Passenger Plane Crashes at Rostov-on-Don Airport in Russia

Gawan said:
Unfortunately it is reported that a passenger plane crashed in Russia supposedly due to bad weather and bad sight during landing. It is reported that all 62 passengers died in that incident. When checking the shared video it looks like if the plane falls like a stone from the sky. May the people rest in peace.


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The collapse of Boeing at the airport of Rostov-on-Don. Chronicle of events

http://ria.ru/incidents/20160319/1392591218.html
 
This is very sad! Russians again are the victimes in a airplane accident... Do you think is something strange in this accident?

I feel so sorry for the victims and their families. :cry:
 
Gawan said:
Unfortunately it is reported that a passenger plane crashed in Russia supposedly due to bad weather and bad sight during landing. It is reported that all 62 passengers died in that incident. When checking the shared video it looks like if the plane falls like a stone from the sky. May the people rest in peace.
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Yeah, unfortunately, the weather in the area was really bad, also according to locals. :( One of the main theories is that the aircraft couldn't land at the first attempt, and started making circles. And this is when it happened. There are also claims that the pilot made a decision to land in Rostov-on-Don, even if he could land in another airport, so he spent all the fuel flying around for more than 2 hours. So even if the weather conditions were bad, flight controller had no choice but to approve landing, because the plane was low on fuel. But many things are still unclear. In any case, at this point it looks like it was either the weather or pilot error, or combination of both.
 
loreta said:
This is very sad! Russians again are the victimes in a airplane accident... Do you think is something strange in this accident?
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No really, what was only a bit strange was the sharp angle the plane crashed down. But I have no experience if this can happen also under bad weather when you have instruments.
 
It's interesting that yesterday, the US embassy in Moscow issued a warning:

_https://latestnewsresource.com/en/news/breaking-news-posolstvo-ssha-predupredilo-grazhdan-o-terroristicheskoj-ugroze-v-rossii
The U.S. Embassy in Moscow cautioned American citizens about the terrorist threat in Russia in General and in the capital in particular. RIA Novosti I reported a press-the Secretary of Embassy William Stevens.

The security of the diplomatic mission released on Friday, March 18, due to the need to recall a recent update warning The state Department regarding the terrorist threat in Europe and including Russia.

"Our embassies around the world on a regular basis to share information with the American citizens, concerning safety," stressed Stevens.
In the text of the notification available to the Agency, noted that the Embassy advises American citizens to remain "vigilant, as the risks associated with terrorism in Russia is still very high".

"Reliable sources indicate that terrorists are actively preparing attacks in Europe, and this preparation can also affect targets in Russia, especially in Moscow. To potential terrorist attacks may include public places, such as restaurants, tourist attractions and transport", — stated in the document.
In early March the state Department spread the warning that the group "Islamic state" and "al-Qaeda" (banned in Russia) in the near future I plan terrorist attacks in Europe.
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Was this a clue or a "teaser" for those in the know, i.e. Putin?
 
Aragorn said:
Was this a clue or a "teaser" for those in the know, i.e. Putin?
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Well, at least for now it doesn't look this way. The weather was really bad at the time. A knowledgeable pilot wouldn't try to land at this airport during such conditions, and for some reason he ignored the offer to land somewhere else. So there are also questions regarding pilot's competence, since he wasn't used to landing in such harsh weather. Actually, it reminds me about the situation with the Polish plane crash.
 
Sorry to hear of another great loss of life. I agree with Keit, " it looks like it was either the weather or pilot error, or combination of both."


The Last Communications of FlyDubai Captain with Rostov Air Traffic Control (Video)
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/03/the-last-communications-of-flydubai.html

Translated by Kristina Kharlova

Information on current weather conditions is reported by air traffic controllers, while the final decision on landing is made by the captain of the aircraft, told TASS the representative of Rosaviation.

"The final decision on landing is made by the aircraft captain, in turn, controllers share information about current meteorological conditions," - said the representative of the Federal air transport agency.

Two flights that were to land in Rostov-on-Don on the night of March 19, diverted to Krasnodar due to poor weather conditions. In addition, one flight returned to the departure airport to Istanbul, as evidenced by Flightradar24.com.

