Red Wings Airlines Flight 9268

Red Wings Airlines

Industry	Airline
Founded	1999
Headquarters	Moscow , Russia

On 29 December 2012, Red Wings Airlines Flight 9268, a passenger jet of the type Tupolev Tu-204-100, crashed during its landing phase at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport following a positioning flight from Pardubice Airport in the Czech Republic. The aircraft carried no passengers; however, five out of the eight crew members lost their lives when the plane overran the runway and collided with a ditch and nearby highway infrastructure.

This event represented only the second total loss involving a Tupolev Tu-204 and was the first fatal accident for this model since it entered service in 1989.

Background

Authorities at Vnukovo airport reported that there were eight crew members aboard with no passengers present.

Prior to the accident, snowfall had occurred and strong crosswinds were recorded, with gusts reaching up to 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph).

This crash was the second runway excursion involving a Red Wings-operated Tu-204-100B within a span of nine days. On 20 December 2012, a flight from Moscow Vnukovo to Novosibirsk, flown by a Tupolev Tu-204 registered RA-64049, experienced brake failure upon landing, causing it to overshoot runway 25 at Tolmachevo Airport by approximately 1,150 feet (350 m). All seventy individuals aboard escaped injury, and the aircraft sustained only minor damage. Following this event, on 24 December, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) mandated an Airworthiness Directive requiring Red Wings and all other operators of the Tu-204 to inspect and lubricate the braking system's drive mechanism limit switches located on the main landing gear shock absorber before their next flights.

Additionally, on 28 December—one day prior to the fatal incident at Vnukovo—Rosaviatsia officially informed Tupolev that defective brakes had been identified as the cause of the runway overrun involving the Red Wings Tu-204 in Novosibirsk. On 30 December, Rosaviatsia chief Alexander Neradko revealed that initial analysis of data from the flight recorder showed that while touchdown occurred within the correct landing zone, similar to the earlier event in Novosibirsk, failure of the braking system was likely responsible for the runway overrun leading to the fatal crash in Moscow.

Aircraft

The airplane involved was a Tupolev Tu-204-100B bearing registration RA-64047, construction number 1450743164047, and serial number 047, manufactured in 2008. The airframe had logged a total of 8,672 flight hours across 2,482 cycles.

Crew

The flight was commanded by Captain Gennady Dmitrievich Shmelev, aged 58, who possessed over 14,500 hours of flying experience, including more than 3,000 hours operating the Tu-204. His First Officer, Evgeny Ivanovich Astashenkov, aged 52, had accumulated upwards of 10,000 flight hours with over 500 hours on the Tu-204. The Flight Engineer, Igor Nikolaevich Fisenko, aged 54, also had more than 10,000 hours of flight time, nearly 1,600 of which were on the Tu-204. This incident marked Red Wings Airlines' first hull loss since its establishment in 1999.

Accident

The aircraft approached runway 19 at Vnukovo Airport, which measures 3,060 metres (10,039 ft) in length. The captain was at the controls during the final approach. The descent followed the glide path closely without major deviations; the airplane crossed the runway threshold at approximately 15 metres (49 ft) altitude and an airspeed near 260 kilometres per hour (140 kn; 160 mph). Five seconds after reducing throttle to idle, touchdown occurred between 900 and 1,000 metres (2,953 and 3,281 ft) down the runway at a speed of roughly 230 kilometres per hour (120 kn; 140 mph).

At touchdown, only the left main landing gear made contact with the runway. During landing, right-side crosswinds reached speeds up to 11.5 metres per second (22.4 kn; 41 km/h; 26 mph). Approximately ten seconds elapsed from crossing the 4-metre (13 ft) altitude marker until touchdown. Three seconds post-touchdown, compression of the nose gear strut was detected; however, at that point, compression on the right main gear strut had not yet been registered. Almost simultaneously with nose gear contact, the crew engaged reverse thrust and applied mechanical brakes.

