July 9 (Bloomberg) – At least 120 people died and dozens more were injured when an Airbus SAS A310 passenger jet operated by OAO Sibir Airlines crashed after landing at the Irkutsk airport in Siberia this morning.
Russian flight 778 from Moscow to Irkutsk collided with a concrete barrier and exploded after veering off the runway during landing at about 2:44 a.m. Moscow time, the airline said on its Web site. There were 192 passengers and eight crew on board.
Sorry this is off topic a bit, but I’ve seen a pic of a Delta A310, and I have to ask: When did they fly these and what routes (in general, as in “transcons” or whatever; you don’t have to give me every exact route or anything). Thanks in advance!!
At least there were some survivors. The empennage appears to have remained pretty well intact. I imagine most (if not all) of the survivors were probably sitting in the rear.
Anyone believe in the idea that the back of an airliner is the safest place to sit? Is there any statistical data anywhere to prove or disprove it?
Supposedly the back of the aircraft is the safest place to be, or so goes common lore. In a way, I guess it makes sense. Many aircraft seem to hit the ground in a nose-down attitude.
I’d always heard that sitting over and just behind the wings was the safest place because of the more rigid frame where the wings & fuselage come together. I’m sure the real safest place to be differs with every crash with so many variables involved.
That way true for the AA 757 that crashed in South America. The only survivors came from that area. Of course, you are also right next to the fuel tanks there…
It likely depends on the stage of flight and the type of accident. Runway overrun vs CFIT (such as the AA crash in Colombia) vs in-flight break up. I’m sure the NTSB has done studies on this.
Does it really matter where you sit in an in-flight break up? It’s my view that you’re toast no matter what if the plane explodes/disintegrates at cruising speed and altitude.
Oh, I agree a CFIT or inflight breakup reduces the survivability to nil. But, generally speaking, in crashes where any number of people survived, what percentage of survivors were sitting in front, center (over the wings), and rear.
Subject: ASN Accident Digest 2006-10 Airbus 310 S7 Airlines
Date: Monday, July 10, 2006 13:52:15 [View Source]
09 JUL 2006 Airbus A.310 F-OGYP S7 Airlines, Irkutsk, Russia 124(203)
This e-mail is brought to you by the Aviation Safety Network (ASN). ASN is an exclusive service of the Flight Safety Foundation. Please note this information is preliminary; new information will be added on the Aviation Safety Network at aviation-safety.net/index.shtml. The 2006 year list of accidents always contains the most recent information on each accident.
ASN ACCIDENT DIGEST 2006-10
Status: Preliminary
Date: 09 JUL 2006
Time: ca 07:50
Type: Airbus A.310-324
Operator: S7 Airlines
Registration: F-OGYP
C/n / msn: 442
First flight: 1987-04-03
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney PW4152
Crew: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 8
Passengers: Fatalities: 119 / Occupants: 195
Total: Fatalities: 124 / Occupants: 203
Airplane damage: Written off
Location: Irkutsk Airport (IKT) ( Russia )
Phase: Landing
Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:M oskva-Domodedovo Airport (DME / UUDD), Russia
Destination airport: Irkutsk Airport (IKT / UIII), Russia
Flightnumber: 778
Narrative:
Flight 778 departed Domodeovo (DME) at night for a flight to Irkutsk (IKT). Weather at Irkutsk was poor. It was raining, with overcast clouds at 600 feet and a thunderstorm in the area. The Airbus landed on runway 30 (concrete, 3165 m / 10343 feet long) but failed stop. Preliminary reports indicate that the plane overran the runway at high speed, collided with a concrete barrier and burst into flames. On July 10, 11:00 Moscow time, it was reported that 124 bodies had been recovered. Seventy-five occupants survived the accident. It is feared that the remaining four occupants died in the accident, bringing the presumed death toll to 128.
Weather around the time of the accident (23:00 UTC / 08:00 local) was: UIII 082300Z 28005MPS 3500 -SHRA OVC006CB 11/09 Q1002 NOSIG RMK QBB190 QFE707/0943 30290250= (Wind 280 degrees at 5m/sec visibility 3500m, light rain showers, 8 oktas overcast cloud at 600ft with thunder clouds, temperature 11C dewpoint 9C, QNH 1002hPa no significant weather)
Sources: AP, RBC, ITAR-TASS Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS) of Russia
AIRCRAFT PROFILE AIRBUS A.310
Last fatal hull-loss accident: 30 JAN 2000 Kenya Airways 5Y-BEN, off Abidjan, Ivory Coast
169 fatalities
Total number of Airbus A.310 hull-losses: 7 losses
2nd worst Airbus A.310 accident
Survival rate for all fatal Airbus A.310 accidents: on average 17,3% of all occupants survived fatal accidents
history of msn 442
F-WWCZ Airbus (03 APR 1987, first flight)
N812PA PanAm (JUN 1987, delivered)
N812PA Delta Airlines (NOV 1991)
F-OGYP Airbus (MAY 1995)
F-OGYP Aeroflot (AUG 1996)
F-OGYP Airbus (OCT 2003)
F-OGYP Sibir Airlines (JUN 2004)
OPERATOR PROFILE S7 AIRLINES
Russian airline, founded in 1992 as Sibir Airlines. It was rebranded S7 Airlines in May 2006. The airline currently operates Airbus A.310, A.319 Boeing 737-400/-500, Ilyushin 86 and Tupolev 154 planes.
Rear facing seats have been proven in many studies to be far safer than forward facing seats, but studies have also shown that the general public dont approve of rear facing seats. (i think we talked about this a while back, but the search was giving me a “debug mode” error) A modest lap belt standard on most airliners is almost a joke in an accident. There are reasons they aren’t used in cars anymore!
USAir used to have a row of rear-facing seats up front in their DC-9s. My first flight to my dad’s as an “unattended child” was in the second row, or the first row of forward-facing seats. There was a motor-home-like folding table in between the seats in lieu of the standard fold-down tray table, which would obviously be impossible to institute in that type of seating arrangement.
Also, the tragedy at Tenerife occurred on my second birthday. Coincidence???..In a word: yeah!!
Sorry - don’t believe in coincidences. Please provide full details of exactly where you were located on your second birthday along with all witnesses present. This will go into your permanent record.
