Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801

Coordinates: 78°12′51″N 16°05′43″E / 78.21417°N 16.09528°E / 78.21417; 16.09528
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Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801
Svalbard Airport, Longyear, Longyearbyen
, Norway
Passengers130
Crew11
Fatalities141
Survivors0

Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801 was an international

final approach to Svalbard Airport. All 141 people (11 crew members and 130 passengers, of whom three were children) aboard the plane were killed, making it the deadliest aviation accident in Norway.[2]
The accident was the result of a series of small navigational errors causing the aircraft to be 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi; 2.0 nmi) from the approach centerline at the time of impact.

The

Accident Investigation Board Norway with assistance from the Interstate Aviation Committee and became known as the Operafjell accident (Norwegian
: Operafjell-ulykken). After the accident, a series of lawsuits determined compensation for the victims' families.

History

Flight

The aircraft involved in the accident in January 1993, then operated by BosnaAir

Flight 2801 was a chartered flight flown by Vnukovo Airlines on behalf of Arktikugol, which operated mines at the two company towns of Barentsburg and Pyramiden in Svalbard.

cabin crew members, and two technicians. The captain had previously landed at Svalbard Airport; the co-pilot had not.[1]
: 7–8 

On board were 130 passengers, consisting of Arktikugol employees and their families, three of whom were children.

Bjørnøya, Isfjorden, and Adventdalen.[1]

Svalbard Airport, Longyear, is the main airport serving the Svalbard archipelago. It is located on the south shore of Isfjorden, with high terrain to the south, southeast, and east. It has a single, 2,140-metre-long (7,020 ft) 10/28 runway, running roughly east–west. The airport has an elevation of 28 metres (92 ft) above

aerodrome flight information service (AFIS), which is subordinate to Bodø Air Traffic Control Center (Bodø ATCC). The airport is regarded as uncontrolled and does not provide approach service.[1]
: 24 

On that day, all aircraft had used runway 28 due to favorable wind conditions, climb-up conditions, and short distance from the terminal.

low pressure trough, causing rain showers and wind from 15 to 30 knots (28 to 56 km/h; 17 to 35 mph) at 240–270°. Visibility exceeded 10 kilometres (6.2 mi; 5.4 nmi). Between 08:00 and 09:00, a weak trough passed, reducing visibility to 6 kilometres (4 mi; 3 nmi) and a cloud base at 400 to 450 metres (1,300 to 1,500 ft).[1]
: 18 

Accident

The Tu-154's route of flight and accident location

At 07:55 UTC (09:55 local Central European Summer Time, CEST), the crew requested clearance to start their descent. Because of lack of communication with Bodø ATCC, this was not obtained. At 07:56, information from Longyear AFIS was given that it had no conflicting traffic, allowing a descent to 1,800 m (6,000 ft). The crew tried to request use of Runway 10, but this was, due to language problems, not understood as such by AFIS. Instead, Longyear communicated the actual weather and informed that Runway 28 was in use. An additional request for use of Runway 10 was again not understood, because of the misunderstanding of the term "runway in use". Because of this, the crew decided to instead use Runway 28.[1]: 8 

The crew used

global positioning system (GPS) was used as a back-up. No requests were made for VHF direction finding.[1]: 8  From 3,000 metres (10,000 ft) until impact, the flight was carried out in instrument meteorological conditions and the flight controlled by automatic stabilization mode, with lateral navigation controlled by the navigator.[1]
: 9 

At 08:10 UTC, the aircraft reached 1,524 metres (5,000 ft), which is the minimum altitude to Advent and the initial approach altitude. At 08:15:32 UTC, it reached Advent and entered a base turn, reaching a magnetic heading of 160° at 08:16:28 UTC. While the crew had adjusted for the wind drift, they did not attempt to intercept the magnetic course 155° outbound from Advent. During this turn, a malfunction in the

electric trimming mechanism caused the piloting pilot to deactivate the aircraft flight control systems' servogear in the pitch channel at 08:15:58. This was again activated at 08:16:42 UTC.[1]
: 9 

At 08:17:08 UTC, the crew started the turn to bring the aircraft to 300° magnetic inbound; however, the lateral deviation from the outbound magnetic course was 155°, or 3.7 km (2.3 mi; 2.0 nmi) to the left. At 08:17:57 UTC, the navigator said "Ah, abeam eight miles 2801 inbound", to which AFIS replied two seconds later "Correct". This was the last radio communication between the crew and Longyear. At 08:18:30 UTC, the piloting pilot turned off the autopilot pitch channel.[1]: 9  For the rest of the flight, the plane continued with autopilot only in roll.[1]: 10 

