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Tupolev Tu-154B accident report

Tu-154B-1 LZ-BTB at Schiphol, built as Tu-154 it was later converted to Tu-154B-1.

Thursday 23 March 1978 Balkan Bulgarian Airlines LZ-BTB c/n 72A-027

Cargo flight from Sofia, Bulgaria to Sharjah with intermediate stop at Damascus (DAM), Syria with 4 crew and 0 passengers. First flight : 1972

Airframe hrs : 7800 Flew into high ground during approach to Damascus when crew didn’t realize they came in to low. 4 people died in the crash.

location : 22.5 km NE of Damascus +-5km : 33°33’14”N 36°40’37”E

Friday 19 May 1978 Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154B CCCP-85169 c/n 76A-169

Flight 6709 from Baku (BAK), Azerbaijan to Leningrad (LED), Russia with 8 crew and 126 passengers. First flight : 1976. En route the flight engineer accidentally disconnected the automatic transferring of fuel of the sump tank. When the sump tank was empty all 3 engines stopped and the crew had to make a crash landing.

Airframe hrs : 3308 cycles : 1567 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. 4 people died in the crash landing. location : 5km SE of Maksatiha, Russia +-1km 57°45’42”N 35°55’33”E

Tu-154B-2 CCCP-85331 similar to the crashed CCCP-85355

Tuesday 8 July 1980 Aeroflot Tu-154B-2 CCCP-85355 c/n 79A-355

Flight 4225 from Alma-Ata (ALA), Kazakhstan to Rostov (ROV), Russia with 10 crew and 156 passengers. Two minutes after take-off in the night from ALA the aircraft got into a downdraft and stalled. Crash landed in a wheat field near the suburbs of Alma-Ata. First flight : 1979 Airframe hrs : 2438 cycles : 1124 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. All 166 people onboard died in the crash. On the ground 9 people were injured. location : +-100m 43°19’03.51”N 76°58’17.32”E

Thursday 7 August 1980 Tarom Tu-154B-1 YR-TPH c/n 78A-277

Flight from Bucharest – Otopeni apt. (OTP), Romania to Nouadhibou (NDB), Mauretania with 16 crew and 152 passengers. On approach the runway was not visible at decision height. A missed approach procedure was initiated but then the captain thought he had visual contact with the runway and continued the descent. The airplane struck the sea 500m short of the runway. First flight : 1978

engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. 1 passenger died in the crash and 18 injured.

location : +-100m 20°56’55”N 17°01’32”W

Monday 16 November 1981 Aeroflot Tu-154B-2 CCCP-85480 c/n 81A-480

Flight 3603 from Krasnojarsk (KJA), Russia to Norilsk-Alykel (NSK), Russia with 7 crew and 160 passengers. To low approach speed (265 km/hr) resulting in the aircraft descending below the glide slope and impacting ground 470m short of the runway of Norilsk. First flight : 1981 Airframe hrs : 1889 cycles : 697 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U 99 people died in the crash and 68 wounded. location : +-100m 69°17’43”N 87°18’16”E

Thursday 11 October 1984 Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154B-1 CCCP-85243 c/n 77A-243

Flight SU 3352 from Krasnodar (KRR), Russia to Omsk (OMS), Russia with 9 crew and 170 passengers. On landing at Omsk the airplane struck service vehicles on the runway. First flight : 1977 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. 174 people on board died in the crash and 4 on the ground. location : +-100m 54°58’00.48”N 73°18’34.41”E

Sunday 23 December 1984 Aeroflot Tu-154B-2 CCCP-85338 c/n 79A338

Flight 3519 from Krasnojarsk (KJA), Russia to Irkutsk (IKT), Russia with 7 crew and 104 passengers. Two minutes after take-off no.3 engine failed and caught fire. By mistake the engineer shut down engine 2. After 10 seconds the engineer noticed the mistake and tried to restart engine 2 while the crew returned to the airport for an emergency landing. The fire in no.3 engine could not be retained. Approaching at 175m height, control was lost and the aircraft banked and crashed into the ground 3200m short of the runway of Krasnojarsk. First flight : 1979 Airframe hrs : 8955 cycles : 3581 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. 110 people died in the crash, 1 passenger seriously injured. The failure in no.3 engine was caused by a fatigue failure of the first stage low pressure compressor disk. location : +-25m 56°09'23.4"N 92°34'02.8"E

Wednesday 10 July 1985 Aeroflot Tu-154B-2 CCCP-85311 c/n 78A-311

Flight SU5143 from Karshi (KSQ), Uzbekistan to Ufa apt. (UFA), Russia (location 54°33’34”N 55°52’50”E ) with 9 crew and 191 passengers. After take-off from Karshi a to low speed of 400 km/hr was maintained. The vibrations were misunderstood by the crew who reduced engine power resulting in the airplane to stall and get into a flat spin. The aircraft crashed near Uchkuduk. First flight : 1978 Airframe hrs : 12443 cycles : 5660 engines : all 200 people onboard died in the crash. location : +-5km 41°41’10”N 63°15’26”E

Tu-154B-1 CCCP-85287 similar to the crashed CCCP-85254 landing at Arlanda apt.

