On Sunday, December 25, over the Black Sea, a few kilometers from Sochi, a Tu-154 aircraft belonging to the Russian Ministry of Defense crashed. The tragedy occurred a few minutes after takeoff from Adler airport. On board were sixty-four artists of the military musical ensemble. Alexandrov, who flew to Syria to give a festive New Year's concert at the Russian Khmeimim base, nine journalists from film crews of TV channels (NTV, First and Zvezda), Elizaveta Glinka, executive director of the Fair Help Foundation. A total of 85 passengers and eight crew members.

The plane followed the route Moscow-Sochi-Khmeimim. It took off from the Chkalovsky military airfield near Moscow on Sunday night (at 1:38), refueling took place in Sochi, after which it took off from Adler airport at 5:20 in the morning. Two minutes later, he disappeared from the control radar, after seven minutes of flight he fell. Later, rescuers found the wreckage of the aircraft 1.5 km from the Black Sea coast, 14 km - personal belongings of passengers, as well as several bodies of the dead within a radius of 6-8 km from the coast. Tu-154 flight recorders have not yet been found. Divers are working at the crash site.

Russian philanthropist, director of the Fair Aid Foundation Elizaveta Glinka (Doctor Lisa) flew to Syria to visit one of the hospitals

Vladimir Putin is in constant contact with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on violation of flight rules, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev took the investigation under personal control. A Defense Ministry commission headed by Deputy Minister Pavel Popov arrived in Sochi.

The Ministry of Defense did not announce the official version of what happened, the search for black boxes continues. "URA.Ru" turned to specialists to find out possible reasons tragedy.

According to Roshydromet, weather in Sochi was flying. Forecasters predicted good weather partly cloudy, according to RIA Novosti. According to Gismeteo, at 6 am it was +5 C in Adrera. However, test pilot, honored pilot of Russia Vadim Bazykin told URA.Ru that unpleasant consequences are possible at such temperatures.

“Such “snotty” weather, which is now over the Black Sea, is dangerous in Sochi. We must understand that icing conditions occur at temperatures from +5 to -7 C.

These are the worst icings ever. The Tu-154 itself is a strong machine, with high wing aerodynamics. This is what can become a strong disadvantage in icing conditions, ”the expert said.

Another possible version suggested by the specialist is equipment failure, which is critical when climbing.

“During takeoff, you need a lot of power to lift the car. If one of the motors fails, the remaining two “intercept” it onto themselves and cope, but this takes time - conditional 8 seconds. It is these seconds that can become critical, ”the specialist added.

According to the Ministry of Defense, this aircraft was launched in 1983, the total flight time was about 7,000 hours, the last repair was completed on December 29, 2014, and in September of this year the aircraft underwent scheduled maintenance at the airline.

The age of the aircraft and the quality of its service could cause a disaster, the expert believes international organization ICAO civil aviation Vitaly Bordunov.

“I think that this disaster should make everyone pay attention to the training system for aviation personnel - all those who have to serve aircraft on the ground. Today, this system is practically destroyed. Personally, I do not rule out that the catastrophe that occurred is a direct consequence of such a collapse. We have an acute shortage of specialists, and the Ministry of Transport, unfortunately, is doing nothing to remedy the situation.

Understand one thing: the point is not how old the aircraft is - 15 or 35. What matters is how it is maintained, how maintenance work»,

- said the expert in an interview with URA.Ru.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu promptly reports all latest information President

Aircraft inappropriate condition the first version was named by Alexander Romanov, a flight safety specialist.

“I have two main versions of what happened. The first is the destruction of the aircraft in flight from old age. And the second is a terrorist act. The information that the pilots did not get in touch with the controllers can only mean that they simply did not have time for this. Everything could happen instantly, ”the ex-pilot told URA.Ru.

Military expert Viktor Litovchenko, in a conversation with URA.Ru, said that on this moment neither version can be ruled out. “Actually, everything is possible – both the failure of equipment and a terrorist act,” Litovkin said.