Following the aircraft passing through the localizer centerline and having rolled out on 290°, a discussion arose among the crew if the turn had been made at the right time. The initial comment about this was made by the first officer at 08:19:06 UTC. This resulted in a roll out of the turn to final approach and corrective turn to magnetic heading 306°. At this time, the aircraft was 27.4 nautical miles (50.7 km; 31.5 mi) from the airport and 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi; 1.5 nmi) right of the centerline at 1,520 metres (5,000 ft) with an airspeed of 330 kilometres per hour (180 kn; 210 mph). Instead of intercepting the centerline, the crew continued to track on the right side, nearly paralleling the localizer course.[1]: 10 

At 08:20:17 UTC, the pilot in command ordered the aircraft turned to 291°, which, when adjusted for drift, resulted in a course close to 300°. At this time, the aircraft had a lateral deviation from the approach centerline of 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi; 2.0 nmi). The aircraft started descending at 08:20:24 UTC. A corrective turn was made at 08:21:13 UTC and completed 11 seconds later at magnetic heading 300°. At the time, the aircraft was descending 5 to 7 metres per second (16 to 23 ft/s). The aircraft started turning left at 08:22:05 UTC, and immediately entered an area of turbulence created by the surrounding mountains.[1]: 10 

During initial approach, the

radio altimeter warning had been activated several times, which indicated less than 750 metres (2,460 ft) from the aircraft to the terrain. During final approach, the ground proximity warning system was activated nine seconds before impact, which lasted until impact. Six seconds before impact, the radio altimeter warning was activated. At 08:22:23 UTC (10:22:23 local CEST) the aircraft collided with the top of Operafjellet at 907 metres (2,976 ft) elevation, located 14.2 kilometres (8.8 mi; 7.7 nmi) from Svalbard Airport and 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi; 2.0 nmi) right of the approach centerline. The aircraft was destroyed and all occupants perished.[1]: 10  It is the single deadliest plane crash to have occurred on Norwegian soil.[2]

Recovery

Adventfjorden with Operafjellet, the location of the accident, in the background

The

search-and-rescue service was immediately deployed. This included seven Norwegian aircraft that were in the area. The area had bad weather with a low cloud height, resulting in difficult searching conditions. The aircraft was found at 12:06 CEST at Operafjellet, 14 km (8.7 mi) east of Svalbard Airport. Most of the aircraft was located on the mountain's plateau, although some debris had slid down a vertical cliff and was scattered along the valley and partially covered by an avalanche. Rescue workers and medics from Longyearbyen Hospital arrived at 12:36, and quickly established that no one survived.[3]

The responsibility of the recovery was transferred to the governor of Svalbard on 30 August. In addition, police personnel from the mainland were transferred to Svalbard to work with the investigation and recovery. The work was supplemented by local volunteers. Because of the bad weather, which included fog and snow, transporting workers to the plateau was often impossible, so work started in the valley.[3]

Governor

government of Norway.[3]

The accident had a large impact on the community, with only 1,600 people living in the two Russian settlements at the time. The population in the communities did not speak Norwegian, and did not have a road connection to Longyearbyen. This made it difficult for Olsen to give accurate and detailed information. Issues were further complicated by erroneous reports in Russian media that there were five survivors. The governor's cabin in Barentsburg was manned during the aftermath, and bulletins were distributed with updated information in Russian.[3] The accident was one of the factors causing Arktikugol to abandon Pyramiden in 1998.[5]

Investigation

Agreements between Norwegian and Russian authorities were made on 31 August, where Norway resumed full responsibility for the recovery and investigation, but Russian help was accepted. To allow the Russian workers access from the morning of 1 September, the crew was allowed to fly in and establish a base camp, but no work was to be done until Norwegian supervisors arrived in the morning. However, two people were observed at the wreck at about 20:00 CEST, who were brought to the governor's offices for questioning. As they were both members of the Russian team, it was decided that the base would be disbanded.[3]

Fog was still on the plateau on 1 September, but by 15:00 CEST it was possible to fly a team there by helicopter. Because the fog stayed, the team retained work until 03:00 CEST in the night. In the following days, the fog lifted, making work and transport easier. By 5 September, all bodies had been recovered and the work at the plateau could be terminated. The recovery in the valley was completed two days later. The accident resulted in about 40 journalists staying in Svalbard to cover the story. The Norwegian authority's costs related to the investigation and other activities related to the accident were estimated at 30 million Norwegian krone (NOK).[3]

All identification of people was performed in

National Criminal Investigation Service, and the University Hospital of North Norway. By 18 September, all people had been identified, and the bodies were transported to Russia and Ukraine on 20 September after a short memorial in Tromsøhallen.[3] An autopsy was performed on all crew members, without finding any abnormalities.[1]
: 36 

The official responsibility for investigating the incident lay with the

flight data recorder, the relationship with Vnukovo Airlines and a test flight. Both agencies agreed that English was to be the language of the final report; English is one of the ICAO languages.[1]
: 4 