Monday 18 January 1988 Aeroflot Tu-154B-1 CCCP-85254 c/n 77A-254

Flight from Moscow-Domodedovo apt. (DME) to Krasnovodsk (KRW), Turkmenistan with 6 crew and 137 passengers. Approach in the night to Krasnovodsk- Ashgabat apt. Came in to fast and made a heavy landing (-4.8 g) at a speed of 275 km/hr. The tail broke of and also the fuselage broke in front of the wing. First flight : 1977 Airframe hrs : 15859 cycles : 8082 engines : Kuznestov NK-8-2U. 11 people died in the crash and 120 injured. location : +-2km 37°59’08”N 58°21’36”E

Tuesday 8 March 1988 Aeroflot Tu-154B-2 CCCP-85413 c/n 80A-YR413

Flight SU3739 from Kurgan apt . (KRO), Russia to Leningrad (LED) with 8 crew and 76 passengers. In flight the aircraft was hijacked by a family (11 people of Oveshkin family , forming the Seven Simeons jazz band ) who wanted to be flown to London. The hijackers’ two shotguns and a few hand grenades were smuggled inside the cabin inside a double bass . The aircraft landed on Veshchevo afb ., Russia at the Finnish border (the crew pretended to land in Finland) for refuelling were it was stormed by Russian troops. 5 hijackers were killed along with 3 passengers and 1 stewardess, Tamara Zharkaya . 19 people got injured. First flight : 1980

The Ovechkin family, with mother Ninel in the centre

Airframe hrs : 11411 cycles : 4669 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. location : +-200m 60°40’27”N 29°10’10”E

Thursday 9 February 1989 Tarom Tu-154B-2 YR-TPJ c/n 80A-408

Training flight from Bucharest-Otopeni (OTP), Rumania with 5 crew and 0 passengers.

During climbing out an engine failure was simulated but a crew member raised the flaps to soon resulting in the aircraft to crash. First flight : 1980 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. All 5 crew died in the crash. location : +-2km 44°34’18”N 26°05’04”E

Thursday 23 May 1991 Aeroflot Tu-154B-1 CCCP-85097 c/n 75A097

Flight SU8556 from Sukhumi-Babusheri apt . (SUI), Georgia to Leningrad-Pulkovo apt. (LED), Russia with 7 crew and 174 passengers. Heavy landing (ROD 7 m/s, 250km/hr landing speed), 13m short on the runway at Leningrad in heavy rain shower. Right landing gear collapsed and the aircraft broke up. First flight : 1975

engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. 13 people died in the crash and 38 injured.

location : +-1km 59°47’57”N 30°16’03”E

Friday 19 June 1992 Aeroflot Tu-154B-1 CCCP-85282 c/n 78A282 and CCCP-85234 c/n 77A234 (31565 hrs, 13180 cycles)

Both aircraft parked next to each other at Bratsk apt (BTK), Russia and being refuelled when a fuel hose accidentally disconnected. The fuel got on fire resulting in both aircraft burned out. The truck driver foreman drove the burning tankers away from the aircraft. He later died of his burn injuries. location : +-50m 56°21’56.62”N 101°42’14.14”E

Monday 20 July 1992 Tbilisi Aviation Enterprise Tu-154B 85222 c/n 77A222

Cargo/pax flight from Tbilisi (TBS), Georgia to Mineralnye (MRV ), Russia with 8 crew and 16 passengers. It took off overloaded from 3000m long RW31R (elevation 450m above s/l) with 20 tons of tea and 24 people but could not get airborne, overran broke up and crashed into a residential area and burst into flames. 9 houses were totally destroyed. First flight : 1977 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. All 24 people onboard died in the crash together with 4 on the ground. 10 people were seriously injured. It was 2 tons overloaded. The 16 passengers had no tickets and were not authorized to be on this cargo flight. location : +-100m 41°40’54.29”N 44°56’10.14”E

Memorial for the Tu-154 crash 20 July 1992 at location 41°40’51.80”N 44°56’16.66”E

Wednesday 22 September 1993 Orbi Georgian Airways Tu-154B 4L-85163 c/n 76A163

Charter flight from Tbilisi (TBS), Georgia to Sukhumi (SUI), Georgia with 12 crew and 120 passengers. The aircraft was shot down by Abkhazian rebels with a S.A.M. on final approach to Sukhumi – Babusheri airport. It crashed on the runway and caught fire. First flight : 1976 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. 108 people died in the crash and 24 survived. All passengers were Georgian soldiers and policeman dispatched to Sokhumi.