Honored Pilot Russian Federation, who managed to keep in the air and land a Boing with failed systems, Petr Marchenko told URA.Ru what circumstances indicate that version of the attack cannot be excluded.

“This is evidenced by the fact that the crew did not have time to do anything - neither send an SOS signal, nor get in touch with the dispatcher. Obviously, the depressurization was instantaneous.

In addition, the plane, apparently, disintegrated right in the air, and its wreckage sank into the sea, ”the expert noted, pointing out that this flight seems to be very symbolic from a political point of view: a Russian military aircraft in an ensemble and journalists flies to military base in Syria. “If the terrorists wanted to sabotage, then it was better not to find a target,” Marchenko summed up.

Military expert Pavel Felgenhauer doubted that a terrorist act had taken place. “Theoretically, this is, of course, possible, but unlikely. They couldn’t shoot down the plane either,” he told URA.Ru, noting that “we are hardly talking about a terrorist attack.” At the same time, he stressed that the Tu-154 is a very reliable aircraft.

Iosif Linder, President of the International Counter-Terrorism Training Association, told URA.Ru that it is still premature to conclude that what happened is a terrorist attack:

“There is no need to warm up the society. This is certainly a great tragedy. But there are no solid grounds to talk about a terrorist component yet.”

Marina Ivanova

What happened over the Black Sea? Il-18 is already lying at its bottom, the Armenian A-320 is also there, and now the Tu-154. Experts put forward their versions of what happened

A man lights a candle near the building of the Alexandrovsky concert hall in memory of those who died during the crash of the TU-154 plane. Moscow, Russia, December 25, 2016. Photo: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

Tomorrow, Russia has declared national mourning for those killed in the TU-154 crash near Sochi. The victims of the disaster were 92 people. On board the plane of the Ministry of Defense were military personnel, journalists, artists of the Alexandrov Ensemble, as well as Elizaveta Glinka, known as Doctor Lisa, who saved more than one child's life in the Donbass and Syria. The plane flew after refueling at Adler airport to Syrian Latakia. In the second minute of the flight, at about 05:27, the liner disappeared from the radar screens. For unknown reasons, the Tu-154 crashed into the Black Sea. Vladimir Putin made a statement on the catastrophe in St. Petersburg, where the EurAsEC and CSTO summits are to be held:

President of Russian Federation“I want to express my most sincere condolences to the families of our citizens who died as a result of a plane crash in the Black Sea this morning. The government was instructed to form a commission to be headed by the Minister of Transport. A thorough investigation into the causes of the disaster will be carried out and everything will be done to support the families of the victims. Tomorrow, a nationwide mourning will be declared in Russia.”

On board the crashed Tu-154 were 92 people - eight crew members and 84 passengers. To date, the bodies of 12 dead have been found at the crash site. Fragments of the aircraft hull were also found one and a half kilometers from the coast at a depth of 70 meters. The search operation will continue around the clock.

The plane flew to Sochi from Chkalovsky near Moscow for refueling. He took off from Adler airport at 05:25 in the morning. Two minutes later, the Tu-154 disappeared from the radar. Could the dark time of the day interfere with the pilots during takeoff?

Vadim Lukashevich aviation expert, candidate of technical sciences, ex-designer of the Sukhoi Design Bureau“Absolutely out of the question, just absolutely. The fact is that the loss of orientation, it is fraught in bad weather conditions on the decline, when the plane must be brought to a certain point, not to miss the airfield, and so on. Takeoff ... everything is simple here. You have a straight lane, you have entered the lane, it is illuminated, if you have visibility of at least 30 meters, you can see the direction of the lane. Then you do the necessary procedures, turn on the full throttle, and that's it, in a straight line. You take the helm and that's it. Did people not see the artificial horizon on their instruments? That is, it is generally a loss of orientation such that it led to the fall of the aircraft, this is simply nonsense on takeoff. Even weather, how many times everyone who has flown knows perfectly well that the airport, for example, is closed for receiving aircraft, but why is it not closed for departures. This is a clear answer to the question. That is, takeoff is a much simpler manipulation, the information that, say, the landing gear was found one and a half kilometers away, suggests that something serious happened there. What confuses me, confuses me, firstly, is that at this moment, when nothing is known, the wreckage has not been collected, the data of the crew’s negotiations between themselves and the dispatch service have not been published, black boxes have not been found, now all versions should work, ranging from terrorism to meteorite impact. And the fact that we immediately dismissed terrorism, this leads to very serious concerns.”

