Aviation

Citation

(2008), "Aviation", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 17 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2008.07317ead.005

Aviation

Article Type: Disaster database From: Disaster Prevention and Management, Volume 17, Issue 5

22 August 2006 RA-85185

An airliner flying from southern Russia to St Petersburg crashed in flames in eastern Ukraine today, the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry said. The ministry said helicopters circling the site about 45 km north of the regional town of Donetsk saw the Tupolev Tu-154 in flames. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said 160 passengers and 10 crew were on board the aircraft belonging to Pulkovo Airlines.

The Tupolev 154M, RA-85185, en route to St Petersburg at an altitude of FL360 when the pilot reportedly radioed a mayday call at 1539, August 22. Another call was received when the aircraft was descending through FL100. The aircraft crashed and burned in a field. All 170 occupants were killed.

23 August 2006

Ukraine is holding a national day of mourning for 170 people killed in a Russian plane crash yesterday. The plane was flying from the Russian Black Sea resort of Anapa to St Petersburg when it crashed near Donetsk, Ukraine, killing all on board. Most of the passengers were thought to be Russians, including 45 children. Officials say bad weather or a possible fire may have caused the crash. Investigators have now recovered the flight data and voice recorders. Relatives of the victims are travelling to the crash site in eastern Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country would declare tomorrow a day of mourning for the victims. The crew of the Pulkovo Airlines flight FV 612 sent a distress signal at 1537 hrs, (1137, UTC), and the plane – a Tupolev-154 – disappeared from radar screens two minutes later, Russian officials said. It crashed into a field about 45 km north of the Ukrainian city of Donetsk. The plane was carrying 160 passengers, 45 of them children under 12, and 10 crew, Pulkovo Airlines said. Foreign nationals, including some Dutch passengers, were also on board, officials said. The fuselage of the plane was entirely destroyed and a thick pall of white smoke hung in the air, an AFP journalist reported from the scene. There have been conflicting reports of the cause of the crash. Ukraine’s emergencies ministry said the crew had decided to make an emergency landing after a fire broke out, but Russian officials told the Itar-Tass news agency that the plane had encountered severe weather conditions before it came down. Russia says terrorism has been ruled out as a possible cause. St Petersburg-based Pulkovo Airlines is one of Russia’s larger carriers.