PRESS SECRETARY OF THE GEORGIAN AIR NAVIGATION SERVICE: THE PLANE WAS NOT IN AN EMERGENCY STATE
AmRadio.am
04.05.2006 17:10
The flight from Yerevan to Sochi lasts 50-55 minutes. The Sochi
airport is in the city of Adler at the Russian-Georgian border,
i.e. most part of the flight passes through Georgian air space.
To understand the reasons of the May 3 crash of the “A-320” airplane
over the Black Sea it is important to know the conversations between
the crew and the air traffic control officers of Georgia.
In a phone talk with “Radiolur” correspondent Tatul Hakobyan Press
Secretary of the Georgian Air Navigation Service Tea Gedabadze
thoroughly presented the record of the conversations between the crew
of the “A-320” and the Georgian air traffic control officers.
“At 21:15 GMT or 1:15 local time the Armenian plane was normally
flying in the Georgian sky. The pilot informs that the Sochi airport
is closed because of unfavorable weather conditions. We ask to check
the reserve of fuel in the plane. They respond the fuel will suffice
for two more hours. We return back to Yerevan,” Tea Gedabadze tells.
Therefore, learning about the bad weather conditions in Sochi, the
crew took the decision to return to Yerevan.
21.26 GMT they resumed connection with Sochi, and the pilot said,
“In five minutes we’ll receive information from Russia and will decide
whether we are continuing the flight or returning to Yerevan.”
Tea Gedabadze notes that Georgian air traffic control officers have no
connection with their Russian colleagues, an the Armenian pilots were
informing them about the conversation with dispatchers of Rostov,
“Most probably Rostov told the crew of the Armenian plane that
the weather conditions improved. By 21.58 they left the air space
of Georgia. During our last conversation the pilot said good-bye,
till new return. After that the Armenian “A-320″ disappeared from
the radiolocation station.”
Could the Armenian airplane land in Sukhumi, the nearest airport
to Sochi.
“They did not need landing. When they learned that because of bad
weather it is impossible to land in Sochi they decided to return to
Yerevan. They have not asked for the permission to land. You see,
everything was normal. The plane was not in an emergency state,” Press
Secretary of the Air Navigation Service of Georgia Tea Gedabadze said.