A shift at the airfield in Chkalovsky, from where the crashed Tu-154 took off, excludes the failure of equipment or piloting error by an experienced crew. There is no official version of the plane crash yet. Sources of Interfax report that the aircraft of the Ministry of Defense crashed while climbing after takeoff from Adler airport, it did not give distress signals. A terrorist attack is "practically ruled out." However, according to Fontanka.ru's source, employees of the Federal Security Service are still working out the version of the terrorist attack. The FSB checks everyone who could approach the plane at the Chkalovsky military airport and in Adler.

According to a TASS source, the wreckage is scattered at a distance of one and a half to six kilometers from the Sochi coast. The area of ​​the search area exceeds 10 square kilometers.

Yuri Sytnik member of the presidential commission for the development of general aviation, honored pilot of Russia, former flight director of Vnukovo Airlines“There are two flight technicians flying along with the crew. If you notice, then there is a crew of eight people. They always spin near the plane. You just can't get there. A car with a tanker arrives, the interior is cleaned, the water is drained, the cleaners come up. He also arrives at a civilian airfield, there is a general procedure. If they ordered all this, then the attendants approached the plane. It’s just that there are no people staggering on the platform at all, because Sochi has a difficult airport. The security system works well there, the staff is permanent. Therefore, I want to tell you that the first persons of the state, our president, constantly fly there, so everything is in order with the security service at this airport. I rule out that there could be some kind of device in Sochi. But not the fact that it was laid in Sochi. It is unlikely that something could have been planted during refueling. Because everything is recorded there, cameras are installed there. If someone approached an outsider, it will be immediately visible. Those people who serve the aircraft, that is, technical water, refueling, oil, were called to fill in, but hardly, because the warriors themselves serve well. That he was flying there, flew out of the Moscow region at two o'clock. Therefore, it is unlikely that they climbed into the hoods, into the engines. It's just refueling, cleaning the cabin, nothing more. Something most likely happened in the cockpit that prevented the crew from getting this plane out. The moment of take-off is so fleeting, but there is also a difficult airport in Sochi, there you always take off over the sea, there may be cloudiness, icing, thunderstorms, he failed this course, what was there for him to take this plane out. There is already an IL-18 with passengers, there is an Armenian A-320 in this place. Now the Tu-154s are about to fall in the same place. What prevented the crew from getting in touch, why didn't he press the button and say that there was some kind of problem? So, there was no problem, so he tried to get out of this situation himself, so he did not report.

Pilot-instructor, master of sports in aerobatics jet aircraft Andrey Krasnoperov also believes that the version of the attack cannot be ruled out yet.

Andrey Krasnoperovinstructor pilot, master of sports in jet aerobatics“I have flown many times on these flights, which carry military pilots, service personnel, and landing on the plane is not carried out like civilians. Civilians check every suitcase, every luggage, but here it seems like all of their own are flying, and even more so, such an ensemble was flying. It seems strange to me that each pipe will be thrust into the definition of content. I have a tendency to think that something was not right there. But in Chkalovsky, I also flew Tu-154 from there many times, and the landing is carried out in a peculiar way. It's no secret that there is a lack of proper security control. And many people will confirm to me that those people who bring their trunks, put them there, no one will check these trunks, they won’t even fit into these viewing sections, especially in Chkalovsky. But he flew from Chkalovsky, flew normally. What was in Sochi and what was loaded into Sochi is also unknown. Moreover, the whole ensemble was flying, which means that there was musical equipment, everything else. And putting a small object in there is not a problem at all. ”

Pilots call the Sochi airport difficult. Take off over the Black Sea. Hero of Russia, test pilot, aviation expert Anatoly Knyshov discusses whether the Tu-154 could land on water.

