Very saddened by the Katyń crash and was wondering if there were other aviators (convex?) here who could share their views on the subject.
I’ve been very busy and have managed to stay away from PF for a while. The aircraft tragedy compelled me to check back in…
What an incredibly sad story. I will keep my thoughts and my prayers with the victims and their friends and relatives.
It’s so ironic it all happened on the 70th anniversary of Katyń mass murders. (full disclosure - a distant relative of ours was killed there).
I think it’s extremely sad and ironic that Ryszard Kaczorowski died on the very same flight as Anna Walentynowicz – on their way to Katyń.
Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last President of Poland in exile who resigned from his position following Poland's regaining independence from the Soviet sphere of influence and election of Lech Wałęsa as the first democratically-elected president together with Anna Walentynowicz, whose firing in August 1980 from the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk sparked a workers' strike that spurred the eventual creation of the Solidarity freedom movement.
The past and the future of Poland - all on the same flight… :(
As far as the accident itself…
I find it remarkable that Putin is now “in charge” of the accident investigation. Aviation safety agencies such as the NTSB, the European Aviation Safety Agency, the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada , or Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile of France, etc., are supposed to be very independent agencies that resist influence from airlines, aircraft manufacturers and governments.
To have a prime minister (in this case a de facto Tsar) take charge of an aircraft accident investigation is simply strange and will probably create all kinds of rumors and conspiracy theories. I am sure it was a well meant gesture to show how important this issue is to the Russian government but in my view it will backfire.
Also, the accident just happened yet some Russian investigators are already stating it was caused by pilot error? Most investigations take months to complete, tons of data to be analyzed, voice recording synched to the computer and engine read-outs, etc. Apparently an “investigation” only takes hours in Russia…
Note, I too believe this very well may be a pilot error BUT I would expect an official agency to be much more reserved in their comments until the full investigation is complete.
While looking into this accident I found some old articles where Kaczynski supposedly was micromanaging his pilots; in fact he once tried to demote a captain who refused to land at an airfield he deemed unsafe. I don’t want to say bad things about a person who cannot defend himself anymore but IF true then all I can say is WOW!
How about the meaning of the term PIC – Pilot-in-COMMAND!? How can a layperson question a profession pilot’s decision making? I sure hope those were untrue rumors about Kaczynski.
The crew apparently made 3 approaches and crashed on the 4th attempt. While there’s no official rule on how many attempts you can make (it's based on fuel reserves) this is highly unusual. Most pilots would give it 1 or maybe 2 shots and then divert. It seems like those pilots felt very pressed into “making it in.”
I believe that a TU-154 is just slightly larger than a Boeing 727? The 727-200 model is certified for a minimum landing distance of 5,080 ft or 1,585 meters but most airlines use a 6,000 foot minimum so assuming the TU 154 was about the same size I’d say for planning purposes the 8,200ft or 2,500 meter runway was plenty long (I’m assuming it was the XUBS Smolensk base they went to?) I know they never made it that far but it’s interesting to see their (assumed) thought process.
This link has some very good graphics showing the accident but it also made me wonder...
http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/Wiadomosci/1,80269,7761040,Zobacz__jak_dos zlo_do_tragedii_prezydenckiego_samolotu.html
Haven’t been able to look up the available instrument approaches in Smolensk yet but I wonder what options they had? Did they “shoot” an ILS (precision approach used when the visibility is low) or was it (very doubtful) a non-precision approach such as VOR, GPS, NDB, etc.? Surely they must have used a precision approach. I can’t even imagine using an NDB for a fogged-in airport, NDB approaches are old school, WWII approaches made for slower aircraft. It’s a good backup but airline pilots very seldom use them.
The temp was 1C and so was the due point, good indication of fog. Normally a category IIIB approach should be utilized (can land with almost no visibility but might need towing to the ramp) but I am not sure if that airplane was category III equipped (standard cat I is basically a 200 foot approach).
I also wonder if they were using the autopilot? I’m wondering because apparently when they engaged the “altitude hold” the airplane continued down for another 100 feet or so. That’s pretty normal as the inertia of descending basically takes a few seconds to overcome. Most often pilots press the alt hold button a few hundred feet prior to the “bottom” altitude and then fine tune the altitude with the vertical speed selector. I wonder if they pushed the button a few seconds too late because I have hard time believing they’d intentionally “bust the minimums”. That’s just a no-no, especially in transport category aircraft. Even if they did, why were they offset from the runway’s centerline? Was the ILS beacon offset too? Doesn’t make sense to me… Again, don’t have the charts in front of me.
Sorry if my post uses lots of aviation lingo; this accident “hit home”. Supposed to be very discrete with any identifying info online but will say that i’m a former full-time military aviator and now part-time military (air national guard) and full time commercial pilot (standard progression in the States). Recently I transitioned to a new airframe; in the airline world have flown primarily heavy Boeing aircraft.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims of this tragedy, may they all rest in peace.
To the pilots of this fateful flight…
May strong tailwinds carry you all the way to pilots’ Valhalla.
By John Gillespie Magee Jr.
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor even eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
|