Cause

The official investigation concluded that the flight, regarded as a controlled flight into terrain, was caused by pilot errors and that no fault was found with the aircraft.[1]: 80  Contributing factors causing the accident were lack of a procedure for offset localizer approach for setting approach course on the HSIs. Thus, both HSIs were set incorrectly, which along with the course deviation indicator hinted that the plane was being blown to the left and needed to adjust course to the right. Because he was in a stressed situation, the navigator set the GPS in the wrong mode. He also did not have sufficient time to recheck his work, allowing mistakes to happen, and his work was not monitored by the pilots. As the navigator was overworked, it was inappropriate for the first officer to transfer the responsibility of lateral control to him.[1]: 83 

The AFIS air controller has a different role in Norway from in Russia, and the crew were not aware that they were being given information and advice, rather than orders. Communication with AFIS was left with the navigator, which is a breach of norms. Communication between air control and the crew was problematic, since the crew lacked sufficient English skills. The pilot in command had insufficient crew resource management knowledge.[1]: 83  After the crew decided to carry out the approach to Runway 28, a new approach briefing was not accomplished. The aircraft overshot the approach centerline when turning inbound, because they did not try to intercept the outbound track from Advent. The crew showed a lack of situational awareness following their uncertainty of the aircraft position in relation to LLZ 28, caused by indications on the HSIs.[1]: 84 

Situational awareness was also reduced because the pilots did not have a chart in front of them at all times. The crew were not aware that they could check the aircraft location in relation to the centerline with a VDF (VHF

direction finder). The crew probably put too much emphasis on the indications displayed by the GPS. The aircraft descended into mountainous terrain without control over the lateral navigation. Despite uncertainty and disagreement in the group, the approach was not abandoned, as the aircraft should have climbed to a safe altitude while the problem was solved.[1]
: 84 

Aftermath

The accident was a contributing cause for Arktikugol's closure of Pyramiden two years later, in 1998; until 2007 it remained largely abandoned with most of its infrastructure and buildings still in place.

On 20 September, the surviving relatives of each decedent received 2 million Russian rubles (about US$40,000) for each person who died in the accident. Ukrainian relatives stated to Norwegian media that they had not received information about the cause and other issues surrounding the accident.[6] At the time, Ukraine was experiencing very high unemployment, and Arktikugol offered wages many times what was then offered in Ukraine. Many miners not only had to support their immediate family, but also relatives. Vnukovo Airlines stated on Ukrainian television that the relatives would receive US$20,000 per person killed.[7] About a year after the accident, all relatives had been offered US$20,000, but about two-thirds of them chose not to accept the amount, and instead started a process to sue the insurance company. Their lawyer, Gunnar Nerdrum, stated that according to both Norwegian and Russian law, they could demand at least US$140,000.[8]

In February 1998, the

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs established a scholarship to help children who lost a parent in the accident to take senior secondary and tertiary education.[14]

Notes

  1. ^ Sudarev was also a captain on the Tu-154, but on the accident flight he was the co-pilot.[1]: 8 

References

  1. ^
    Accident Investigation Board Norway. 2 November 1999. Archived
    from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  2. ^
    Aviation Safety Network
    . Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Faremo, Grete (26 September 1996). "Flyulykken på Svalbard" [The plane crash on Svalbard] (in Norwegian). Government.no. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  4. ^ "Russian jet crash kills more than 140". The Intelligencer Record. Associated Press. 30 August 1996. p. C5. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  5. ^ Steffensen, Marianne (28 September 2005). "En moderne spøkelsesby" [A modern ghost town]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  6. ^ Strøm, Ole Kristian; Nielsen, Bengt; Mortensen, Terje (21 September 1996). "Avskjed" [Goodbye]. Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). p. 3.
  7. ^ "Svalbard-ylykken: Tøff økonomisk framtid for etterlatte" [Svalbard accident: Tough financial future for survivors] (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 22 September 1996.
  8. ^ Tonstad, Per Lars (29 August 1997). "Et år etter Svalbard-ulykken: Pårørende lever i nød" [One year after the Svalbard accident: Relatives live in distress]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). p. 12.
  9. ^ Rapp, Ole Magnus (1 March 1998). "Gruve-enkene nektes erstatning" [The mining widows are denied compensation]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 2.
  10. ^ Mogård, Lars Egil (15 April 1998). "Utsatt rettssak om Svalbard" [Postponed trial on Svalbard]. Nordlys (in Norwegian). p. 5.
  11. ^ Mogård, Lars Egil (5 November 1998). "Etterlatte fra Ukrania fikk" [Survivors from Ukraine received]. Nordlys (in Norwegian). p. 5.
  12. ^ Gjerde, Robert (2 June 1999). "Forlik om Svalbard-erstatning" [Settlement on Svalbard compensation]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 5.
  13. ^ Tonstad, Per Lars (26 August 2006). "Her døde 141 mennesker" [141 people died here]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). p. 16.
  14. ^ Idås, Bård (21 April 1999). "Norsk håndslag til Svalbard-etterlatte" [Norwegian handshake for Svalbard survivors]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 3.

Further reading

External links
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