Anatoly Knyshov Hero of Russia, test pilot, aviation expert“The scatter of aircraft parts, the more information is there - someone says five kilometers, one kilometer. With such a spread, some of the parts may end up on the shore. The crew is always ready to land on the water, because it is trained in simulators. And I believe that even if three engines fail, landing on the water surface is not a problem. But here is some instantaneous event that led to such a tragic event.

Roshydromet reports that on Sunday morning in the area of ​​Adler airport there were normal weather conditions, good visibility and light wind. How busy is the Sochi airport, and how often does the Ministry of Defense use it?

Alexander Valov editor-in-chief of the site "BlogSochi.Ru"“It is loaded mainly in summer time. Now it is less loaded in winter. Mostly tourists come here who go to Krasnaya Polyana. As for the planes of the Ministry of Defense, during the flights that were carried out during the show, which took place last year, all the planes of the Ministry of Defense also started from a civilian airport. The weather was cloudy. weather in last month cloudy, rainy. Directly at six in the morning it was overcast, maybe a little rain drizzled. But, in principle, this is not critical for the Tu-154. In principle, this is not critical for aircraft.”

The death of Dr. Lisa was called the worst news of the year by the Human Rights Council.

I am always surprised by the haste with which the authorities immediately dismiss the version, which, it would seem, should be considered among the priorities. Whenever planes explode in the sky, for some reason they try to reassure us: “This is not a terrorist attack. Versions of a technical malfunction and piloting error are being considered. So it was after the terrible tragedy in August 2004, when two planes exploded in the sky at once - Tu-134 and Tu-154. Then it took several hours for the unlikely version of the attack to turn into a "working" one. And it took a month and a half to recognize the catastrophe at Sinai as a diversion. Although from the earliest days officials both Russia and Egypt assured us that there was no bomb on board.

This summer, I flew the same Tu-154 military aircraft from Moscow to Khabarovsk - with four landings. I was never checked. "Fellow travelers" who landed in Yekaterinburg, Chita, Ulan-Ude - too. Although on international destinations rules are tougher.

In Chkalovsky, we were always searched, - a familiar journalist told me, who flew the same aircraft to Syria. - But the screening is not as strict as in civilian airports. For example, I calmly carried a two-liter bottle of water. Before launching people on board, it is also inspected. Flights to Syria go either with landing in North Ossetia or in Sochi. We landed just in Sochi, at the civilian airport, where all the cargo goes through customs. They are very picky there, you can easily get stuck for two days. Actually, that’s why I didn’t fly this time, I didn’t take risks. While customs officers are working, all passengers are taken to the dining room. We do not leave the airport. What is there at this time with security, I do not know.

We remember that the bomb was carried on board the aircraft in Egypt by an airport employee. If we assume that something similar happened this time, then it is unlikely that the terrorist managed to get on board in Chkalovsky. This is still a military airfield, a secure facility. He could not be among the passengers. There at all random people did not have. Sochi airport remains, where they work civil services into which a terrorist could infiltrate. I am not saying, I am only saying that such a version should be considered, and not dismissed. Until this sleeper agent, if it exists, planted another bomb on another plane. Moreover, experts consider such a possibility quite probable.

The crew did not have any information about any malfunctions of individual systems or engines, - test pilot, Hero of Russia Anatoly Knyshov said on the air of Komsomolskaya Pravda Radio. - Otherwise, if such information would have been available, the pilot, following the instructions, would have turned around and landed at the departure airfield. In this situation, we can say that, apparently, there was something on board. Because just like that, planes do not fall, they do not land in an emergency. But why the crew did not report information about what happened to him is also a question. One option is the failure of three engines. But in any case, the crew informs the dispatch service, informs the Ministry of Defense about this or that reason. In this situation, in my opinion, a sharp loss of communication, a sharp depressurization of the aircraft led to the fact that the crew could not, did not have time to report the reason that happened on board. It could have been explosive, that is, an explosion could have occurred, and no one could tell - neither the correspondents who were there, nor the crew itself. I can't imagine anything else here.

