The crash of the Tu-154 aircraft of the 223rd flight detachment of the Russian Ministry of Defense became one of the biggest tragedies of the past year. There were 92 people on board the liner, all of them died. In each such case, the emergence of different versions of what happened is inevitable. Lenta.ru tried to figure out what was happening.

NB: Everything said below about the causes of the plane crash is a presentation of versions that have not yet been officially confirmed. Until the publication of official conclusions about the results of the investigation into the causes of the disaster, none of these versions can be considered true.

Circumstances

The Tu-154B-2 aircraft, tail number RA-85572, produced in 1983 at the Kuibyshev Aviation Plant (now the Aviakor plant), was operated almost all the time by the Ministry of Defense - first as part of the 8th Special Purpose Air Division of the USSR Air Force, then created in 1993 of the 223rd flying detachment.

As of the day of the disaster, the aircraft had about 11 percent of its flight life with an average flight time of just over 200 hours per year, which is relatively little for passenger airliners, which in civil aviation are operated with an intensity of 1000 or more hours per year. The assigned service life of the aircraft was 37,500 hours, or 16 thousand landings, and it could be extended to 60 thousand hours and 22 thousand landings.

Tu-154B-2 has currently been taken out of commercial service due to non-compliance with accepted noise standards and high fuel consumption, but military vehicles still remain in service.

The aircraft operator - the 223rd flight detachment of the Ministry of Defense, a Russian state aviation enterprise - provides air transportation in the interests of government agencies and performs irregular cargo and Passenger Transportation, usually, personnel armed forces. The enterprise was organized on the basis of the 8th special purpose aviation division (8 adOSNAZ, 8 adon) of the Russian Air Force in Chkalovsky in accordance with the presidential order Russian Federation dated January 15, 1993 No. 37-rp “On ensuring the activities of the 223rd and 224th flight detachments of the Russian Ministry of Defense” for air transport in the interests of government agencies.

The plane took off from the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow and was supposed to land for refueling in Mozdok, but due to weather conditions the refueling airfield was changed to Sochi. The airliner took off from Sochi at 05:25 and fell, according to available data, spending two minutes in the air before the crash.

The flight's destination was the Russian Khmeimim airbase in Syria. The plane of the artists of the Alexandrov military ensemble, journalists and the military personnel accompanying them. In addition, Elizaveta Glinka, known as Doctor Lisa, and the head of the Department of Culture of the Ministry of Defense Anton Gubankov were on board.

Versions

The main publicly discussed versions of what happened come down to three: equipment malfunction, pilot error, terrorist attack. A concomitant factor to the first two could be the weather, but the available data on the actual weather conditions in Sochi at the time of the disaster indicate that they were quite acceptable:

Visibility 10 kilometers or more. Cloudiness in several layers: the lower layer is 5-7 octants (eighths), with a lower edge of 1000 meters, above it there is another layer, continuous with a lower edge of 2800 meters, temperature +5, dew point +1, pressure approximately 763 millimeters of mercury. The runways are dry. East wind 5 meters per second. At sea - wave height is up to 0.1 meters.

All three versions can neither be confirmed nor excluded before the official conclusions of the investigation commission, but you can try to “lay out on the table” the available information, at least in order to organize it.

The last time the RA-85572 aircraft was repaired was in December 2014, and in September 2016 it underwent scheduled maintenance. The aircraft's total flight time over 33 years of operation was 6,689 hours.

This age and service life are completely normal for aircraft in military service. Thus, one of the main cargo-passenger aircraft of the US Air Force, the C-135 Stratolifter, built from 1956 to 1965, still remains in operation, and the total service life of these aircraft may approach a century - they will remain in the Air Force until at least 2040 -s.

The Tu-154 itself is a reliable aircraft, however, no aircraft are insured against technical problems, and, of course, this version will be one of the main ones.

The crew of the crashed airliner is described as experienced. The Tu-154 plane that crashed in the Black Sea was flown by first class pilot Roman Volkov.

“The Tu-154 military transport aircraft of the Russian Ministry of Defense was flown by an experienced pilot Roman Aleksandrovich Volkov. Roman Volkov is a first class pilot. The total flight time is more than three thousand hours,” the military department told a TASS correspondent.

Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Petukhov, the navigator of the crashed Tu-154B-2, took part in the rescue of "" in April 2011. Then a plane of the same model landed at Chkalovsky airport with a faulty control system. The Tu-154B-2 RA-88563 was planned to be transported to Samara for repairs. After the plane took off, problems were discovered in its control system. The plane began to sway in the air and bounce, which was noticeable from the ground. Journalists later called the liner dancing.

Nevertheless, the plane was returned to the runway in Chkalovsky thanks to the skillful actions of the crew. Petukhov was the navigator of the “dancing liner”, along with his colleagues he was awarded the Order of Courage.

At the same time, taking off from coastal airfields has always been not the easiest procedure, and the Tu-154, especially in the “B” version, is described by many pilots as a fairly strict aircraft to fly, placing high demands on the pilot, which also does not allow one to dismiss the version out of hand possible tragic mistake. According to civil aviation pilots, a little over three thousand hours of experience for the commander of a machine of this class is insufficient.

Finally, given the political situation, the possibility of a terrorist attack cannot be ruled out, including due to the specific features of the organization of military flights. Unfortunately, the stringency of screening and security on military passenger flights is much less than on commercial airlines. As noted by many military personnel and civilians who have experience flying Ministry of Defense aircraft from Chkalovsky and other military airfields, pre-flight inspection on such flights it often comes down to an empty formality in the form of checking passenger lists with documents, especially when “your” team is flying. When flying abroad - to Syria, for example - it is somewhat stricter (border formalities are included), but even in this case it does not compare with traditional measures at most civilian airports developed countries.

Under these conditions, it is possible to assume the presence of an explosive device on board, which could have been placed in the luggage of the liner during loading or carried on board during an intermediate landing in Sochi. In any case, the possibility of such a development of events is not excluded by the special services, which began checking those who could have access to the plane at the departure airport and in Sochi.

A variation of the version of the terrorist attack is the assumption put forward in some media about an attack on an airplane using a man-portable anti-aircraft missile system, which could have been carried out by terrorists either from a boat or from a residential area on the coast, but this option is hardly possible, given that lost airliner was supposed to land in Mozdok, and if they intended to attack him during landing/takeoff from the refueling airfield, they would have been waiting for him there.

One way or another, the investigation has just begun. A plane crashing into the sea can seriously complicate it - a steep drop in depth in the Sochi area, where the continental slope at an angle of 45 degrees drops sharply downwards, 500, 1000 or more meters, and a thick layer of silt will greatly complicate the search for the wreckage of the airliner. The Il-18V aircraft that crashed in the same area in 1972 fell a little further from the coast - at a distance of about 10 kilometers, but its debris went to a depth of 500 to 1000 meters, and neither large parts of the fuselage and wings, nor flight recorders could be found .

Given these conditions, every hour matters: with every hour, the wreckage that has sunk under water will sink deeper and deeper. This, obviously, is understood by all responsible persons - the diving elite of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Russian Navy is being transferred to Sochi - deep-sea divers from all four fleets, with special equipment and underwater vehicles.

How the Tu-154 fell

The Tu-154 aircraft of the Ministry of Defense took off after refueling in Sochi towards Syria at 5:25 am on December 25 and disappeared from radar screens at 5:27. The last flight of the Tu-154 lasted 70 seconds: the plane rose to a height of 250 meters at a speed of 360-370 kilometers per hour. When it hit the water and the bottom of the Black Sea, the liner was completely destroyed.

“There was an abnormal operation of equipment on board,” Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said. The commander of the Tu-154, Roman Volkov, reported the incident to dispatchers, as follows from the transcript of the on-board voice recorder. One phrase from the conversation between the pilots indicates the “development of a special situation” on board, which lasted about 10 seconds, said Sergei Baynetov, head of the aviation safety service of the Russian Armed Forces.

Information from the parametric black box, which experts are deciphering, does not yet confirm that aircraft There was a equipment failure. “Based on a preliminary assessment of the parametric information, there are no obvious failures,” a Defense Ministry spokesman said. He noted that not all Tu-154 instruments have yet been recovered from the bottom of the Black Sea.

During an emergency situation, “Flaps, bitch, what the f**k,” Life wrote on December 27. Defense Ministry spokesman Sergei Baynetov refused to comment on this: “I cannot tell you about the flaps and other things that we heard.”

