News Flydubai flight FZ981 passenger Boeing from Dubai crashes in Rostov-on-Don

[dbeachy1]

From the article here:

Flydubai flight FZ981 has crashed in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don killing all 62 passengers and crew on board. The flight was en route from Dubai and crashed during a landing approach.

Air-traffic control and local emergency services confirmed that the Boeing 737-800 jet crashed near the runway during a second approach in conditions of poor visibility.

“According to preliminary data, the Boeing 738 crashed in poor visibility conditions, some 50-100 meters left of the runway,” the source said.

“The plane, according to preliminary data, crashed during the second approach,” the source told Interfax.

All crew and passengers on board the plane were killed in the crash, according to the regional Emergencies Ministry. According to preliminary reports there were 62 people on board, including seven crew members.

“During the landing approach a Boeing-737 crashed. It had 55 passengers on board. All of them died,” a regional spokesman told TASS.

Another source told RIA that all passengers on board were Russians, while the flight crew consisted of foreigners.

Here's some alleged CCTV footage capturing the crash:

 

[Evil_Onyx]

Russia plane crash: Dozens killed in Rostov-on-Don -BBC

FlyDubai said 44 Russians, eight Ukrainians, two Indians and an Uzbek were killed. All were passengers.
All but one of the crew were Russians, a Russian emergency ministry statement said, without giving further details.

 

[ADSWNJ]

Seemingly contradictory information so far. The video suggests a steep uncontrolled (i.e. straight line) impact into terrain, yet the recordings on AvHerald.com sound very calm. Maybe the AvHerald recording is from his first go-around instead?

He was landing on Runway 22, with winds out of 240 at 27kts gust 42kts, at night, in light rain, with the lowest clouds at 300ft, at night, after a long hold. A 42kt wind is a Beaufort Force 9 gale, so that's a pretty nasty thing to be trying land into. The 737-800 (this plane) is certified for a 36kt crosswind, and given the runway alignment, he would have had around 15kts of crosswind, but with such a big variation between base wind and gusts, it's easy to imagine how the plane could have been destabilized right on the landing flare.

My condolences to all those who perished.


Relevant data:
Most recent METAR: URRR 190100Z 24014G22MPS 3800 -SHRA BKN014 BKN033CB OVC100 06/04 Q0997 R22/290046 TEMPO 25017G25MPS 1000 SHRA BR SCT003 BKN020CB RMK QFE740/0987
737-800 limits: http://www.kitbagpubs.com/updates/737-800limitations.pdf
AvHerald: http://www.avherald.com/h?article=495997e2&opt=0

 

[Urwumpe]

Hard to believe that this is really just weather related. It is a very strong gust, but this alone should not make a plane drop like that. Also I see no indications of a microburst, which could cause such a descent.

 

[Andy44]

I can't tell what angle that video is from. The apparent steepness of the angle could be because the plane was heading towards or away from the camera.

 

[Hielor]

Unless the video is sped up (probably not, judging by the car driving past shortly after the impact), the rate of descent seems very high. It certainly doesn't look like it was on a stabilized approach and got caught by a gust on final. Looks a lot more like "stalled due to as-yet-unknown reasons and plummeted to the ground."

 

[ADSWNJ]

Get There-itis is a concern for pilots, especially when holding for over 2 hours for weather as this did. There's also talk of holding at a relatively low alt, where icing may have been building on the control surfaces.

The FDR and CVR have been recovered, although both were mechanically damaged. They have read the FDR, so expect more news soon. (Per Avherald.com)

 

[Artlav]

They found another camera looking the right way.

Looks like the weather wasn't the problem after all.
Preliminary reports say that the pitch controls seized up for yet-unknown reason.

 

[Hielor]

That video seems to show that it was snowing?

I wouldn't be surprised if icing turned out to be a factor.

 

[Linguofreak]

I can't tell what angle that video is from. The apparent steepness of the angle could be because the plane was heading towards or away from the camera.

Wikipedia says the impact angle was 60 degrees nose down. I would have guessed 45.

