Karelia of Petrozavodsk, scoring two goals. He later played for the first-league futsal team GTS Petrozavodsk. He began his career...
was among the dead, as well the CEO and chief designer of Gidropress Sergei Ryzhov, and the deputy CEO and chief designer, Gennady Banyuk, also the chief designer of the Russian VVER
VVER
The VVER, or WWER, is a series of pressurised water reactors originally developed by the Soviet Union, and now Russia, by OKB Gidropress. Power output ranges from 440 MWe to 1200 MWe with the latest Russian development of the design...
-1000 for the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant
Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant
Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power station currently under construction in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu...
in India and Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant
Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant
The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Iran southeast of the city of Bushehr, between the fishing villages of Halileh and Bandargeh along the Persian Gulf. The plant is located at the junction of three tectonic plates....
in Iran, Nikolai Trunov.
Aftermath
By around 01:00 on 21 June, the fire at the crash site had been extinguished§ Those injured were initially sent to local hospitals, but it was planned to transport them on to Moscow via an Ilyushin Il-76Ilyushin Il-76
The Ilyushin Il-76 is a multi-purpose four-engined strategic airlifter designed by Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a commercial freighter in 1967. Intended as a replacement for the Antonov An-12, the Il-76 was designed for delivering heavy machinery to remote, poorly-serviced areas...
with doctors and psychologists on board.
On 23 June, at a conference of senior Russian government officials, it was announced that as a result of the incident the government planned to remove all Tu-134s from commercial service, as well as ban the operation of aircraft carrying more than nine people or weighing more than 5700 kilograms (12,566.3 lb) lacking a ground proximity warning system
Ground Proximity Warning System
A ground proximity warning system is a system designed to alert pilots if their aircraft is in immediate danger of flying into the ground or an obstacle. The United States Federal Aviation Administration defines GPWS as a type of terrain awareness warning system...
.
Investigation
According to an official at Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations, an investigation into the incident began shortly after the crash. According to Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin various possible causes for the accident are being studied, including human error, while a criminal case into the crash has also been launched..Both the flight data recorder
Flight data recorder
A flight data recorder is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters...
and the cockpit voice recorder
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
have been recovered.
ITAR-TASS
Information Telegraph Agency of Russia
The Information Telegraph Agency of Russia , is the major news agency of Russia. It is headquartered in Moscow.- History :Its origin is in a letter sent by Finance Minister Vladimir Kokovtsov to foreign minister in March 1904 writing that "our trade and industrial circles, as well as the Finance...
reported initial speculation by a law enforcement official in the area that the aircraft might have suffered mechanical problems while approaching the airport, possibly leading to a decision to land on the highway. However, preliminary investigation by the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) ruled out technical failure as a possible cause of the crash. Pilot error has been identified as the most likely cause.
In September 2011, the report into the crash was published by the MAK; according to the committee, the primary cause of the incident was the failure of the crew to perform a go-around, with contributing factors including a slightly drunk navigator and poor communication among the cockpit crew. The navigator’s alcohol level was 0.8‰, and he actively encouraged the captain to make the landing. The captain’s submission to the navigator’s will and the decision to land with no visibility were cited as causes of the crash.
External links
- Rusair
- Petrozavodsk air crash
- Ministry of Emergency Situations
- "At 06.45 MSK 21 June 2011 an EMERCOM plane Il-76 landed at the airport of Petrozavodsk."
- "The list of passengers and crew members of Tu-134 airplane (as of 08:00 MSK 21 June 2011) hard-landed near Petrozavodsk."
- "Composite group of EMERCOM psychologists are rendering psychological help to relatives of the dead and injured, as well as witnesses of the plane crash."
- "Министр Татьяна Голикова: готовится медицинская эвакуация шести пострадавших из Петрозаводска в Москву." – Ministry of Health and Social DevelopmentMinistry of Health and Social DevelopmentThe Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation is an agency of the government of Russia, headquartered in Moscow. As of 2010 Tatyana Golikova is the minister.-External links:* *...
- "21 июня Ту-134 RA-65691." Interstate Aviation Committee