Before the crash, the Tu-154 tried to make a maneuver to the right and was flying with its nose highly raised, “it was dangling from side to side” and it fell into the water with a left bank at a speed of about 510 kilometers per hour, TASS wrote on December 27, citing sources. However, the Ministry of Defense officially reported that it is “premature” to say what the angle of the collision was.

Versions of the Tu-154 crash

After the crash of the Ministry of Defense plane, the investigation participants considered 15 versions of the plane crash, but after deciphering the first black box, 7 versions remained. There is no priority among them. Experts are considering four “standard” versions of the plane crash:

  • human factor
  • equipment failure
  • wind shear
  • bird strike

They are also considering a version of a terrorist attack. “A terrorist attack is not necessarily an explosion; it could also be a mechanical impact. This version is also being considered by the commission,” said a representative of the Ministry of Defense. He noted that during refueling in Sochi, only employees of the Russian FSB border service boarded the plane.

No other versions of the crash have been reported. To the FSB on December 26: foreign objects entering the engine, low-quality fuel, piloting error, technical malfunction of the aircraft.

The plane could have crashed due to equipment failure and pilot error, as indicated by the decoding of the main (parametric) black box, an anonymous source told Interfax on December 28.

The Russian Transport Minister called on journalists not to spread unofficial versions crash until the final work of the commission conducting the investigation.

The funerals of the dead have begun

No survivors were found at the Tu-154 crash site. By official information, rescuers discovered 19 corpses and several hundred fragments of the bodies of the dead.

December 28 at the federal military memorial cemetery in Mytishchi the first person to die in a plane crash. Many victims of the plane crash will be buried after genetic examinations are completed. The necessary materials were taken from all the relatives of the victims.

The head of the Fair Aid Foundation, Elizaveta Glinka (Doctor Lisa), who was on board the plane, may be buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. The city authorities have made such a request. The Presidential Human Rights Council wants to hold an evening in memory of Doctor Lisa on the 40th day after her death.

At 5.27 Moscow time after takeoff from the Sochi airfield, located in the city district of Adler. The plane was performing a scheduled flight on the route Moscow - Khmeimim (Latakia, Syrian Arab Republic).

Artists of the Academic Twice Red Banner Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army named after A.V. Alexandrova in front Russian soldiers and officers. Among the dead were the artistic director of the group, People's Artist of Russia, Lieutenant General Valery Khalilov, deputy head of the ensemble Andrei Sonnikov, chief choirmaster Konstantin Mayorov, and five soloists. In total, the ensemble lost almost half of its creative staff.

The plane, flying from the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow to the Syrian Khmeimim airfield, was supposed to refuel in Mozdok. However, due to bad weather, the Tu-154 was sent to Sochi. Upon arrival at Adler airport, the plane was taken under guard by employees Border Service FSB of Russia and military personnel of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Employee coast guard The border troops of the FSB, who witnessed the crash of the Tu-154, said that before the disaster with “an unnaturally raised nose.” The border guard was on a boat in the Black Sea. According to him, the plane, instead of gaining altitude, began to quickly descend towards the surface of the sea, as if about to land, and the next moment it touched the surface of the water with its tail, which fell off upon impact.

The maximum altitude to which the plane rose was about 250 meters, and the speed was within 360-370 kilometers per hour.

To eliminate the consequences of the aviation accident, the work of operational headquarters and operational groups of the Southern Regional Center and the Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations for the Krasnodar Territory was organized. In cooperation with the relevant structures of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Rosaviation, Rosmorrechflot, Border Directorate of the FSB of Russia, Ministry of Health of Russia, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Investigative Committee of Russia and government authorities Krasnodar region search and rescue operations were organized. They were carried out by a force totaling about 3.6 thousand people, using more than 500 pieces of equipment, 45 watercraft, 15 aircraft, 16 helicopters and 20 unmanned aerial vehicles. Search work was carried out using modern underwater robotic systems. Psychological support and medical assistance were provided to the families of the victims.

December 26, 2016 was declared a day of mourning in the Russian Federation in connection with the plane crash of a Tu-154 plane near Sochi.

In the area of ​​the search operation at a distance of 1700 meters from coastline along the take-off axis of the aircraft by divers at the bottom of the Black Sea. By acoustic means in this place the radius of their dispersion was determined, which was about 500 meters.

The main phase of the search rescue operation at the site of the plane crash. Rescuers brought to the surface all the main fragments of the crashed plane.