 

[dehat42]

News story from UPI surmises it was pilot error, from preliminary information from the flight recorders. However, it also has a bit near the bottom that says several former and current FlyDubai and Emirates Airlines (parent company) employees have contacted RT (Russia Today) claiming that the company mistreats the pilots and makes them work too much, contributing to fatigue and errors.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...-it-crashed-investigators-find/9251459342839/

 

[ADSWNJ]

AvHerald has a different story: http://avherald.com/h?article=495997e2&opt=0

On Apr 5th 2016 Russia's Ministry of Transport reported that on first approach to runway 22 the aircraft went around, the crew reported a wind shear on final approach, climbed to FL050 then FL080 and entered a hold to wait for improvement of weather. The crew subsequently requested and was cleared to FL150 in the hold. When air traffic control provided information that the visibility was 5000 meters, cloud ceiling at 630 meters/2000 feet, winds from 230 degrees at 13m/s gusting 18m/s (25 knots gusting 35 knots), no wind shear, the crew requested another approach clearance. On final approach at about 220 meters/720 feet the crew went around again and climbed, at 900 meters/3000 feet the stabilizer moved nose down causing the aircraft to stop climbing at about 1000 meters/3330 feet and entering a descent. The aircraft impacted ground about 120 meters from the runway threshold. Preliminary examination results of flight data and cockpit voice recorder do not reveal any evidence of a technical malfunction of engines or aircraft systems or any evidence of an explosion. The investigation is focussing on how the pitch control system works and crew actions during the go around. The captain (ATPL, 5,965 hours total, 2,597 hours on type) was certified for CATIIIa approaches.

 

[kerlix]

This is odd. Nothing seems to add up. Unless it came down to simple spatial disorientation. That impact angle looked pretty steep. Was it actually pointed nose-down on impact (Not EVERYTHING on Wiki is completely accurate...)? Or could it have been a stall or something (perhaps from icing) to cause it to fall like that?

 

[PeterRoss]

I'm not an expert in aviation, but the last article I read about it claimed that the crash occured because pilot tried to use steep climbing right the moment after he turned the approach autopilot off. The article claimed that approach autopilot is using the flight control surfaces configuration with tail stabilizer set to climb and ailerons set to dive. Then it is said that pilot pushed TOGA (hence flaps were set to 0), turned approach autopilot off and pulled the yoke. Which resulted in both tail stabilizer and ailerons set to maximum climb immediately, the plane started to climb too steep, losing speed, and then stalled.

I don't know how credible is this. Here is the article itself (in Russian):

http://vz.ru/news/2016/3/28/801955.html

 

[kerlix]

Well, ailerons only provide roll authority on a 737. But if they did attempt a go around and tried to climb too steeply, it could result in a stall close to the ground. Of course a lot of that depends on the airspeed when the go-around was initiated. It would have to be pretty low and pretty slow. Add in the engine spool-up time, and I could see a stall developing. However, GA procedures are usually pretty straightforward. TOGA, gear up, flaps to 15 (or maybe company policy is different) and then a set nose-up attitude, usually indicated by the flight directors. Of course, the FD's could have been turned off, but I highly doubt it in weather conditions like that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PeterRoss]

Well, guess it is my poor translation/poor aviation mechanics understanding to blame. The article actually says about tail stabilizer and elevation rudder, not ailerons. I can't really tell the difference.

 

[Urwumpe]

This is odd. Nothing seems to add up. Unless it came down to simple spatial disorientation. That impact angle looked pretty steep. Was it actually pointed nose-down on impact (Not EVERYTHING on Wiki is completely accurate...)? Or could it have been a stall or something (perhaps from icing) to cause it to fall like that?

A stall would have been heard easily on the CVR because of the stick shakers.

What could be a probable cause is a failure of the pitch trim system or an strange behavior of the automatic speed trim system of the 737. For example, when thrust is increased the aircraft is automatically trimmed nose-heavy at low speeds and low weight, this is meant to make sure that the pilot can't easily stall the aircraft by too easily pulling the stick back.

 

[ADSWNJ]

I wonder if the pilots were fighting the AP, and the AP really wanted to land. I could imagine the AP trimming the stabilizer for landing, and then tripping out or being switched off, leaving the plane very low and trimmed nose fully down. Just a theory...

 

[Urwumpe]

I wonder if the pilots were fighting the AP, and the AP really wanted to land. I could imagine the AP trimming the stabilizer for landing, and then tripping out or being switched off, leaving the plane very low and trimmed nose fully down. Just a theory...

Its a Boeing. Not an Airbus.

 

[ADSWNJ]

Its a Boeing. Not an Airbus.

Meaning what? No AP conflicts, no auto-stab trim? What's your theory?