location : +-50m 42°51’58.39”N 41°06’39.40”E

Thursday 7 December 1995 Khabarovsk United Air Tu-154B RA-85164 c/n 76A164

Flight 3949 from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk apt . (UUS), Russia to Khabarovsk (KHV), Russia with 8 crew and 90 passengers. En route at 10600m height the aircraft suddenly entered a steep spiral dive witch the crew could not correct and impacted Mount Bojaus, Russia. The wreckage was found only 11 days later in the Sikhot Alin mountain range. Cause : incorrect fuel distribution over the wings. First flight : 1976. Airframe hrs : 30001 cycles : 13801 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. All 98 people on board died in the crash.

location : 50km W of Grossevichi, Russia +-5km 48°03’46”N 138°51’41”E

Monday 15 December 1997 Tajikistan airlines Tu-154B-1 EY-85281 c/n 78A281

Flight 3183 from Dushanbe (DYU), Tajikistan to Sharjah (SHJ), UAE with 7 crew and 79 passengers. On approach to Sharjah the crew did not notice they came below the glide slope and the aircraft struck the ground (CFIT), 13 km short of the runway and burst into flames. First flight : 1978 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. 85 people died in the crash. The co-pilot was the only survivor. location : +-500m 25°16’57”N 55°38’18”E

Tuesday 24 August 2004 Sibir Airlines Tu-154B-2 RA-85556 c/n 82A556

Flight 1047 from Moskva-Domodedovo (DME) to Adler/Sochi (AER) with 8 crew and 38 passengers. En route, at a height of 12100m an explosion occurred inside the passenger cabin followed by an explosive decompression after which the aircraft broke up in the air. Investigations revealed traces of explosive Hexogen, also known as RDX, brought inside the airplane by female suicide bomber who managed to bypass security. First flight : 1982 Airframe hrs : 30751 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. All 46 people onboard died in the crash. location : in a field 8km from Gluboki, Russia +-8km 48°31’21”N 40°19’11”E

Saturday 1 January 2011 Kolavia Tu-154B-2 RA-85588 c/n 83A588

Flight KGL348 from Surgut (SGC), Russia to Moskva (DME) with 8 crew and 126 passengers. During engine start-up at Surgut a short circuit occurred which started a fire. The fire spread rapidly. At the moment of the accident the temperature (OAT) was

-29°C. First flight : 1983. Airframe hrs : 32354 cycles : 13147 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. 3 passengers died and 32 seriously injured.

location : +-50m 61°20’27”N 73°24’37”E

Sunday 25 December 2016 Russian Air Force Tu-154B-2 RA-85572 c/n 83A572

Flight from Adler/Sochi (AER), Russia to Latakia- Khmeimim afb (LTK), Syria

with 8 crew and 84 passengers. Take-off from RW24 at Adler. After 34 seconds course, rotation was initiated at a speed of 300 km/hr. But then the Tu-154 impacted the water from the Black sea after being only 53 seconds airborne. Probably the crew lost spatial orientation while climbing out over the sea. The aircraft carried the Alexandrov ensemble army choir and reporters for New Year’s eve celebrations with Russian soldiers based in Syria. First flight : 1983 Airframe hrs : 6689 engines : Kuznetsov NK-8-2U. All 92 people onboard died in the crash.

location : 1.6km SW of Adler, 2760m from the end of RW24. +-50m 43°25’29”N 39°53’50”E

1976-1978-2016-2019

18 fatal accidents with 1100 fatalities between 1978 and 2016, total 43 service years, 486 Tu-154B built , safety number = (1100 dead / 43 service years / 486 aircraft) = 0.053

1 on 27 aircraft had a fatal accident. (486/18) There were 2 hostile incidents : 1 hijack with 9 dead and 1 Tu-154 shotdown with 108 dead. They are left out of the accident numbers. Total 1100 people sadly died in the accidents > 1100/43 = 25.6 people/year, average dead : 1100/18 = 61 per accident

Literature :

Tupolev Tu-154B-1 - Balkan - Bulgarian Airlines | Aviation Photo #0673827 | Airliners.net

Crash of a Tupolev TU-154 near Damascus: 4 killed | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (baaa-acro.com)

Microsoft Word - Gieras - Analysis of Accidents+PW+JFG+PW+JFG+JFG+PW+JFG.doc (jfgieras.com)

Le Kazakhstan a sa tragιdie aιrienne : 08 juillet 1980 (crash-aerien.news)

Confused worm off the wrong engine, review of Soviet flight SU3519 Krasnoyarsk air disaster _ Tencent News (qq.com)

Bloody Hijacking Staged by Soviet Family of Musicians - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1988) - Wikipedia