Complete search work in the Black Sea at the Tu-154 crash site.

More than half of the victims of the Tu-154 plane crash over the Black Sea in the Moscow region. After the funeral was completed, a memorial stone was placed at the burial sites of the victims.

On the fact of the Tu-154 crash, the military investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Sochi garrison on the grounds of a crime under Article 351 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of flight rules resulting in grave consequences). Head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin. On his instructions, a criminal case was opened for further investigation.

Issues related to establishing the causes of the disaster. In addition to the military, it includes representatives of the Ministry of Transport, the Interstate Aviation Committee, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Tupolev aviation concern.

Specialists and the laboratory and research base of the scientific and technical center of the Interstate Aviation Committee are also involved in the investigation of the disaster.

At the beginning of the investigation aviation accident The commission accepted more than 15 versions of this incident. The FSB called the main versions: foreign objects getting into the engine, low-quality fuel, pilot error and technical malfunction. Signs and facts indicating the possibility of committing a terrorist act or sabotage on board an aircraft. Flight recorders raised from the water made it possible to reduce the number of versions of what happened by half.

Based on the results of the investigation, it was established that the cause of the incident could have been a violation of the spatial orientation (situational awareness) of the aircraft commander, which led to his erroneous actions with the aircraft controls.

A genetic examination of the bodies of those killed in the Tu-154 plane crash near Sochi will be carried out by forensic experts from the Russian Ministry of Defense. This was announced by the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov.

“A decision was made to deliver all those killed in the Tu-154 plane crash of the Russian Ministry of Defense to Moscow for identification and genetic examination by specialists of the 111th Main State Center for Forensic and Criminalistic Expertise of the Russian Ministry of Defense,” Konashenkov said at a briefing.

On the morning of December 25, information appeared that a Tu-154 Russian Ministry of Defense aircraft flying from Sochi to the Khmeimim airbase disappeared from radar.

Something extreme happened in Tu-154 before the crash, expert

The fall of the Tu-154 into the Black Sea immediately after takeoff from Adler airport could have been preceded by an extreme situation on board, which did not allow the crew to transmit a distress signal to the ground, says former shift manager of the main center of the unified air traffic management system of Russia Vitaly Andreev.

“After take-off and a short flight - two minutes - the plane lost contact and did not transmit a signal to the ground about any problems, this may indicate that there was an emergency situation on board - either an external influence on the aircraft, or an encounter with an obstacle, which was unlikely to be there,” says Andreev, who worked in aviation for 47 years.

He adds that “The Tu-154 is a very reliable car, and miracles don’t happen, they don’t just fall.”

“In my practice, there have been cases when Tu-154s landed when all three engines failed, or, for example, the famous landing in the taiga on an abandoned runway,” the expert adds.

“Those versions of problems on board that are now being voiced - unbalance of the rudders, deviation from the established flight path - absolutely could not prevent the crew from transmitting a signal about this to the ground,” Andreev added.

“This means that something extreme happened, from practice - such situations are possible when a ship is hijacked,” he added.

The expert clarified that the data from the self-written intercom (SPU) “will be able to explain with an accuracy of 99.99% what was happening in the cockpit at the time of the disaster.”

A Tu-154 aircraft of the Russian Ministry of Defense, which was heading to Syria, crashed in the Black Sea on Sunday morning.

According to the military department, there were 92 people on board - eight crew members and 84 passengers, including eight military personnel, 64 artists from the Alexandrov ensemble, nine representatives of Russian television channels, the head of the Fair Aid charity foundation Elizaveta Glinka, known as Doctor Lisa, two federal government employees.

The possibility of a terrorist attack on the Tu-154 plane has been practically ruled out - source

The large spread of debris from the Tu-154 that crashed near Sochi is explained by water hammer, a source in the emergency services told Interfax.

“Apparently, when the aircraft collided with the water surface, a water hammer occurred, which resulted in a large scattering of debris,” the source said.

In turn, a source in the security forces told Interfax that a terrorist attack is not considered among the main versions of the disaster and such a version is practically excluded.

“The plane took off from the Chkalovsky airfield, which is a well-guarded military facility. Penetrate there in order to plant it on board explosive device, does not seem possible. In turn, the airport in Sochi is a dual-use airport and is heavily guarded. The entry of unauthorized persons or the carrying of unauthorized items by any employee is excluded,” the source said.

