Aeroflot Flight 821

Infobox Aircraft accident


caption = Aeroflot-Nord Boeing 737-505 (VP-BKO)
name = Aeroflot Flight 821
date = 14 September 2008
type = Under investigation
site = Perm, Russia
fatalities = 88
aircraft_type = Boeing 737-505cite web
url=http://www.planesregister.com/aircraft/b737-25792.htm
title=VP-BKO Boeing 737 MSN 25792 - Planesregister.com
publisher=planesregister.com
date=17 September 2008
language=English]
operator = Aeroflot-Nord
registration = VP-BKO
origin = Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russia
destination = Bolshoye Savino Airport, Perm, Russia
tail_number = VP-BKO
passengers = 82
crew = 6
survivors = 0
coords = coord|57|58|17|N|56|12|54|E|display=inline,title
aircraft_name =
stopover =
stopover0 =
stopover1 =
stopover2 =
stopover3 =
last_stopover = |

Aeroflot Flight 821, operated by Aeroflot-Nord in a service agreement with Aeroflot and as its subsidiary, [cite pressrelease
url=http://www.aeroflot.ru/eng/about.aspx?ob_no=549&d_no=11497
title=A Boeing-737 belonging to Aeroflot-Nord crashed today at the airport of Perm
date=2008-09-14
publisher=Aeroflot
accessdate=2008-09-14] crashed on approach to Perm Airport on 14 September 2008.cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7614951.stm
title=Passenger plane crashes in Russia
publisher=BBC News
date=2008-09-14
accessdate=2008-09-14] [cite news
url=http://www.lenta.ru/news/2008/09/14/aircrash/
title=88 человек погибли при крушении "Боинга-737" под Пермью
publisher=Lenta.Ru
date=2008-09-14
accessdate=2008-09-14
language=Russian] [cite news
url=http://www.gazeta.ru/news/lenta/2008/09/14/n_1270150.shtml
title=Самолет в Перми упал недалеко от жилых домов
language=Russian
date=2008-09-14
accessdate=2008-09-14] All 82 passengers and 6 crew members were killed. The weather at the time of accident was rainy and foggy (unbroken clouds at 240m, light rain). The aircraft, a Boeing 737-505 registration VP-BKO, departed from Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport. A part of the Trans-Siberian Railway was also damaged in the crash. [cite web
url=http://gazeta.ru/news/lenta/2008/09/14/n_1270144.shtml
title=При падении Boeing 737 повреждена Транссибирская магистраль
publisher=Gazeta.ru
date=2008-09-14
accessdate=2008-09-14
language=Russian]

Incident

The Boeing 737-505, an aircraft belonging to the Aeroflot subsidiary Aeroflot-Nord but operating as Aeroflot flight SU821 from Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport to Perm (Russia) crashed into a railway line southwest of Perm about 5:10 AM local time (or 13 September 2008, 23:10 PM UTC). City police said the crew attempted emergency landing due to an engine failure. [cite web
url=http://avherald.com/h?article=40cba259
publisher=Aviation Herald
title=Crash: Aeroflot-Nord B735 at Perm on Sep 14th 2008, impacted ground while on approach to Perm
accessdate=2008-09-14] AFP reported 88 including 21 foreigners killed at 5:15 AM (UTC+5).

According to controller's interview given shortly after the disaster, the crew did not respond correctly to ATC commands: after going around, it turned eastward instead of turning westward. However, the crew reported no emergency onboard and confirmed all commands given by ATC.cite web
url=http://www.gazeta.ru/news/lenta/2008/09/14/n_1270291.shtml
title=Диспетчер: экипаж Boeing вел себя неадекватно - Газета.Ru: Хроника дня
publisher=Gazeta.ru
date=
accessdate=2008-09-15
language=Russian] At 5:10 AM, radio contact with the plane was lost; minutes later it crashed in the outskirts of Perm.

Aeroflot-Nord officially stated that: "The Boeing-737 carried 82 passengers on board — including 7 children — and 6 crew... All passengers were killed. As the plane was coming in for landing, it lost communication at the height of convert|1100|m|ft and air controllers lost its blip.cite news |title=88 die in Russian jet crash |page=26 |work=Associated Press |publisher=Toronto Star |date=2008-09-15] The airplane was found within Perm's city limits completely destroyed and on fire." Investigator Vladimir Markin said that "there were 82 passengers plus a baby and 5 crew on board, and by preliminary information, they are all dead as the airplane fell into a ravine near the city limits." RIA Novosti however reported that "it was possible that 3 people who bought a ticket for the ill-fated flight 821 to Perm did not get on board."

Both flight recorders were found and successfully decoded. The airline stated "it pledged to pay compensation on obligatory accident insurance in full, which would make up to 2 million rubles per victim." The crash damaged and shut down a section of the Trans-Siberian Railway; the rail traffic was temporarily re-routed via Chusovaya station, and was restored by the evening of September 14th. The aircraft was leased by Aeroflot-Nord from Dublin-based Pinewatch Limited from July 2008 to March 2013. [cite news
url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gJgjC63RTDeMPUx-47gaOd3xnRFg
publisher=Agence France Press
title=88 including 21 foreigners killed in airplane crash in Russia's Urals] [cite news
url=http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5h5n82mQKM3elWCDfl_6mM8GnSjpg
publisher=ukpress
title=Plane crash kills all on board] [cite news
url=http://www.reuters.fr/news/articlenews.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2008-09-14T055621Z_01_LE463005_RTRUKOC_0_US-RUSSIA-CRASH.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C2-TopNews-newsOne-1 reuters.fr/news
date=2008-09-14
title=Russian Aeroflot plane crashes, 88 people killed]

It was reported that its engines caught fire at an altitude of convert|1000|m|ft. Eyewitness reports stated that the plane was visibly on fire prior to crashing, and hit the ground at a 30-40 degree angle. However, the low clouds (at 240m) must have prevented any witnesses from seeing the plane for more than a few seconds.