Aeroflot flights from Sheremetyevo (SU 1166) and Czech airlines from Prague (OK 914) that were supposed to land in Rostov-on-Don at 2:15 and 3:25 Moscow time respectively, diverted to Krasnodar. Turkish airlines flight from Istanbul, which was to land at 3:55 Moscow time, returned to the departure airport.

The plane circled around the airport for two hours about 10 times waiting for better weather conditions before attempting the second landing.
 
Keit said:
Yeah, unfortunately, the weather in the area was really bad, also according to locals. :( One of the main theories is that the aircraft couldn't land at the first attempt, and started making circles. And this is when it happened. There are also claims that the pilot made a decision to land in Rostov-on-Don, even if he could land in another airport, so he spent all the fuel flying around for more than 2 hours. So even if the weather conditions were bad, flight controller had no choice but to approve landing, because the plane was low on fuel. But many things are still unclear. In any case, at this point it looks like it was either the weather or pilot error, or combination of both.
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Might be a combination of both but I'm still suspicious. From the video you can see the plane at a really steep descent and the Flightradar24 data shows that before attempting to land, the plane was dropping at over 20,000 feet per minute (6Km/minute). A speaker on RT speculated that the reason for the crash is not due to the plane losing power but rather the pilot having been disoriented prior to the landing due to the severe weather condition, but wouldn't it need to be intentional to be able to achieve such a vertical drop? What's also surprising is the crash site; from the pictures shown there's barely any sign left of the main body parts of the aircraft.


Investigators search for cause of deadly plane crash
According to Flightradar24, the plane circled for about two hours before making another attempt to land. It said a Russian Aeroflot plane scheduled to land around the same time made three landing attempts but then diverted to another airport.

According to its data, the Dubai plane began climbing again after a go-around when it suddenly started to fall with vertical speed of up to 21,000 feet per minute.
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Eboard10 said:
Might be a combination of both but I'm still suspicious...wouldn't it need to be intentional to be able to achieve such a vertical drop?
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Do you mean that you suspect that it was a "terror attack"? Ok, but then how do you reconcile this theory with the fact that it happened more than two hours after the intended landing? That if the weather was ok, or if the pilot would choose to land in another airport, the crash "would never happen"?
 
According to its data, the Dubai plane began climbing again after a go-around when it suddenly started to fall with vertical speed of up to 21,000 feet per minute.
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Yep, pilot error seems extremely unlikely. Flightradar shows the plane at 150 knots and low altitude moments before landing, before picking up speed (200 knots) and altitude to come hurtling down at -100 meters/second _vertical_. There's no way any pilot would do that, in any weather, except if the altimeter had been altered to make it appear way higher - or if the plane was remotely taken over.

Plane flying in from Dubai, filled with russian nationals? Foul play is my most likely guess, somebody sending a message.
 
There are some things that don't make much sense and there are some others that may (or may not) mean something.

1. First, while some planes were actually diverted to other airports, some, at least one, landed and took off around the same time.

From FlightRadar, Arrivals:
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airports/rov#arrivals

12:20 AM U6147 Moscow (DME) - A320 - Landed 11:53 PM
12:35 AM SU5117 St. Petersburg (LED) - A319 Landed 12:19 AM
12:50 AM UT497 Moscow (VKO) - B735 Landed 12:33 AM
01:20 AM FZ981 Dubai (DXB) - B738 Landed 03:42 AM/Crashed
01:40 AM U62758 Khudzhand (LBD) - A320 Landed 01:28 AM
01:45 AM S71159 Moscow (DME) - A319 Landed 01:23 AM
02:15 AM SU1166 Moscow (SVO) - SU95 Diverted to KRR
03:25 AM OK914 Prague (PRG) - A319 Diverted to KRR
03:55 AM TK293 Istanbul (IST) - A319 Diverted to IST - this one after the crash

Flight Radar, Departures:
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airports/rov#departures

02:20 AM FZ982 Dubai (DXB) - B738 Unknown
03:20 AM U62757 Khudzhand (LBD) - A320 Departed 03:31 AM
03:25 AM SU1167 Moscow (SVO) - SU9 Departed 03:35 AM (this may not be true, the plane was diverted to KRR)