Konashenkov: 27 ships and vessels, 37 divers, 4 helicopters, UAVs and remote-controlled deep-sea vehicles are involved in the search for the plane

Briefing by the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov on the situation with the crash of the TU-154 plane in the Sochi area as of 15:00:

“According to updated data, 10 bodies of the dead have now been lifted aboard the rescue vessel.

The search and rescue force continues to build up in the area where the Ministry of Defense Tu-154 plane crashed.

A search area with an area of ​​10.5 km2 has been formed.

The area is divided into sectors and distributed among the forces involved. The search is organized around the clock. Floodlights and special equipment were sent to illuminate the coastline in the dark.

The search involves 27 ships and vessels, 37 divers, 4 helicopters, UAVs and remote-controlled deep-sea vehicles.

In the near future, more than 100 deep-sea divers with special equipment will be delivered to the area of ​​the plane crash from other fleets.

In total, more than 3 thousand people take part in search and rescue activities.

At the Adler airfield, teams providing medical and psychological assistance are on duty, and vehicles have been allocated to transport relatives to places of temporary accommodation at the city’s sanatorium and resort institutions.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Tu-154 crash would be thoroughly investigated.

“A thorough investigation into the causes of the disaster will be carried out and everything will be done to provide support to the families of the victims,” he said during an emergency press conference.

About the likelihood of a terrorist attack

On the topic of the likelihood of a terrorist attack.

Air Force Major, pilot instructor Sergei Krasnoperov:

— What could have caused the disaster of this liner, in your opinion?

- Only the “black box” that will be lifted from this liner will tell about this. But, as you say, the versions are pilot error and equipment failure. real reasons, as always happens in such cases. But it is too suspicious that the plane, after taking off while climbing, literally a few tens of minutes, disappears from the radar screens.

- Now they have clarified that this happened in the seventh minute, while gaining altitude or during a turn, apparently over the Black Sea.

“This means that the engines were working properly, the fuel was normal. If this happened on takeoff, fuel could be the cause. The situation may be similar to the tragedy in Sharm el-Sheikh; there, too, very little time passed after takeoff.

— Do you mean the version of the terrorist attack?

- Certainly. What is very strange is that a plane crashes on takeoff very rarely, especially of this class. The Tu-154 has three engines and is very reliable. I myself flew on them as a passenger very often.

— Why don’t you look into the plane’s malfunction? After all, the Tu-154 is far from a new aircraft.

- Yes, but they are very reliable. I can look at the design of the aircraft from the point of view of the pilot, and believe me, what is connected with the control of the aircraft, there is such a reliable control system, not like electronics now, but there are cable backup systems, including aircraft control systems, that is, if one system fails , another one enters. Considering the experience of the pilots who now fly these planes, this situation is still very strange to me, that it was only the seventh minute after takeoff. I understand that the plane took off from our airfield, and it was monitored by an electronic surveillance system, so it could not have been that someone was flying up to it, it could have crashed into something.

“Initially it was reported that the signal from the radar screens simply disappeared, but the plane did not send any distress signals.

“This suggests that the plane, as in Sharm el-Sheikh, instantly lost speed and simply fell into a spin position, that is, uncontrollable. In this case, the pilot simply, with such an overload, which happens in this case, not only could not report to the dispatcher, but was also unable to turn on the distress signal. Just imagine, the liner just begins to rotate violently. Therefore, I think the plane was destroyed, as it happened in Sharm el-Sheikh, where its speed was first 780 km/h and then suddenly became 170 km/h, and a loss of altitude of 1000 m. Now we need to look at the radars, exactly how the speed dropped. That is, the plane could glide and land on the water. Recently there was an incident with a Tu-154, when 37 people were saved. The pilots were then able to land the plane on an unfamiliar field in a strong wind, in a heavy snowstorm, and they saved almost all the people.
In this situation, there were simple weather conditions; if something had happened to the plane, to the engine, it would have simply turned around and started gliding towards the airfield and landed in the coastal zone. Even if the plane would have collapsed, the pilots, the crew, and the passengers would have been alive, you know? And then there is a sharp drop, this happens when something abnormal happens, something explodes, something falls off. As a rule, the tail of these planes can only fall off. And in all other cases, the pilot could easily transmit information and turn on the distress signal, but this did not happen. This means that something was abnormal and abrupt in the seventh minute of the flight. So, I can’t blame the crew, and the equipment doesn’t break down so suddenly.