The aircraft involved in the crash was delivered on September 8, 1992 to Braathens, and was operated by China Southwest Airlines subsidiary Xiamen Airlines from September 1992 to March 1993. The 737 was then operated by China Southwest Airlines itself until the airline merged with Air China, who operated the aircraft from March 2003 until it was stored in March 2008. Aeroflot-Nord leased the aircraft from Pinewatch Limited, and had operated it since May 29, 2008. [ [http://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-b737-25792.htm http://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-b737-25792.htm] ] cite pressrelease
url=http://www.aeroflot-nord.ru/news/actual/?file=5000171409200829
title= [Clarifying information]
publisher=Aeroflot-Nord
date=14 September 2008
language=Russian] . Pinewatch was incorporated in 1995. [ [http://www.ukdata.com/numbers/E0228369.html "Pinewatch Limited"] ]

Investigation

Russia's Air Accident Investigation Commission of the Interstate Aviation Committee will lead the investigation, with US assistance from the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Authority, and Boeing. [cite press release
url=http://www.ntsb.gov/Pressrel/2008/080914.html
title=NTSB assists government of Russia in aviation accident
date=2008-09-14]

According to the data in flight recorders, the engines did not catch fire and continued working until the impact. The aircraft also did not break into parts in the air, as reported previously by the media. The latest official reports are published at Air Accident Investigation Commission's website at http://www.mak.ru/russian/investigations/2008/boeing-737-500.html (in Russian).

Lawsuit

On October 1, 2008, the mother of a 27-year-old female passenger who died in the accident sued Aeroflot and Moskva Insurance Company for 7,7 million rubles (approximately US$300,000) in punitive damages. [cite news |url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?docsid=1034392 |title=Former Moscow Youth Palace deputy director has her sentence reduced|date=2008-10-02|publisher=Kommersant|accessdate=2008-10-02]

Last minutes of the flight

Irek Birbov, the ATC controller on duty the night of the incident gave an interview where he told about his communication with Flight 821. He said that on final approach the aircraft was too far right of the landing course, and the controller informed the pilot about that, who corrected the approach course.

But instead of descending to land, the plane then went up. ATC controller noticed this also and reportedly radioed the aircraft with this message : "According to my data, you are climbing. Confirm current altitude 900m." The aircraft should have been at an altitude of 600m at that time to descend further 300m. The pilot replied "Affirmative, we are descending" and initiated a climb to about 1200m, at which point he could no longer catch the glideslope. The controller instructed the pilot to turn right and go around. The pilot acknowledged but did not execute this instruction - instead, he turned left and asked to continue his approach. The controller asked whether everything was all right, the pilots confirmed this also and the controller then insisted that the aircraft circle, instructing them to switch to another ATC controller. The pilots, however, never contacted the other ATC and started to descend quickly. When they were at about 600m, the controller radioed the plane to maintain 600m. The only thing he heard from pilots was "Aaa shit!" . A moment later the controller saw the explosion in the outskirts of the city. [cite pressrelease
url=http://www.rian.ru/society/20080915/151274111.html
title=Диспетчер о последних минутах перед авиакатастрофой в Перми
publisher=rian.ru
date=2008-09-15
accessdate=2008-09-15]

Crew

According to early claims of Aeroflot-Nord representatives, the crew was described as very experienced one and one of the best in the company. Captain Rodion Medvedev had a flight record of 3689 hours while First Officer Rustam Allaberdin had 8713. Later it was revealed that Medvedev's flight record as a captain was 452 hours and that Allaberdin's experience of Boeing 737's piloting was just 219 hours. For the most part of their careers Medvedev and Allaberdin were piloting Tu-134 and An-2 respectively. [http://www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2008/71/10.html]

Casualties

Notable deaths

* Gennady Troshev, Colonel General in the Russian military, formerly the commander of the North Caucasus Military District (including Chechnya) during the Second Chechen War and adviser to the President of Russia. [cite web|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080914/ts_nm/russia_crash_dc |title=Russian plane crash kills 88, faulty engine blamed - Yahoo! News |publisher=News.yahoo.com |date= |accessdate=2008-09-15]
* Two senior officials of Russian Federation of Sambo.
* Alexander Trofimov, a member of the Chuvash Republic parliament.

References

Further reading

[http://www.aeroflot-nord.ru/news/actual/?file=3431101409200862 Aeroflot Nord (press release)] 2008-09-14

External links

* [http://www.lenta.ru/news/2008/09/14/list/spisok.htm Lenta.ru page listing passengers of the flight]
* [http://www.aeroflot.ru/eng/about.aspx?ob_no=549 Aeroflot news archive]
* [http://www.aeroflot.ru/eng/about.aspx?ob_no=549&d_no=11538 Aeroflot page listing passengers of the flight]