Red Wings Airlines Flight 9268

Red Wings Airlines Flight 9268 was a Tupolev Tu-204-100 passenger jet that on 29 December 2012 crashed on landing at Moscow Vnukovo Airport, Russia, following a repositioning flight from Pardubice Airport, Czech Republic. There were no passengers on board, but 5 of the 8 crew members were killed when the aircraft hit a ditch and highway structures after overrunning the runway.[1]

Red Wings Airlines Flight 9268
RA-64047, the Tu-204 involved in the accident, photographed in June 2011
Accident
Date29 December 2012 (2012-12-29)
SummaryRunway overrun on landing due to braking system failure and pilot error
SiteVnukovo International Airport, Moscow, Russia
55°35′2″N 37°15′18″E
Total injuries4
Aircraft
Aircraft typeTupolev Tu-204-100B
OperatorRed Wings Airlines
IATA flight No.WZ9268
RegistrationRA-64047
Flight originPardubice Airport, Pardubice, Czech Republic
DestinationVnukovo International Airport, Moscow, Russia
Occupants8
Passengers0
Crew8
Fatalities5
Injuries3
Survivors3
Ground casualties
Ground injuries1

The accident marked the second hull-loss of a Tupolev Tu-204, as well as the type's first fatal accident since its introduction in 1989.[2]

Accident

According to Vnukovo airport authorities, there were eight crew members onboard and no passengers.[3][4][5] There were five fatalities.[4][6][7] At 16:35 local time (12:35 GMT), the aircraft overran Runway 19, splitting into three sections upon running into a ditch between the airport fence and the M3 highway, with parts of it scattering onto the road; included were parts of the aircraft's interior, seat assemblies and two of the aircraft's wheels hitting the underside of the runway's approach lighting system scaffolding and impacting an automobile. The crash was recorded on video by a dashcam mounted on another automobile.[8] The cockpit section of the aircraft became detached from the rest of the airframe.[9]

It had been snowing prior to the accident and there was a significant cross wind with gusts of up to 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph).[2]

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (МВД) reported that the captain, first officer, flight engineer and one flight attendant were killed on impact. Of the remaining four crew members, a female subsequently died of her injuries while the other three were in serious condition.[4][2]

The December 29 accident was the second runway overrun involving a Red Wings operated Tu-204-100B in nine days. A Moscow Vnukovo to Novosibirsk flight on December 20, 2012 (operated by a Tupolev Tu-204 registered as RA-64049) overran runway 25 at Tolmachevo Airport by 1,150 feet (350 meters) when its brakes failed on landing. All 70 people on board survived uninjured and the aircraft was minor damaged. As a result of that incident, on December 24 the Federal Air Transport Agency of Russia (Rosaviatsia) issued a mandatory Airworthiness Directive requiring Red Wings and all other operators of the Tu-204 to inspect and apply extra lubrication to the braking system drive mechanism limit switches, located on the main landing shock absorber, "before next departure".

On December 28, the day before the fatal Vnukovo accident, Rosaviatsia also formally notified Tupolev, the aircraft's manufacturer, that malfunctioning brakes had caused the Red Wings Tu-204 overrun accident at Novosibirsk.[10][11] On December 30 Rosaviatsia chief Alexander Neradko announced that a preliminary examination of the aircraft's flight data recorder indicated that the flight had touched down in the proper landing area but, as in the December 20 incident in Novosibirsk, the braking system on RA-64047 appeared to have failed in the fatal Moscow overrun accident as well.[12]

Aircraft and crew
RA-64047, the Tu-204 involved, photographed over Poland at 08:32am GMT, on the accident flight

The aircraft, a Tupolev Tu-204-100B (reg RA-64047, c/n 1450743164047, s/n 047) was built in 2008.[13] The airframe had accumulated 8,672 flight hours in 2,482 cycles, while the captain, 58-year-old Gennady Dmitrievich Shmelev, had more than 14,500 hours of total flying experience, of which more than 3,000 hours were on the Tu-204.[14]:12–17[15][16] The first officer, 52-year-old Evgeny Ivanovich Astashenkov had more than 10,000 flight hours, including more than 500 hours on the Tu-204.[14]:17–19 The flight engineer, 54-year-old Igor Nikolaevich Fisenko, also had more than 10,000 flight hours, with nearly 1,600 of them on the Tu-204.[14]:20–22 The accident was the first hull loss for Red Wings Airlines since its founding in 1999.[2]

Sequence of events during landing

The approach was carried out on the runway 19 at Vnukovo Airport with length of 3060 m. The captain was the pilot-in-command (PIC). Before entering the glide path the aircraft was in landing configuration with flaps deployed at 37°, slats at 23°, and the landing gear down. Decision height was calculated to be 60 m. Landing weight of the aircraft was approximately 67.5 tons, center of gravity (CG) location at appx. 26.5%, which does not exceed the limits set by the flight manual (AFM). During preparation for landing the captain has determined the landing speed as 210 km/h, and specified that the speed of at least 230 km/h has to be maintained. Approach was done in the director mode with autothrottle disabled with an average indicated airspeed of about 255 km/h and vertical speed -3 m/s ... -5 m/s.