— The scattering of fragments at such a speed, and its speed in the build-up is about 600-700 km/h, already there it goes over, at such a distance it may well be. But if the plane had fallen intact, then there would not have been such scattering of fragments, believe me. The plane fell apart, simply fell apart, which means it exploded, which means that somewhere someone was given a suitcase, considering that it was a flight to Syria, and musicians from the ensemble were flying, they could have carried something with these musical instruments, someone could have planted something. Believe me, such scattering of fragments only happens when an airplane is destroyed in the air. It just explodes, that's all. And when the liner just falls, it creates an oil stain, and then parts float up. A plane, if it falls, dives into the water, simply disappears, and is found after some time. And then they even found a person who was already in the coastal zone, damaged by debris. This suggests that the debris fell to the ground in a disorderly manner, which means it exploded in the air.

President of the Alpha Veterans Association Sergei Goncharov.

“With a high degree of probability, I can say that this is not a terrorist attack, for several reasons,” says Sergei Goncharov, president of the association of veterans of the Alpha anti-terror unit. - First. This is an aircraft that is serviced by the Ministry of Defense, and, believe me, the discipline in the Ministry of Defense is still quite serious, and the people who service these flights, they are proven people, naturally have all forms of clearance in order to do this work.
Second. There were people flying on this plane, our comrades, who practically all knew each other, and, as I understand it, no one put strangers on this plane. And the luggage that was there, naturally, was checked by precisely those people who were flying on this plane.
Third. The plane, as I understand it, was not in the air for so long, the sea waters provide opportunities, if it had been an explosion or some kind of flash, then, probably, there would have been eyewitnesses who could have seen it or, at least, could have recorded it . And one last thing. The wreckage of the plane has already been discovered, which means that they did not fly as far apart from each other as happens in some...
- One and a half kilometers for the sea, this distance, as you understand, is absolutely small. All this gives me reason to say that we must lean, as I understand it, towards the versions of either a pilot error, or the refueling that took place that did not meet some criteria. In any case, we must express our condolences to all those who died. Unfortunately, this tragedy has darkened our pre-holiday days. But in any case, I believe that now the Ministry of Defense will carefully look into it and dot the i's. The only thing that confuses me is why the crew could not give any information to the dispatchers. This is a fact that I cannot answer yet, I think the investigation will answer.

Sergei Alekseevich, there were probably similar events in tragic world practice. And why did the crew, if we try to understand now using parallel analogies, couldn’t do the very first thing that every pilot probably does if he understands that the situation is beyond the normal standard - send a distress signal? Using examples of other situations, can you explain how events could have developed, why this could have happened?

- If we are talking about a terrorist act, then with an explosion on board an airplane or in luggage compartment The communication system immediately disappears, and purely technically, the ship commander cannot give the dispatcher any information. Apparently, if some kind of technical short circuit occurred here, some technical problem, which did not allow the crew to contact dispatchers (I repeat once again, this is a problem that will be dealt with after the debris is raised)... If this was a terrorist attack, at the moment in any case there would be indirect evidence of what happened in an airplane, in particular, a flash, an explosion, or at least we would have some new, albeit subjective or indirect, hints that the plane was blown up or crashed in the air due to an explosion.

From official sources:

“Preliminarily, during the climb, the crew encountered a critical technical malfunction, which led to a disaster,” said an Interfax source in the emergency services.
As a Pravda.ru source at the operational headquarters stated, “so far, according to preliminary data, the situation is as follows. The pilot and crew, and in the case of the Tu-154 it is larger, were professional, they had no flight accidents - everyone is almost sure that this was not a human factor. A professional captain and navigator participated in the landing of the tumbling Tu-154.
This is also not a terrorist attack, with a probability close to one - the plane is maintained and controlled in a special zone, control at Sochi airport has been tight since the time of the Olympics. Weather, let's say, not the best, yesterday Simferopol was closed due to the weather and Sochi was a reserve, but they were still flying. Unless, of course, the liner got caught in a sudden tornado that formed by chance. Or into a flock of birds that “shut up” all the engines simultaneously on takeoff, at the moment of full thrust - there is an ornithopark nearby. Most likely a technical malfunction, and so instantaneous and critical, such as switching the stabilizer to a dive in Rostov, that the crew did not have time to fix it work out, nor report. Because even the failure of two engines on the Tu-154 does not kill; the crew would have landed the plane on the water one way or another.