Remember the story of the 1988 plane hijacking by the Ovechkin family? Talented musicians from the family jazz ensemble Seven Simeons received a tempting offer from a London recording studio. And they decided to escape to the UK, capturing the Tu-154. They hid two sawn-off hunting rifles and several improvised explosive devices in cases. musical instruments. However, I doubt that this time someone would "bother" with the replacement of cases in the luggage of the Alexandrov ensemble. Indeed, in order for the plane to fly apart in the air, 200 grams of TNT in a Coke can is enough.

MORE VERSIONS

Versions of the TU-154 crash near Sochi: the revenge of the terrorists, a technical failure or the pilots did not have enough time to correct the mistake

So far, experts are only speculating what could have caused such a terrible emergency. Main versions: technical malfunction or pilot error. This was reported by a source of "KP" in law enforcement agencies (details)

CHRONICLE OF A TRAGEDY

Military aircraft Tu-154 with artists of the Alexandrov Ensemble crashed into the Black Sea near Sochi

There were 92 people on board the liner - crew members, artists, journalists (

It became one of the biggest tragedies of the outgoing year. There were 92 people on board the ship, all of them died. In each such case, the appearance of different versions of what happened is inevitable. Lenta.ru tried to figure out what was happening.

N. B.: Everything said below about the causes of the aircraft accident is a statement of versions that have not yet been officially confirmed. Before the publication of official conclusions on the results of the investigation into the causes of the disaster, none of these versions can be considered true.

The Tu-154B-2 aircraft, tail number RA-85572, manufactured in 1983 at the Kuibyshev Aviation Plant (now the Aviakor Plant), was operated by the Ministry of Defense almost all its life - first as part of the 8th Air Division special purpose Air Force of the USSR, then - created in 1993, the 223rd flight detachment.

As of the day of the disaster, the aircraft had worked out about 11 percent of its flight resource, flying an average of just over 200 hours per year, which is relatively small for passenger liners that are operated in civil aviation with an intensity of 1000 or more hours per year. The assigned resource of the board was 37,500 hours, or 16,000 landings, while it could be extended to 60,000 hours and 22,000 landings.

Tu-154B-2 has already been withdrawn from commercial operation due to non-compliance with accepted noise and high flow fuel, but military vehicles are still 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 state structures and performs irregular cargo and passenger transportation - as a rule, transporting personnel of the Armed Forces. The enterprise was organized on the basis of the 8th aviation division special purpose (8 adOSNAZ, 8 adon) of the Russian Air Force in Chkalovsky in accordance with the order of the President of the Russian Federation of January 15, 1993 No. 37-rp "On ensuring the activities of 223 and 224 flight detachments of the Russian Ministry of Defense" for air transportation 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, however, due to weather conditions, the refueling airfield was changed to Sochi. From Sochi, the liner took off at 05:25, and fell, according to reports, after spending two minutes in the air before the crash.

The flight's destination was the Russian Khmeimim air base in Syria. The plane was carrying the artists of the military ensemble named after Alexandrov, the press, and the military personnel accompanying them. In addition, Elizaveta Glinka (known as Dr. Lisa) was on board, and the head of the Department of Culture of the Ministry of Defense Anton Gubankov.

The main publicly discussed versions of what happened come down to three: a technical malfunction, a pilot error, and a terrorist act. The accompanying circumstance to the first two versions could have been the weather, but the available data on the actual weather in Sochi at the time of the disaster suggests that the conditions were quite acceptable:

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

All three versions cannot be either confirmed or excluded before the official conclusions of the commission of inquiry, however, one can try to “spread out on the table” the available information, at least in order to streamline it.

The last time the RA-85572 board was repaired was in December 2014, and in September 2016 it underwent scheduled maintenance. The total flight time of the aircraft for 33 years of operation amounted to 6689 hours.

