SPECIALIST: TU-154 AIRPLANE POSSIBLY CRASHED BY CREW’S ERROR

ArmInfo
2009-07-17 14:34:00

ArmInfo. Tu-154 airplane possibly crashed in Iran by the crew’s error,
Chairman of the Union of Aviators Dmitry Adbashyan said at Friday
press-conference. As he said, according to his available information,
inflammation of one of the plane’s engines, which led to the aircraft
uncontrollability, has become the reason of the crash. He assured
that Tu-154 airplanes are very reliable and meet the international
flight safety standards. It could make an emergency landing even with
one operating engine, while such planes have three engines, Adbashyan
said. ‘Probably, the crew could not orient in time. It is not ruled
out that the fire was big and it was impossible to extinguish’, he
said. D. Adbashyan added that excessive fuel consumption is the only
deficiency of Tu-154 airplanes. He emphasized that Tu-154 planes
are morally outdated but technically reliable. The operating life
of these airplanes makes up 45 years, while the crashed airplane was
only 22 years old, the specialist said.

The specialist thinks the engine could get inflamed by numerous
reasons, for example, from penetration of sand in it in view of the
sand storms, which have become frequent in Iran, or from another
subject.

To recall, Tu-154 passenger plane of the Caspian Airlines, which
carried out Tehran- Yerevan flight, crashed in Iran on July 15. All
153 passengers and 15 crewmembers were killed. Caspian Airlines is 100%
Iranian company. The crashed Tu-154 airplane was in a leasing.