Indonesia Finds SuperJet 100 Crash Site

Reaganite Republican ^ | May 10, 2012 | Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

Russian plane hit side of steep volcano- no survivors

Rescuers found shattered wreckage earlier today of the Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100 that hit the side of an Indonesian volcano at full-speed during a sales demonstration flight- all 45 people on board were feared dead.

"So far we haven't found any survivors, but we are still searching," he said as teams of soldiers, police and volunteers continued to troop up the slopes. The spot is basically unreachable on foot. so evidence and bodies are being placed in nets/hammocks and raised by helicopters from the Indonesian Air Force.

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 -Russia's first new model of passenger jet since the fall of the USSR- carried with it high hopes for Russian passenger aircraft sales, both domestically and internationally.

The doomed plane was carrying dozens of representatives from local airlines and journalists on what was supposed to be a quick, 50-minute demonstration flight Wednesday.... but 21 minutes out of Jakarta, the Russian pilot asked for permission to drop from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet, according to the chief of the national search and rescue agency in Indonesia.

They then promptly disappeared -inexplicably- from the radar screen.

Flying at 6,000 feet very close to the 7,000-foot volcano, the plane smashed into the jagged ridge on top of the dormant Mount Salak at a speed of approximately 480 mph.

The impact sent debris tumbling down the side of the mountain, leaving a giant hole in the side of the volcano's side... trees were blown-off clean.

The Superjet 100 was developed with the encouragement of the Kremlin in-order for the Russians to regain a foothold in the passenger plane export market. The country's commercial passenger aircraft industry all but evaporated in the financial chaos of the Yeltsin era.

Potential buyers will scrutinize the crash investigation for signs of flaws in the plane.

Pics/more at Reaganite Republican

[muir_redwoods]

That’s a sales call gone bad. The Russians essentially killed all of the decision-makers.

Hello, Boeing?

Seriously, I don’t mean to make light of such a tragedy, condolences to the families.

[109ACS]

Reminds me of the time a few years ago when Bill Gates was showing off a new version of Windows and the computer Blue Screened. Of course a bunch of people didn’t die during the sales demo.

[NewHampshireDuo]

I don’t think I’d remain in the potential buyer pool.

[dfwgator]

Killing potential clients isn’t exactly a solid business plan.

[luvbach1]

Potential buyers will scrutinize the crash investigation for signs of flaws in the plane.

And if they find no flaws they will go ahead with purchases? But it does sound like pilot error/bad weather.

[luvbach1]

Very sorry to hear of such a tragedy.We all (most of us?) travel by air.

[yldstrk]

How ridiculous to request permission to fly at 6000 feet when you are near a 7000 foot mountain. What was the air traffic controller thinking? What a tragedy of errors. Wasn’t there a flight plan? Didn’t they know where they were going? This is ridiculous.

[Lazamataz]

Potential buyers will scrutinize the crash investigation for signs of flaws in the plane.

I hate to LOL about something so messed up, but...LOL!

SalesGeek: ".... and HERE, we have the remaining metal fragments of the sleek, impressive looking frame. What a beauty she would have been!....."

SalesGeek: ".... and over HERE, there are bits of glass and wiring that was once the worlds Technological leader in 3D integrated LCD avionics.... sir, please don't step on that arm... thank you........"

SalesGeek: ".... and way over HERE, we have ....."

And so on.

[ecomcon]

“Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

[Gay State Conservative]

Potential buyers will scrutinize the crash investigation for signs of flaws in the plane.

Unless there was a problem with the navigation system this wouldn't be the plane's fault.Just about any plane would have problem when hitting a mountain at 450mph.Mind you,I never have flown...and never will fly...in a Soviet made aircraft.I'll walk first.

[muawiyah]

Uhhh ~ this is INDONESIA.

All air traffic flies near volcanos. It's part of the normal condition. They have air charts. The pilot should have known.

[yldstrk]

proves my point, what sort of moron would request flying permission for 6000 feet when near a 7000 foot mountain? What air traffic controller would say ok?

[yldstrk]

unless the pilot was a mohammedan, then the whole thing becomes easier to explain

[Gay State Conservative]

But it does sound like pilot error/bad weather.

As I said yesterday...I have some experience in that part of the world and two things that can be said are 1) it's a *very* mountainous part of the world...2) incredible thunderstorms are numerous there and they pop up out of nowhere on a moment's notice.I think I read that the weather had turned bad in that area at the time of the flight.

[ETL]

Or an FSB agent working for Putin. Passenger list might be interesting.

[ErnBatavia]

Garuda, the Indonesian national airline, is known to be a white knuckle outfit.

When I got picked up at the Perth, Australia airport, my buddy told me about a couple of years ago when a Garuda 747 tried to land on Route 1 outside the airport......that's the highway leading in to the airport, not a runway.

[cunning_fish]

Given same operational environment Soviet commercial aircraft are safer than Western counterpart. Statistics proves that.

[Gay State Conservative]

Given same operational environment Soviet commercial aircraft are safer than Western counterpart. Statistics proves that.

What,Soviet statistics? The University of East Anglia's statistics proved that we're all gonna burn up in 20 years.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“How ridiculous to request permission to fly at 6000 feet when you are near a 7000 foot mountain. What was the air traffic controller thinking? What a tragedy of errors. Wasn’t there a flight plan? Didn’t they know where they were going? This is ridiculous.”

“Pilot, do you mind if we drop down a bit so I can get some pictures of the volcano?”

Pilot to co-pilot: “You know this isn’t ending well.”