S7 Airlines Flight 778
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|) | }} }}| Passengers=193http://bort778.info/info.shtml| Crew=10| Survivors =74+| }} S7 Airlines Flight 778 (RU778 or SBI778) was an Airbus A310-300 passenger flight en route from Moscow to Irkutsk when it crashed upon landing at Irkutsk International Airport at 07:44 local time on July 9 2006 (July 8, 22:44 UTC). The plane overshot the runway, crashed through a concrete barricade, hit a building and burst into flames. Television pictures showed smoking ruins of the Airbus with only the tail section intact. Local firefighters from five different services required two hours to extinguish the blaze.
There were 193 passengers and 10 crew members aboard . Seventy one passengers and perhaps three flight attendants survived the crash, leaving 125 dead. Between 44 and 59 people were taken to a hospital, some with critical injuries, but others managed to escape with few injuries and 15 were able to continue their journeys. Some survivors said they owed their lives to a flight attendant who managed to open the emergency exit in the rear of the aircraft.
A spokesperson for the ITAR-Tass news agency in Russia, Irina Andrianova said "The aircraft veered off the runway on landing. It was travelling at a terrific speed."
The agency also reported that many children were among the passengers who were flying to a holiday on Lake Baikal, near Irkutsk, about 4,200 km (2,604 miles) east of Moscow. Besides Russian citizens, who were the majority of passengers, there were also two Polish tourists travelling to Mongolia via Irkutsk. Having been in the tail section, they managed to escape the plane unassisted, one injuring a leg. (). There were twelve other non-Russians on board, three from China, three from Belarus and two each from Germany, Moldavia, and South Korea.
Among the dead were Sergey Koryakov, regional head of the FSB, and Maria Rasputina, daughter of writer Valentin Rasputin.
News agencies reported Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin as saying the pilots advised air traffic controllers they had landed successfully, but that radio contact then broke off suddenly. Speaking before flying from Moscow to Irkutsk, Levitin was also quoted as saying the runway was wet after rain.
Initial reports suggested failures in the braking and reverse thrust systems, pilot error, and a wet runway as possible causes. [BBC News report and video footage] According to eyewitnesses, the aircraft apparently failed to brake properly after touchdown, and even started accelerating at some point ( symptomatic of thrust reversers' failure to deploy ). It was estimated to have been moving in excess of 100 km/h (62 mph) when it hit the concrete barricade. () The cause of the accident is unknown.
Witnesses report that the previous day a S7 A-310 aircraft was taken off the route to Chelyabinsk due to technical failures, but it is unknown whether this was the same aircraft.
Official information from the airline (in Russian and English) is provided at [Site for official information on S7 778 crash]
Airbus said the aircraft involved in the accident had registered number |) | }} }} and MSN (Manufacturer Serial Number) 442. It was delivered new in June 1987 and had accumulated more than 52,000 flight hours in more than 10,000 flights. It was powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4152 engines. [link]
According to Airbus, the aircraft was properly maintained. The most recent A-check, or maintenance check, on the aircraft was on June 1, Sibir said. An A-check is performed every 450 flight hours. A C-check, which involves a more thorough overhaul, was carried out July 12 in Frankfurt last year. A C-check is done every 15 months.http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ac.DW3YMisDU&refer=
References
External links
- [S7 Airlines Flight 778] in the Aviation Safety Network database
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