This age and resource is completely normal for liners in military operation. Thus, one of the main cargo-passenger aircraft of the US Air Force 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 the 2040s. .

By itself, the Tu-154 is a reliable aircraft, however, no aircraft is immune from technical failures, and, of course, this version will be one of the main ones.

The crew of the crashed liner is characterized as very experienced. The Tu-154 aircraft that crashed in the Black Sea was flown by pilot first class Roman Volkov.

“The Tu-154 aircraft of the Military Transport Aviation of the Russian Ministry of Defense was flown by an experienced pilot Roman Alexandrovich 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 - navigator of the crashed Tu-154B-2 - in April 2011 participated in the rescue of the "dancing liner". Then the plane of the same model landed at Chkalovsky airport with a faulty control system. The Tu-154B-2 RA-88563 board was planned to be transferred to Samara for repairs. After the plane took off, malfunctions were discovered in the operation of 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 managed to return to the runway in Chkalovsky thanks to the skillful actions of the crew. Petukhov was the navigator of the "dancing liner". He, along with his colleagues, was awarded the Order of Courage.

At the same time, taking off from coastal airfields has always been not the easiest procedure, but the Tu-154, especially in the “B” version, is described by many pilots as a fairly strict aircraft in control, which also does not allow one to immediately dismiss the version of a possible tragic mistake.

Finally, given the political situation, the version of a terrorist attack cannot be ruled out, including due to the specifics of the organization of military flights. Unfortunately, the stringency of screening and security on military passenger flights is generally much more relaxed than on commercial airlines. As noted by many servicemen and civilians who have experience flying by aircraft of the Ministry of Defense from Chkalovsky and other military airfields, pre-flight screening on such flights often comes down to a mere formality in the form of checking passenger lists with documents, especially when “our” team is flying. When flying abroad - to the same Syria - it is somewhat stricter (border formalities are included), but even in this case it does not compare with traditional measures in the vast majority of civil airports in developed countries.

Under these conditions, it is possible to admit both the possibility of having an explosive device on board, which could have been placed in the luggage of the liner during loading, and the possibility of carrying it on board during an intermediate landing in Sochi. In any case, the likelihood of such a development of events is not ruled out by the special services, which began checking those who could have access to the aircraft at the airport of departure and in Sochi.

A variation of the version of the terrorist attack is the assumption put forward in some media about a possible attack on the plane using a portable anti-aircraft gun. missile system, which could be carried out by terrorists either from a boat or from a residential area on the coast, but this option is unlikely to be true, given that the deceased liner was originally supposed to land in Mozdok, and if it was intended to be attacked during landing / takeoff from the refueling airfield - he would be expected there.

Anyway, the investigation has only just begun. A plane crash into the sea can seriously complicate it - a steep drop in depths in the Sochi region, where the continental slope at an angle of 45 degrees sharply goes down to marks of 500, 1000 or more meters, and a thick layer of silt will greatly complicate the search for the wreckage of the liner. The Il-18V aircraft that died in the same area in 1972 fell a little further from the coast - at a distance of about 10 kilometers, but its wreckage went to a depth of 500 to 1000 meters, and neither the largest parts of the fuselage and wings, nor flight recorders could be found managed.

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

The FSB announced four main versions of the Tu-154 crash of the Ministry of Defense over the Black Sea: foreign objects getting into the engine, low-quality fuel, pilot error, or a technical malfunction of the aircraft. Pilots and aviation security experts speculated on what was most likely to cause the crash.

Forensic experts of the Investigative Committee arrived at the site of the discovery of the wreckage of the RA-85572 board - in the Black Sea near Sochi. This was reported by sources in law enforcement agencies.

“Tu-154 is one of the most reliable aircraft in the world. But this is a very strict aircraft to manage.”