File:Wreckage of Red Wings Airlines Flight 9268 (3).jpg

Wreckage from another view

A safety interlock required both main landing gear struts to be compressed simultaneously before thrust reversers could activate. Since the right gear strut remained uncompressed, thrust reversers did not deploy; instead, moving the thrust levers to maximum reverse resulted in increased forward thrust on both engines. Additionally, neither airbrakes nor spoilers deployed automatically after landing, and no manual activation was attempted by the crew. The aircraft’s speed decreased to a minimum between 200 to 205 kilometres per hour (108 to 111 kn; 124 to 127 mph) about 7–8 seconds after touchdown but then increased again to a peak near 240 kilometres per hour (130 kn; 150 mph). This speed increase caused lateral rolling that alternately compressed each main gear strut. A second attempt by the crew to engage thrust reversers failed due to lack of simultaneous gear compression. Wheel brakes were also ineffective since their operation depended on gear strut compression.

File:Wreckage of Red Wings Airlines Flight 9268 (2).jpg

Rescuers at the crash site

Approximately 32 seconds after touchdown and traveling at an estimated 215 kilometres per hour (116 kn; 134 mph), the aircraft slid off the runway. Following the captain’s command, the flight engineer shut down both engines via emergency procedures during this rollout. The plane continued off-runway movement slowed by uneven terrain and snow coverage. At this stage both main landing gear struts were compressed, triggering deployment of airbrakes and spoilers. Ultimately, the aircraft struck a ravine embankment at about 190 kilometres per hour (100 kn; 120 mph) ground speed.

File:RedWings9268InjuryMap.png

Injury map illustrating crewmember locations and injury severity from Red Wings Airlines Flight 9268

Five occupants lost their lives in this accident. At approximately 16:35 local time (12:35 GMT), the aircraft overran runway 19 and fragmented into three sections upon colliding with a ditch situated between airport fencing and the M3 highway. Debris scattered onto the adjacent road included interior components such as seat assemblies and two wheels which struck both the underside of runway approach lighting system supports and a passing vehicle. A nearby automobile’s dashcam captured footage of the crash event. The cockpit section separated completely from the rest of the fuselage.

File:Wreckage of Red Wings Airlines Flight 9268.jpg

Rescuers beside tail section

The official investigation concluded that all three cockpit crew members—the pilot, first officer, and flight engineer—died instantly upon impact. One flight attendant was ejected from the aircraft onto a nearby road and later pronounced dead en route to hospital care. Three other flight attendants—including the chief stewardess—escaped through fuselage breaches and were hospitalized with serious injuries. Another attendant was rescued from wreckage by emergency responders but succumbed to injuries in hospital thereafter.

See also

• TAM Airlines Flight 3054

Further reading

• Kaminski-Morrow, David. "Red Wings Tu-204 crashes on Moscow highway, resulting in pilot fatalities." Flight International. 29 December 2012.
• Kaminski-Morrow, David. "Investigation reveals Tu-204 accelerated forward while pilots attempted to engage reverse thrust." Flight International. 24 January 2013.

External links

• Ту-204 RA-64047 29.12.2012 - Interstate Aviation Committee (Official investigation) (in Russian) (Archive)
  • Final report (Archive) (in Russian)
• EMERCOM of Russia
  • "Emergency Ministry Head Vladimir Puchkov orders continuation of all necessary rescue and recovery operations Archived 25 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine." 29 December 2012. Print version Archived 25 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, PDF version Archived 25 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Word document Archived 25 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  • "Minister Vladimir Puchkov conducted an operational teleconference regarding the Tu-204 crash and issued directives to involved agencies Archived 25 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine." 29 December 2012. Print version Archived 25 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, PDF version Archived 25 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Word document Archived 25 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
• Red Wings Airlines official website (Archive, Archive 2) (in Russian)
• Photo of Flight 9268 preparing for departure by Karel Bohac, dated 29 December 2012 on Airliners.net
• Image capturing final moments of Flight 9268 landing at Vnukovo seconds before impact by Pavel Felisov, dated 29 December 2012 on Russianplanes.net
• Dashcam footage capturing the moment of impact on YouTube