Speed loss probably caused Black Sea crash – Armenian air chief-1

15:11|06/ 05/ 2006

YEREVAN, May 6 (RIA Novosti)-Bad weather most likely caused a dramatic
loss of speed that led to an Armenian Airbus crashing into the Black
Sea Wednesday, killing 113 people, the chairman of Armenia’s aviation
association said Saturday.

Dmitry Adashyan said, “In my opinion, which is based on preliminary
information, the main version of the liner’s loss was a loss of speed,
which fell to below the minimum ‘critical’ speed.”

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said Wednesday that bad
weather was most likely to have caused the crash and Adashyan, who
is also a former head of Armenia’s civil aviation authority, echoed
the idea.

He said that after losing speed the plane’s nose section dropped and
fell into a spin.

“The resistance of a ‘wet’ plane increases several times and so the
engines might not have had enough power, which could have caused the
nose to drop,” he
said.

Adbashyan also said lighting could have been responsible for the
tragedy.

“The Airbus might have crashed after a lightning strike,” he said.

The A-320 operated by Armenia’s Armavia was flying from the Armenian
capital, Yerevan, to Adler airport, which services the popular Russian
resort of Sochi, when it crashed six kilometers off the Russian coast
early Wednesday morning.

Adbashyan said he hoped that the flight recorders would be recovered
from the seabed on Saturday. He added that many parties wanted to find
them, particularly France-based Airbus, which was seeking confirmation
that a technical malfunction was not responsible for the tragedy.

“We know where the ‘black boxes’ are and bringing them to the surface
is only a technical matter,” he said.

Experts said earlier they believed the recorders were at a depth of
680 meters (2,230 feet).

Georgia Tries to Politicize Tragedy in Black Sea

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.05.2006 15:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgia is trying to politicize the tragedy of the
Armenian airbus in the Back Sea, former Chair of General Department of
Civil Aviation of Armenia, Chair of the National Aviation Union, USSR
honored pilot Dmitry Atbashyan told journalists in Yerevan. “Official
Tbilisi tries to divide Russia and Armenia,” he said, when commenting
on statements of Georgian dispatcher services that landing the A-320
plane in Sochi airport was not possible due to bad weather.

According to Atbashyan, the data of Sochi dispatcher service could
not be less reliable than those of the Georgians. “During the flight
constant communication is present between the pilot and dispatchers
of the taking off location and the destination,” he said, reports
Novosti Armenia.

Recurrent sitting of the Council of Defense Ministers of CIS countries to be
held in Baku

ArmRadio.am
06.05.2006 16:25

The recurrent sitting of the Council of Defense Ministers of CIS
countries will be held in Baku on May 31, Press Service of the CIS
Executive Committee informs.

The agenda of the sitting of the Council of Defense Ministers will
be determined during the upcoming meeting of experts.

The agenda includes issues related to expansion of cooperation in
military-technical and defense spheres, coordination of the activities
to fight interethnic crimes, etc.

DMITRI ATBASHYAN’S VERSIONS ON THE CRASH of A320

Lragir.am
06 May 06

The president of the National Aviation Society Dmitri Atbashyan,
a meritorious pilot of the Soviet Union, gave his suppositions on
the crash of A320 on May 6.

“I rely on clearly reported facts. We do not know what records the
black boxes contain, we do not know what happened. We know that the
plane plunged into the water at an extremely high speed 6 km from
the shore. In addition, the fall was so heavy that the plane broke
to small pieces. The plane could break to small pieces for two reasons.

If the plane were airtight, even a light blow would make it explode.

Second, it could break into small pieces on plunging into the water
at a high speed. It is a fact that the plane was out of control
when it fell into the water. If on falling into the water the plane
were controllable, the pilot would manage to report that they were
running out of fuel and he decided to land on water, etc.” and land on
water. All the pilots are trained to land on water, both theoretically
and on special equipment.

Why did the plane fall? There can be different reasons. First, they
lost speed. The plane stays in the air as long as it has the minimum
speed required to stay in the air. If the speed is below the minimum,
the train falls on a spiral trajectory. Modern planes cannot resist
the fall, they need 1-1.5 km to regain control of the plane. They did
not have so much distance. In other words, if the plane is falling,
the disaster is inevitable.

When the aerodynamics of a plane is disrupted, the minimum speed may
be different for a dry, wet, frozen plane. A wet plane is dangerous.

It is very difficult to fly in the rain. Sometimes the rain does not
reach the plane. Sometimes the rain reaches the plane and increases
resistance. In such cases the power of the engine may not be enough
to overcome the extra resistance.