A group of divers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, a mile from the coast at the bottom, found the fuselage of the aircraft - this was reported in the Southern Regional Search and Rescue Detachment (SURSO) of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Earlier it was reported that the wreckage was found in a strip of 400 meters at a depth of 25 meters, 1.5 km from the coast on the Khosta beam. Some fragments have already been brought to the surface.

At present, search parties including divers. Now divers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations carry out repeated descent. “There are a lot of small details at the bottom and practically no large ones,” the source said.

Recall that during the crash of the Tu-154 aircraft of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation the day before, there were 92 people, including nine media representatives (journalists from Channel One, NTV and the Zvezda TV channel) and 64 artists of the Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble. Also on the passenger list is the well-known doctor Elizaveta Glinka (Doctor Lisa), who is for the University Hospital in Latakia.

Four versions of the FSB

On Monday federal Service named security. This is the ingress of foreign objects into the engine, low-quality fuel (resulting in a loss of power and failure of the engines), piloting error or a technical malfunction of the aircraft.

Board RA-85572 took off at a nominal speed - 345 kilometers per hour. Signs of a terrorist attack or sabotage aboard the Tu-154 have not been found at present, the FSB stressed.

As a source in the special services explained to TASS, after arriving in Adler, the plane was taken under guard. Only two border guards and one customs officer went on board, so the version of the bomb being brought in can be ruled out. In addition, the landing in Adler was unplanned, as refueling was originally planned in Mozdok, but the route was postponed due to weather conditions.

FSB representatives also reported that the crashed Tu-154 was carrying neither military and dual-use cargo, nor pyrotechnics.

Earlier, the head of the government commission to investigate the disaster, Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov also said that the attack is not the main version of what happened. The technical condition of the aircraft, as well as piloting errors, are considered as reasons, the head of the Ministry of Transport said. Sokolov said that his department does not see the need to introduce additional security measures at the country's airports.

Non-synchronous retraction of wing mechanization

Test pilot, Hero of Russia Magomed Tolboev noted that it is technical problems that should be considered when determining the causes of the Tu-154 crash. The expert said that he discussed the disaster with colleagues.

All of them, as a priority version, note that “non-synchronous retraction of the flaps” could lead to the death of the aircraft. “In general, this is called “non-synchronous cleaning of the wing mechanization,” said Tolboev.

The interlocutor explained that in this case, flaps and slats are removed from one side of the wing, and not removed from the other side. “It turns out that the plane instantly turns around its axis. Neither the commander, nor anyone will have time to say a word, they are thrown there like a herring in a barrel,” summed up Magomed Tolboev.

There are no parallels with the Tu-104 crash of 1981

Note that earlier in the media there were suggestions that the cause of the death of the Tu-154 is the same as the Tu-104 disaster that took place in 1981 in Leningrad region. Then the plane crashed due to an overload in the tail section: the command Pacific Fleet, flying this side, stored heavy suitcases and other cargo in the tail of the liner. During takeoff, the "gifts" shifted back, causing the plane to crash.

However, as Magomed Tolboev explains, parallels cannot be drawn between the Tu-104 crash in 1981 and the current Tu-154 crash. Such a situation, in which the cargo abruptly shifted to the tail, cannot be on the Tu-154, Tolboev noted. “The Tu-154 has a central compartment under the wing near the center section and the tail section, in addition, there is a centering machine, which itself determines the transfer of fuel, the presence of a threat on board,” the source explained.

“The aircraft sets its controls so that the centering is in one position,” the expert noted. “There was no automatic tracking system in the Tu-104, and generals and admirals could load whatever they wanted into the tail.”

Small raid

Civil aviation expert, director of ICAA Flight Safety programs Viktor Galenko believes that the most plausible version of what happened is a human factor, not a technical malfunction. In Galenko, he noted that "the statistics of air crashes indicate a ratio of 8 to 2: out of ten such accidents, in eight cases the cause is the human factor, in two - everything else."

The Tu-154 aircraft after the repair was almost like new - the resource of this side was 11%, the expert emphasized. “Tu-154 is one of the most reliable aircraft in the world. He has a huge power-to-weight ratio and is very high degree mechanization of the wing, - said the interlocutor. “This allows the aircraft to take off and land in any conditions, in particular, in high altitude conditions, rarefied air and heat, which are much harder for pilots than the weather conditions that were in Adler.”