And it’s stupid when they talk about an old plane, about “it’s already banned.” It was not banned, but withdrawn from use by commercial airlines, because it consumes a lot of fuel, exceeds noise standards, and indeed its interior environment cannot be compared with a Boeing or Airbus. An airplane does not have "old age", it has airworthiness - it is either fit to fly or not. In the USA there are "Douglas" aircraft from the 1950s and 1960s. I will say more, “black boxes” - parametric recorders have already been located, they will be lifted by specialists with bathyscaphes. All debris and bodies, naturally, will also be raised - 70 meters is now an accessible depth.” What happened is undoubtedly a tragedy. The reasons will be sorted out, since the investigation has been taken under the tightest control at the highest level. Additional information They will also provide decryptions of the black boxes. Now they have already begun to raise the bodies of the dead. According to TASS, by midday, four bodies had been discovered and recovered.

An operational headquarters for receiving relatives has been created and is operating in Sochi dead passengers airplane. Psychological and psychiatric care teams are on duty at Sochi airport. The city mayor held an emergency meeting of the emergency situations commission. "Kommersant correspondent in Krasnodar region conveys that local residents at the time of the disaster they did not see a flash or hear an explosion,” the press notes.
Politonline.ru’s sources in the Russian FSB also explained why everyone who approached the liner, serviced it and was involved in technical training was being checked. “The version of the terrorist attack is not a priority, but it must also be worked out. Yes, the FSB checks everyone who was in contact with the deceased aircraft, records are reviewed, interviews are conducted - to exclude the version, and not because it is being “secretly investigated.”

Test pilot, Hero of the Russian Federation, Anatoly Knyshov:

- The Tu-154 is a completely reliable aircraft, which is used not only by the Ministry of Defense, but also in civil aviation. It has proven itself to be reliable and comfortable. The fact that there were military specialists on board suggests that the plane was in full readiness. Because before each flight there is a check - this type of aircraft has a certain approval, airworthiness certification.
What happened... Anything can happen in aviation, but after takeoff, when the engines are operating at takeoff mode and the crew does not have any information about any malfunctions of individual systems or engines, otherwise, if such information were available, the pilot would follow instructions would turn around and land at the departure airfield. In this situation, we can say that, apparently, there was something on board. Because planes don’t just crash or land in an emergency. But why the crew did not provide information about what happened to them is also a question.

- What are the options for complete failure of the systems on board?

- One of the options is the failure of three engines. But in any case, the crew informs the dispatch service, informs the Ministry of Defense about one reason or another. In this situation, in my opinion, a sudden loss of communication, a sudden depressurization of the aircraft led to the fact that the crew was unable and did not have time to report the reason that happened on board.

Anatoly Nikolaevich, now that they are saying that the plane was refueling in Sochi, could poor quality fuel have caused the emergency? Or is this now more of an exception to the rule?

- When refueling occurs at any airport, both in the Russian Federation and abroad, the crew and crew that services (and I think there is a technical team on board that services this type of aircraft), they always check the fuel type according to the passport , its characteristics and so-called fuel samples are taken even before refueling. Therefore, I cannot yet say that this is the cause of low-quality fuel, only a commission can determine it; they will definitely take samples at the site of the plane crash (residues of fuel will be found somewhere in any case). They will be able to find out the quality of the fuel, the condition of the systems, and the readiness of the crew. Because in any case, if there was low-quality fuel, it would have been impossible for three engines to fail at the same time, which could have led to such a catastrophe. The cause is explosive. There is a sound alarm and light alarm that warns the crew about a particular malfunction. This warning didn't work. Because the warning works for the crew, it provides information so that the crew competently and correctly implements the recommendations that they have already worked on on the ground. It’s sad that this is happening to our colleagues, namely from the Ministry of Defense, precisely to those who were heading there, to a hot spot, where they could support our military personnel before the New Year. This is a tragedy that we will all experience.

The search is now underway. In particular, there was information that the search for the aircraft in the Black Sea was being carried out by 7 sea ​​vessels, a Mi-8 helicopter from Sochi airport joined the search. But there was information that the possible point where the plane crashed was in the mountains. Can you explain why there is such contradictory information coming out now?

