SOCHI AIRPORT GROUND CONTROLLER CHANGES HIS DECISION IN ONLY 30 SECONDS

Noyan Tapan
May 15 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. The Main Department of Civil Aviation
adjunct to the Armenian government received an official press release
from the CIS Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) on the Armenian
airline Armavia’s A-320 plane crash near Sochi on May 3. According
to preliminary information, the first radio communication between
the approach ground controller of Sochi airport and the pilots of
A-320 took place at 21:10:20 Greenwich mean time, and the plane
crew last communicated with the ground controller at 22:12:35. The
pilots did not respond to the controller at 22:12:39, 22:13:08 and
later. According to the information on the RA Main Department of Civil
Aviation, at 22:10:45 the pilots reported opening the undercarriage
and readiness to make a landing, in response to which they received
information about a distance of 10 km and 4,000X190 weather and were
given permission to land. However, about 30 seconds later the ground
controller reported the actual lower line – 100 metres and issued a
command to stop lowering the aircraft, make a second circle with a
turn to the right, gain an altitude of 600 metres and to communicate
with the ground controller in charge of circle flights. The preliminary
analysis of the radar data shows that the plane started making a second
circle at an altitude of about 300 metres – by turning to the right,
beginning to gain intensively altitude (450 meters at the maximium),
with a simultaneous loss of speed with respect to the earth and
further lowering of the aircraft until it hit the water surface.