“But there is one detail: this is a very strict aircraft to manage,” the expert emphasizes. - The aircraft requires full training of pilots at the rate of the flight school. In the USSR, for the “carcass”, they first took an exam for the An-24 or Yak-40 from the pilot, as a co-pilot, then they made him the crew commander of the An-24 or Yak-40, then again, after a short retraining, they “put them in the right seat” (the second pilot - approx. VIEW) Tu-154, and only then, by the age of 40, the pilot could lead the crew of the Tu-154.

The crew commander of the crashed plane, pilot first class, Major Roman Volkov, is an experienced aviator, his total flight time was more than 300 hours, Galenko points out. “But here the annual flight time of the crew of this board was 200 hours, and this is already not enough,” the source continues. “At the same time, different crews flew on it, so the hypothesis of a small flight time of the crew on this board is confirmed.”

The crashed Tu-154 itself is “the aircraft of the Chkalovsky airfield, which was in separate squadron Ministry of Internal Affairs,” the interlocutor explains, adding: “I know the squadron commander, since just a month ago I took schoolchildren there on an excursion.”

The main problem of the pilots of the "front sides" in almost all countries is a very small flight time of the crew, Galenko believes. “Ceremonial aircraft with high fuel consumption and comfortable cabins fly extremely rarely, the military pilots who fly them have a small annual flight time. And this greatly affects the level of crew training,” the source said. Back in the days of the USSR, pilots were forced to undergo simulator retraining even after vacation, but military pilots on these sides (“front sides” of the Chkalovsky airfield) have breaks in flights for more than one month, Galenko notes.

Piloting this aircraft is an inadequate task for pilots with low flying time, the expert concludes.

"Oncoming on takeoff, passing on the echelon"

The expert believes that adverse weather conditions could not be the cause of the disaster. “There were no dangerous weather events during the incident, the wind during takeoff was fair. At an elevation angle of 20 degrees, it was five meters per second,” emphasizes Galenko.

The peculiarity of the Adler airport is that takeoff and landing are carried out towards the sea. It is impossible to take off towards the mountains under any circumstances, there is fog, the expert adds.

“Unfavorable conditions would be a tailwind (takeoff is always carried out against the wind, the pilots even wish each other “oncoming on takeoff, passing on the echelon”), as well as heat - the plane takes off much better in the cold than in hot weather. However, even in the case of a tailwind and heat, the Tu-154 engine has a huge thrust reserve. There was no icing or thunderstorms, and other aircraft did not report high turbulence,” adds Galenko.

Weather conditions near the airport in Adler at the time of the crash of the Tu-154 are assessed as simple for piloting an aircraft, Roshydromet said, which was quoted by "". “At about five in the morning Moscow time, the temperature at the ground is +5, the wind is 5 m / s, visibility is 10 km. Quite normal weather conditions," the ministry said. The Sochi airport, from where the Tu-154 took off, continued to work as usual, media reported.

At the same time, according to the online scoreboard, four flights were canceled in Adler on Sunday morning.

Weather conditions have repeatedly become the cause of the death of aircraft around the world. On March 19 of the outgoing year, a Boeing 737-800 flying from Dubai crashed while landing in Rostov-on-Don. Due to bad weather, the airliner was unable to land after two attempts, and after leaving for another round crashed near the runway, killing 55 passengers and 7 crew members. The investigation into the causes of the crash continues.

On August 22, 2006, after a collision with a strong thunderstorm, a Tu-154M airliner crashed near Donetsk, flying Anapa - St. Petersburg. There were 170 people on board. The cause of the disaster was called the erroneous actions of the pilots when trying to bypass the storm front. On February 12, 2002, near the Iranian city of Khorramabad, an Iranian airline Tu-154 crashed with 119 people on board. The plane crash happened after bad weather.