The approach was performed without significant deviations from the glide path. Flyby of the neighboring (to the runway) homing beacon was performed at an altitude of 65  ...70 m. Runway threshold was passed at the height of 15 meters at an airspeed of 260 km/h. 5 seconds after the throttle had been retarded to idle, the aircraft landed with the speed of 230 km/h, distance from the runway threshold of 900 m ... 1000 m and left bank of 1° ... 1.5°. At this point the signal of left gear strut compression was sensed. During the landing the right side wind gusts reached up to 11.5 m/s. The maximal value of the vertical acceleration during touchdown was recorded as 1.12g. About 10 seconds have passed from the moment of passing the 4 m altitude point and the touchdown. 3 seconds after touchdown nose gear strut was compressed. At this stage the right gear strut compression signal had not yet been sensed. Almost simultaneously with the touchdown of the nose landing gear the crew moved the engine controls to the Maximum Reverse position at one sweep and applied mechanical brakes.

Actuation of the valves of reversing systems on both engines did not happen. Airbrakes and spoilers also were not activated automatically and the crew did not attempt to activate them manually. After thrust levers were moved to the Maximum Reverse position an increase of forward thrust (up to 90% Nvd) was recorded on both engines. The pressure in the hydraulic system of wheel brakes of the left (compressed) landing gear was up to 50 kgf/cm², whereas there were no pressure in the wheel brakes of the right (not compressed) landing gear. The minimum airspeed to which the aircraft slowed 7–8 seconds after landing was 200 km/h ... 205 km/h at appx. 0° pitch and 1° left roll. After that the speed began to increase. 2 seconds after the thrust levers were moved to the Maximum Reverse position the flight engineer reported that reversers had not been deployed. Thrust lever had been maintained in the Maximum Reverse position for about 8 seconds and were stowed after. During this time the airspeed increased to 240 km/h. The increase in speed led to further unloading of the main landing gear. With fluctuations in roll (from 4.5° to the left to 2.6° to the right) compression signals were produced alternately on the left and right landing gear struts. The signal of simultaneous compression of both struts (required for thrust reversers deployment) was not produced. Almost simultaneously with the reversers being stowed, the brake pedal was pushed by the captain to 60°. As before, the braking was inefficient since by design the hydraulic pressure in the wheel brake is only applied after sufficient compression of the gear strut. 5 seconds after reversers were deactivated, after the flight engineer shouted "Reversers! Deploy reversers!" the pilots moved the controls to the Maximum Reverse position again. As during the first attempt, reverser deployment did not happen, both engines started to produce forward thrust again (at Nvd appx. 84%). Braking of the aircraft again did not happen, and the airspeed was increased to 230 km/h ... 240 km/h. The reversers were deactivated 4 seconds later. At the time of reverser reactivation the aircraft was at a distance of about 950 m ... 1000 m from the runway far side threshold. 6 seconds after the deactivation of the reversers the crew attempted to apply automatic braking, as evidenced by the crew conversation and transient appearance of commands Automatic Braking On for the primary and backup subsystems. When the aircraft passed the exit threshold thrust levers were in Idle Reverse position.

The aircraft skidded off the runway 32 seconds after landing, being almost on the axis of the runway with an air speed of about 215 km/h. In the process of skidding off at the command of the captain the flight engineer switched off the engines by means of the emergency shut down. The plane continued to roll out of the runway, slowly decelerating due to road bumps and snow cover. At this point the compression on both landing gear struts happened which led to the activation of airbrakes and spoilers. The plane collided with the slope of a ravine at a ground speed of about 190 km/h.[17]

References
  1. Hradecky, Simon (29 December 2012). "Accident: Red Wings T204 at Moscow on Dec 29th 2012, overran runway on landing". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  2. Ranter, Harro. "Accident description". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  3. Moscow plane crash: Carnage caught on camera, investigation in progress (VIDEO, PHOTOS), RT, 2012-12-29
  4. Moscow plane crash: Deathtoll rises to five, RT, 2012-12-30
  5. Yahoo UK&Ireland News/AFP "Four dead as Russian plane crashes into motorway" Archived 2 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17:28(GMT) 29-12-2012
  6. Preliminary reports point to pilot error as main cause in deadly TU-204 plane crash, RT, 2012-12-29
  7. "Russian plane crashes into road outside Moscow". BBC News, Retrieved 17:22 (GMT), 2012-12-29
  8. Dashcam video showing crash from vehicle on road.
  9. "Russian passenger jet crashes at Moscow's Vnukovo airport". The Guardian. Agencies. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  10. Hradecky, Simon "Incident: Red Wings T204 at Novosibirsk on Dec 20th 2012, runway excursion on landing" The Aviation Herald December 20, 2012 (updated December 30, 2012)
  11. Ranter, Harro (20 December 2012). "ASN Aircraft accident 20-DEC-2012 Tupolev Tu-204-100V RA-64049". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  12. Zaks, Dimitri "Bad brakes blamed in Moscow crash landing" Agence France Presse, December 30, 2012.
  13. "Aircraft RA-64047, 2008 Tupolev Tu-204-100B C/N 1450743164047". Airport-data.com. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  14. "IAC Final report" (PDF). Interstate Aviation Committee. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  15. Hradacky, Simon "Accident: Red Wings T204 at Moscow on Dec 29th 2012, overran runway on landing" The Aviation Herald, December 30, 2012
  16. "Выжившая стюардесса рассказала подробности авиакатастрофы Ту-204" [Surviving stewardess told details of the Tu-204 plane crash]. Novye Izvestia (in Russian). 30 December 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  17. "IAC Interim report". Interstate Aviation Committee News

Further reading
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