Thunder and lightning could also affect the plane. Lightning conductors
are installed on the wings of the plane to discharge natural lightning
and charges, occurring between the wings of the plane. There have been
cases when the examination of the fragments of crashed planes showed
that one part or another was missing. For instance, there have been
cases when the pipe inside the wing, which supplies pressure equal
to the atmospheric pressure, was shorter by 3 meters. The crashed
A320 was not new and had been repaired.

It is impossible to assert that the plane plunged into the water at
a 60° angle. If the visibility was 3000 m, and the plane plunged
into the sea 6000 m from the coast, who could calculate the angle of
the fall?”

–Boundary_(ID_RW2aOPXUHZ6DORXPM1VnjA)–

RA Prime Minister to participate in festive events in NKR

ArmRadio.am
06.05.2006 16:50

May 7 RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan will leave for
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to participate in the events dedicated to the
Day of NKR Defense Army and liberation of Shushi and the Victory Day.

OSCE envoy, Azeri leader discuss Karabakh, ties

Sources:

ANS TV, Baku 5 May 06

Azartac 5 May 06

The visiting OSCE rapporteur on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, Goran
Lennmarker, said there are “good chances” for settling the lingering
Karabakh conflict this year, private TV station ANS has reported.

At a news conference in Baku on 5 May, Lennmarker said: “I state that
now there are good chances for finding a settlement that is acceptable
for Azerbaijan and Armenia.”

The TV added that the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict and Azeri-OSCE
relations topped the agenda of a meeting between Lennmarker and
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the same day. The two men also
focused on the current situation and growing economy in Azerbaijan.

State-run news agency Azartac said that Lennmarker discussed the
issues in question with Azerbaijani Speaker Oqtay Asadov as well.

ANOTHER 8 BODIES OF AIR CARSH VICTIMS DELIVERED TO YEREVAN

Yerevan, May 6. ArmInfo. Il-76 with 8 bodies of the killed in Airbus
A320 crash near Sochi and Yak42 with their relatives on board arrived
in Yerevan at 23:10 PM AND 23:20 PM Friday, Armenian Rescue Service
told ArmInfo. The last data say 51 bodies have been pulled out so far,
including 42 have been identified. Earlier 26 bodies were delivered
to Yerevan. 113 people were killed in total.

SECOND MOURNING DAY IN ARMENIA FOR VICTIMS OF ARMAVIA AIRCRAFT CRASH
IN BLACK SEA

Yerevan, May 6. ArmInfo. Armenian mourns for the killed in air crash
for the second day today.

State flags are lowered throughout the country. Service for the dead
is expected at St. Grigor Lushavorich Church in Yerevan by Catholicos
of All Armenians Karekin II. Fund collection for the families of the
killed is in process.

President of Armenia donated his monthly wages to the fund (about
$700). To recap, Airbus A320 crashed in the Black Sea on May 3 night
killing all 113 on board.

BELGIUM DOES NOT COMMENT ON FIRE AT BRUSSELS AIRPORT

Brussels, May 6. ArmInfo. Belgian authorities refrain themselves from
any version on the fire at the “Zaventem” international airport in
Brussels waiting for a relevant report of the fire department. Third
Secretary of Armenian Embassy in Belgium Tigran Baloyan told “RIA
Novosti”.

He refused any comments on the media report that the fire was
intentional. He said two planes from Armenia burnt in the air fleet
of the airport on Friday night. The planes were undergoing servicing.

Armenian Embassy representative reports that one of the planes
belonging to Armavia airline was fully ruined, another belonging
to Armenian International Airlines was seriously damaged by the
fire. In the meantime, Armenia refutes reports that the Airbus A320
that crashed in the Black Sea had not underdone servicing. The experts
of “Sabena Technics” company, Belgium, carried out the servicing in
Yerevan in April.

PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA CONDOLES WITH RELATIVES OF KILLED IN AIR CRASH

Tbilisi, May 6. ArmInfo. President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili
visited Armenian Embassy in Georgia Friday to put notes in the Mourning
Book for the victims of Armenian aircraft. Airbus A320 crashed in
the Black Sea on May 3 night killing all on board.

Talking to Armenian Ambassador Hrach Silvanyan, Mikhail Saakashvili
expressed his condolence to the leadership of Armenia and the Armenian
people for the victims of the air crash. President Saakashvili informed
the Ambassador of his telephone conversation with Armenian President
in which he had expressed readiness to assist in the investigation
of the incident and in transportation of the relatives who could not
arrive in Sochi by air via the territory of Georgia.