RusAir Flight 9605 (operating as RusLine Flight 243) was a
passenger flight
An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...
which crashed near
Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk (, ; Karelian language, Karelian, Veps language, Vepsian and ) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population of the city is 280,890 as of 2022.
...
in the
Republic of Karelia
The Republic of Karelia, or simply Karelia or Karjala (; ) is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the Northwest Russia, northwest of the country. The republic is a part of the Northwestern Federal District, and covers an area of ...
, Russia, on 20 June 2011 while attempting to land in thick fog. The aircraft involved, a
Tupolev Tu-134
The Tupolev Tu-134 (NATO reporting name: Crusty) is a twin-engined, narrow-body jet airliner built in the Soviet Union for short and medium-haul routes from 1966 to 1989. The original version featured a glazed-nose design and, like certain oth ...
, was operating a RusAir scheduled domestic flight from
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. Of the 52 people on board, only 5 survived.
Accident
The RusAir Tu-134 was on a service for
RusLine
RusLine (, ''Aviakompanija «RusLajn»'') is a regional airline from Russia that operates mostly domestic regional flights, as well as holiday charters. Its headquarters are located in the Omega Plaza (Омега Плаза) business centre in Mo ...
from
Domodedovo Airport
Moscow Domodedovo International Airport ( rus, links=no, аэропорт Домодедово, p=dəmɐˈdʲɛdəvə) (IATA: DME, ICAO: UUDD), formally Domodedovo Mikhail Lomonosov International Airport, is an international airport serving Mosc ...
in Moscow to
Petrozavodsk Airport
Petrozavodsk Airport (, , ; ; ex: Besovets, Petrozavodsk-2) is a joint civil-military airport in Russia located northwest of Petrozavodsk in Besovets, Shuya Rural Settlement (Subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions, municipality). It servic ...
. While on final approach, the aircraft crashed onto the A-133 federal highway, about short of the runway. The crash happened shortly after 23:40 local time (19:40
UTC
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...
), when contact with the jet was lost. At the time, thick fog was present in the area. The head of the federal air transport agency said the plane had hit a 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 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.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was a twin-engine Tupolev Tu-134A-3, registration RA-65691, c/n 63195. It was manufactured and first flown in 1980.
Passengers and crew
There were 43 passengers and nine crew members on board, a total of 52, of whom 47 were killed and the remaining 5 injured. Of the survivors, one was a flight attendant. The other crew members were among the fatalities. Three people who survived the initial crash later died of their injuries.
Among the victims was
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
football referee
Vladimir Pettay
Vladimir Leonidovich Pettay () (8 May 1973 – 20 June 2011) was a Russian international football referee and former player.
Pettay was born in Pudozh. In 1992, he played 24 matches as a midfielder for second-league FC Karelia Petrozavodsk, s ...
, 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
The water-water energetic reactor (WWER), or VVER (from ) is a series of pressurized water reactor designs originally developed in the Soviet Union, and now Russia, by OKB Gidropress. The idea of such a reactor was proposed at the Kurchatov Instit ...
-1000 for the
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (or Kudankulam NPP or KKNPP) is the largest nuclear power station in India, situated in Kudankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Construction on the plant began on 31 Ma ...
in India and
Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant
The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant () is a nuclear power plant in Iran south of Tehran ( southeast of the city of Bushehr), between the fishing villages of Halileh and Bandargeh along the Persian Gulf.
Construction of the plant was started in 1 ...
in Iran, Nikolai Trunov.
Aftermath
By around 01:00 on 21 June, the fire at the crash site was extinguished. Those injured were initially sent to local hospitals, but it was planned to transport them on to Moscow via an
Ilyushin Il-76
The Ilyushin Il-76 (; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-1 ...
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 lacking a
ground proximity warning system
A Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) 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 (FAA) defines GPWS as a type of ...
.
Investigation
In September 2011, the
Interstate Aviation Committee
The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC; ) is an executive body of the Civil Aviation and Airspace Use Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and was formed in 1991go-around
In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on Final_approach_(aeronautics), final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for var ...
and their descent below the minimum safe altitude in absence of visual contact with the approach lights or ground resulted in the collision with trees and the ultimate impact with the ground.
The contributing factors included:
* Poor crew resource management during the approach, expressed in the captain’s submission to the navigator’s will, the latter being increasingly active under the influence of a mild alcohol intoxication, and the actual removal of the second pilot from the aircraft control loop at the final stage of approach;
* Navigator's performance under a mild
alcohol intoxication
Alcohol intoxication, commonly described in higher doses as drunkenness or inebriation, and known in overdose as alcohol poisoning, is the behavior and physical effects caused by recent consumption of Alcohol (drug), alcohol. The technical ter ...
(0.08%);
* A discrepancy between the weather forecast for visibility, cloud base and fog at Petrozavodsk and the actual weather conditions prevailing at the time of the crash.
* Failure to use the
automatic direction finder
An automatic direction finder (ADF) is a marine or aircraft Radio navigation, radio-navigation instrument that automatically and continuously displays the relative bearing from the ship or aircraft to a suitable radio station. ADF receivers are n ...
(ADF) and other equipment for an integrated control of the airplane during the final approach, while using the satellite navigation system, KLN-90B (in violation of the Airplane Flight Manual which prohibits the use of GPS information during final approach).''Tutkijat: Petroskoin lentoturma oli miehistön syytä.'' (‘Investigators: The Petrozavodsk Air Crash Was Caused by the Crew.’)
Helsingin Sanomat
, abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...
Interstate Aviation Committee
The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC; ) is an executive body of the Civil Aviation and Airspace Use Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and was formed in 1991Archive
* Final report document