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Russia launches investigation, pilot error is mooted
France 24 ^ | April 11th, 2010 | afo

Posted on 04/10/2010 11:05:00 PM PDT by theanchoragedailyruse

AFP - Investigators scrambled on Sunday to determine if pilot error was to blame for the fiery crash of a Soviet-era airliner that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 96 others.

The presidential party was en route to a memorial service for Poles massacred by Soviet troops in World War II when its Tupolev Tu-154 airliner crashed in thick fog while approaching Smolensk airport, in the west of Russia.

The disaster sent Poland into shock.

(Excerpt) Read more at france24.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections; Russia
KEYWORDS: kaczynski; ntsb; polan; poland; putin; russia; tupelov
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"...While investigators began their work, Lieutenant General Alexander Alyoshin, deputy head of the Russian air force, revealed that the pilots of the ill-fated airliner had repeatedly ignored instructions from air traffic controllers.

Wreckage -- including the engines and a large chunk of mud-caked tailfin -- was scattered across a forest. While sections burned for more than an hour, the black-box flight recorders were found, news agencies reported.

Some 1.5 kilometres (one mile) from the airport, air traffic controllers noticed the Tupolev -- overhauled in December 2009, according to manufacturers Aviakor -- was below its appropriate glide path, Alyoshin said.

"The head of the (air traffic control) group ordered the crew to return to horizontal flight, and when the crew did not fulfil the instruction, ordered them several times to land at another airport," he said.

"Nonetheless the crew continued to descend. Unfortunately this ended tragically."

The crash site was 1.5 km out and the air traffic controller is trying to tell the aircraft that its glide path is off and the aircraft continues to descend....

Yeah right it was weather that caused this mishap...

1 posted on 04/10/2010 11:05:00 PM PDT by theanchoragedailyruse
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To: theanchoragedailyruse
But the Russians don't say if the pilot was responding to their instructions.

Maybe he wasn't hearing anything?


2 posted on 04/10/2010 11:19:48 PM PDT by Talisker (When you find a turtle on top of a fence post, you can be damn sure it didn't get there on it's own.)
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To: Talisker

Exactly.....


3 posted on 04/10/2010 11:20:54 PM PDT by theanchoragedailyruse
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To: Talisker

The ATC could have had a bad “can you hear me now” moment.

I am sure that there is some recording out there that shows the ATC was trying to communicate..

It just may have not gotten to the ears of the pilots in time...

Because if that info was relayed to the pilots they would have made the adjustments.


4 posted on 04/10/2010 11:25:39 PM PDT by theanchoragedailyruse
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To: theanchoragedailyruse

Roger... Roger

Check... Check

Roger, Over...

Roger... Roger that...

Roger...


5 posted on 04/11/2010 12:03:45 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it.)
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To: Talisker; lizol; Thunder90; getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL; WINGED PEGASUS; pyx; BigSkyFreeper; ...

One-Time Ping to some folks on the earlier thread today... Seems to be some information different in this report than what we were hearing earlier. Thought you all might be interested in at least seeing this...

According to this article, if I read it right, the pilot was approaching, and THEN they told him to abort the landing (go back up to “horizontal flight”), and then told him 3 times to go to another airport? That’s certainly not the same thing we were hearing earlier. It sounds from this article as if the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th “instruction” were in rapid succession after they told him to abort the landing...

There was talk about low fuel on the other thread and a small fire — now it burned for an hour?

Also this article confirms what another FReeper said on a completely different thread — that the plane was in Russia being fixed or updated, or something just this past December.


6 posted on 04/11/2010 12:08:55 AM PDT by LibertyRocks (http://libertyrocks.wordpress.com ~ Anti-Obama Gear: http://cafepress.com/NO_ObamaBiden08)
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To: theanchoragedailyruse

So, are the Russians per the headline saying it definitely WASN’T pilot error? Or that it doesn’t matter if it was?