The Ural Airlines pilot who landed and took off (flights U62757/58 above) during the time the Dubai plane was making some crazy loops for two hours (why would he do it?) said the conditions were "normal" for locals, but not for foreign pilots. It seems a bit like a cavalier /bragging attitude, so FWIW. He also said he heard a part of conversation between the Dubai plane pilot and the ACT and everything seemed calm and OK. Link (in Russian): http://lifenews.ru/news/191304

You can see the Russian airline making just two regular loops and diverting to Krasnodar airport:
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/su1166#923206c

and compare it with FZ981:
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/fz981#922b3bd

2. FWIW
The Dubai plane's (A6-FDN) previous flights were to Kiev and back to Dubai:
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/a6-fdn

2016-03-18 Dubai (DXB) Rostov-on-Don (ROV) FZ981 6:05 08:45 PM 09:37 PM 01:20 AM
2016-03-18 Kiev (IEV) Dubai (DXB) FZ744 4:56 04:05 PM 04:17 PM 09:30 PM Landed 09:12 PM
2016-03-18 Dubai (DXB) Kiev (IEV) FZ743 5:25 07:10 AM 07:42 AM 01:05 PM Landed 01:07 PM

3. And just a 'beep on the radar'

A bit less than a year ago, Russia has launched the “quietest submarine in the world.” It was named "Rostov on Don". In December last year, Russia used it to attack ISIS:

_http://www.defensenews.com/story/breaking-news/2015/12/08/submarine-russia-kalibr-caliber-cruise-missile-syria-kilo/76995346/

"We used Kalibr cruise missiles from the Rostov-on-Don submarine from the Mediterranean Sea," Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin, Russian news agencies reported.

The missiles "targeted two major terrorist positions in the territory of Raqqa," Russia Today quoted Shoigu as telling Putin. "We can say with absolute confidence that significant damage has been inflicted upon ammunition warehouses and a mine production plant, as well as the oil infrastructure."
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The plane circling for over 2 hours and then falling down like a stone is really hard to explain by bad weather conditions only....
 
Eboard10 said:
A speaker on RT speculated that the reason for the crash is not due to the plane losing power but rather the pilot having been disoriented prior to the landing due to the severe weather condition, but wouldn't it need to be intentional to be able to achieve such a vertical drop?
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I can understand the pilot's sheer desperation, having lived through a similar experience while piloting a small aircraft with two passengers. After 15 minutes of slowly climbing in the clouds over mountainous terrain I became thoroughly disoriented, the plane tumbling, and for an instant a thought crossed my mind: "f*ck it, I cannot take any more of this, let me just dive and be done with it". As luck would have it, two seconds later I was out and above the clouds, instantly everything clearing up to blue sky and sunshine.
So I imagine the poor guy after 2 hours of wind, rain, turbulence, disorientation, in total darkness.
 
Possibility of Being said:
A bit less than a year ago, Russia has launched the “quietest submarine in the world.” It was named "Rostov on Don". In December last year, Russia used it to attack ISIS:
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Very interesting.

Possibility of Being said:
The plane circling for over 2 hours and then falling down like a stone is really hard to explain by bad weather conditions only....
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Sure, it could be pilot's incompetence or over-confidence, or plane's inadequate condition too. For some reason it seems like "intentional terror attack" theory doesn't hold water in this case, imo. After all, other pilots also didn't land, did a circle or two, but then chose to land in another airport. For some reason this particular pilot chose to insist on landing in Roston-on-Don. Why? Maybe it's the same as what happened to Lech Kaczyński's plane, that the pilots thought they knew better?

Perhaps it's a good question for the C's? Who knows, maybe there is something nefarious after all.

By the way, just to share a weird coincidence. Yesterday I rewatched Northern Exposure, and the episode was about Maggie having a dream about Dr. Fleischman's plane crashing. :shock:
 
United Gnosis said:
According to its data, the Dubai plane began climbing again after a go-around when it suddenly started to fall with vertical speed of up to 21,000 feet per minute.
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Yep, pilot error seems extremely unlikely. Flightradar shows the plane at 150 knots and low altitude moments before landing, before picking up speed (200 knots) and altitude to come hurtling down at -100 meters/second _vertical_.
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Is there any chance, considering the weather conditions, that as the plane was approaching the runway at 150 knots, that it hit an up-draft that violently hurled it upward and upon release, the plane dropped out of the sky?
 
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