- Any aircraft that takes off is monitored by dispatch services, locators and helps the crew correctly build the trajectory to enter the route. If they evade somewhere, the dispatcher says: you are evading. Because on this air route There are, perhaps, several types of aircraft - in the opposite direction, in the same direction. And the dispatch service controls and is responsible, to some extent, for the safety of being on this route. But even if the dispatch service, the locators could not notice where the mark from this type of aircraft was located... Because each dispatcher has the type of aircraft and its call sign displayed on the screen. And when this tag disappears, a command is immediately given to the search service (in this case, these are helicopters that are now searching in the area where the tag may have disappeared). And the situation in the mountains may be such that they have dropped below the detection zone.

- What could be the reason for this behavior of the crew?

- It could have been the explosive nature of the plane itself, that is, an explosion could have occurred, and no one could report it - neither the correspondents who were there, nor the crew themselves. I can't imagine anything else here.

PS. Almost the entire choir of the Alexandrov ensemble died


The deceased director of the Department of Culture of the RF Ministry of Defense.


Elizaveta Glinka. She was also on board the crashed plane.


Dead journalists.

PS2. Regarding the rejoicing freaks from Ukraine and Russia, it can be noted in this regard that at such moments the difference between people and moral monsters is clearly demonstrated.

Alexey Pushkov: Those killed in the disaster are heroes of the war on terror

Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Commission on Information Policy Alexey Pushkov commented on the plane crash in Sochi.

“Those who died in the disaster flew to Syria to support our military. All of them are heroes of the war on terror. Their flight, their impulse was interrupted. Their spirit lives on,” he wrote.

Let us remind you that while performing a scheduled flight from Sochi airfield after takeoff, the Tu-154 aircraft disappeared from radar radars. Later, the military department reported that 1.5 kilometers from Black Sea coast Fragments of the Tu-154 hull were discovered at a depth of 50-70 meters in Sochi. Among the passengers were journalists from Channel One, NTV, the Zvezda TV channel, musicians from the Alexandrov Ensemble, as well as Doctor Lisa.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared nationwide mourning in the country in connection with the crash Russian plane in the Black Sea.

He stated this during an emergency press conference.

“Tomorrow, nationwide mourning will be declared in Russia,” Putin said.

Let us remind you that during a scheduled flight from Sochi airfield after the Tu-154 took off, it disappeared from the radar. Later, the military department reported that fragments of the Tu-154 hull were discovered 1.5 kilometers from the Black Sea coast of Sochi at a depth of 50-70 meters. Among the passengers were journalists from Channel One, NTV, the Zvezda TV channel, musicians from the Alexandrov Ensemble, as well as Doctor Lisa.

Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, singer, Iosif Kobzon was supposed to fly on the Tu-154 plane of the Russian Ministry of Defense that crashed over the Black Sea to Syria. TASS reported this on December 25 with reference to the People's Artist.

“On the 14th we had a concert with them in the Hall of Columns, and Valery Khalilov (director of the Alexandrov Ensemble - approx.) asked me to fly with them, but I said that I have a medical visa and I have to fly for treatment, especially since that I visited Syria with them and Khalilov once. So I said, next time sometime. But see how it turned out next time"

Kobzon said.

He assured that if he was offered, he would be ready to perform again for Russian military personnel in Syria.

“I am sincerely sorry, this is just shocking news for me. This is a great tragedy for culture, for the army audience. They were flying on a combat mission."

Russian TV channel published the first video of the wreckage of a crashed Tu-154

The Russian TV channel Life showed the first footage from the crash site of a Russian Ministry of Defense plane, which fell into the Black Sea. The sent footage shows the wreckage of the Tu-154 military aircraft in the water.

The media published a video of the rescue operation in the area where the Tu-154 crashed

The first video of the rescue operation in the area of ​​the crash of the Ministry of Defense Tu-154 plane has appeared.

Let us remind you that during a scheduled flight from Adler airfield after the Tu-154 took off, it disappeared from the radar. Later, the military department reported that fragments of the Tu-154 hull were discovered 1.5 kilometers from the Black Sea coast of Sochi at a depth of 50-70 meters. Among the passengers were journalists from Channel One, NTV, the Zvezda TV channel and 68 musicians from the Alexandrov Ensemble, as well as Doctor Lisa.