7 posted on 04/11/2010 12:10:52 AM PDT by LibertyRocks (http://libertyrocks.wordpress.com ~ Anti-Obama Gear: http://cafepress.com/NO_ObamaBiden08)
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To: theanchoragedailyruse

Oh, forgot to say see Post #6 — some conflicting information in this report vs. earlier ones.


8 posted on 04/11/2010 12:12:00 AM PDT by LibertyRocks (http://libertyrocks.wordpress.com ~ Anti-Obama Gear: http://cafepress.com/NO_ObamaBiden08)
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To: Vendome

http://www.premier.gov.ru/eng/events/news/10179/

“...Alexander Neradko: We have confirmation that weather conditions were indeed bad - visibility was below the established minimum of 1000 metres. The plane first struck a single tree about eight metres tall at a distance of approximately 1200 metres from the runway. At that distance, the plane should have been at an altitude of about 60 metres.”

1200 meters from the runway the plane is hitting tree tops...


9 posted on 04/11/2010 12:12:12 AM PDT by theanchoragedailyruse
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To: Vendome

Tower are we good to go for landing?

No.

Was that go?

No.

Roger that, we go.


10 posted on 04/11/2010 12:12:33 AM PDT by dragnet2
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To: LibertyRocks

Thanks for the ping Liberty Rocks.


11 posted on 04/11/2010 12:14:44 AM PDT by Cindy
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To: LibertyRocks

The story on the glide path is important... That is coming from the Russians...

1200 meters out from the runway, the plane is hitting tree tops.

According to the Russians the plane should have had an alltitude of 60 meters.

What was the altimeter and alstg on the weather observation?


12 posted on 04/11/2010 12:17:33 AM PDT by theanchoragedailyruse
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To: dragnet2

Just a walk in the park Kaczynski, just a walk in the park...


13 posted on 04/11/2010 12:30:50 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it.)
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To: theanchoragedailyruse

You’ve lost me there! Not a pilot. I know what an altimeter is, I think; the gauge that tells the pilot at what elevation they are flying, correct? Have no idea what the alstg is, sorry!

I guess we will have to wait and see what the black box says as far as instrument readings, huh? I hope the Poles insisted on having those reviewed independently from Russia — I would have if I were them at least. Just to be safe & careful...


14 posted on 04/11/2010 12:31:01 AM PDT by LibertyRocks (http://libertyrocks.wordpress.com ~ Anti-Obama Gear: http://cafepress.com/NO_ObamaBiden08)
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To: Cindy

No problem, Cindy... Have a good night. :)


15 posted on 04/11/2010 12:31:43 AM PDT by LibertyRocks (http://libertyrocks.wordpress.com ~ Anti-Obama Gear: http://cafepress.com/NO_ObamaBiden08)
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To: LibertyRocks

You too...rest well.


16 posted on 04/11/2010 12:32:48 AM PDT by Cindy
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To: theanchoragedailyruse

shill?


17 posted on 04/11/2010 12:33:34 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it.)
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To: theanchoragedailyruse
So many questions. . .and doubts - reasonable doubts. A mind-boggling catastrophe with portents that reach back into the very history they were to commemorate.

So many questions. . .and all need to be answered. (not sure they can remove all doubt, however.)

18 posted on 04/11/2010 12:36:48 AM PDT by cricket (We cannot allow t he 'man who would be king' to be one!)
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To: LibertyRocks

Alstg is the altimeter reading with correction on the actual weather observations at the airport.

That info is relayed to the pilot to make corrections.

The other issue is the Russians indicating ATC was monitoring glide path which indicates some type of ILS/DME apparatus.

One freeper has pointd to Wikipedia as proof that there is no ILS at the airport.


19 posted on 04/11/2010 12:37:45 AM PDT by theanchoragedailyruse
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To: cricket

I think that this was an accident by design but it won’t be proven.


20 posted on 04/11/2010 12:41:09 AM PDT by theanchoragedailyruse
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