Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801
Encyclopedia
Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801 was an international charter flight that, on 29 August 1996 at 10:22:23 Central European Summer Time
, crashed
in Operafjellet
, Svalbard
, Norway
. All 141 people aboard the Tupolev Tu-154M
were killed during the approach
to Svalbard Airport, Longyear, making it the deadliest aviation accident ever in Norway. The accident was the result of a series of small navigational errors causing the aircraft to be 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) from the approach centerline at the time of impact. The accident was investigated by the Accident Investigation Board Norway with assistance from the Interstate Aviation Committee and became known as the Operafjell Accident .
The Vnukovo Airlines
aircraft, registration number
RA-85621, was chartered by Arktikugol, a Russian state owned coal mining company, to fly Russian and Ukrainian workers from Vnukovo International Airport
in Moscow
, Russia
to Svalbard Airport, Longyear in Longyearbyen
, Norway. The passengers all belonged to the Russian communities of Barentsburg
and Pyramiden
. The fatalities included 11 crew members and 130 passengers, of which 3 were children. The accident was a contributing cause for Arktikugol's closure of Pyramiden two years later. After the accident, there were a series of lawsuits to determine the compensations to the victims' families.
s of Barentsburg and Pyramiden in Svalbard. The aircraft was a Tupolev Tu-154M, with registration RA-85621, serial number 86A 742 and date of manufacture 14 January 1987. The flight consisted of a crew of eleven, including a cockpit crew of four (two aircraft pilots, one engineer
and one navigator
), a cabin crew
of five and two technicians. The pilot in command
(PiC) had previously landed at Svalbard Airport; the first officer had not and was the piloting pilot.
On board were 130 passengers, of which 3 were children, consisting of Arktikugol employees and their families. Waiting at the airport for the return flight were 120 other employees and their families. The aircraft left Vnukovo Airport at 04:44 Coordinated Universal Time
(UTC) or 08:44 Moscow Summer Time. Estimated flight time was 3 hours and 30 minutes, and alternative airports were Murmansk Airport
and Severomorsk-3
, both in Murmansk Oblast
, Russia. The flight proceeded normally until descent, following the routing W 29 from Moscow to Padun (west of Murmansk
), before crossing to Bodø Flight Information Region over the Barents Sea
cruising at FL 350 at an average airspeed
of 500 kilometres per hour (310.7 mph). It then proceeded over Bjørnøya non-directional beacon
(NDB), Isfjord NDB and Advent NDB.
The weather at the accident area was dominated by a low pressure trough, giving rain showers and wind from 15 to 30 kn (8.2 to 16.3 ) at 240–270°. Visibility exceeded 10 kilometres (6 mi). Between 08:00 and 09:00, a weak trough passed, reducing visibility to 6 kilometres (4 mi) and a cloud base at 400 metre.
Svalbard Airport, Longyear, is the main airport serving the Svalbard archipelago. It is located on the south shore of Isfjord, with high terrain to the south, southeast and east. It has a single, 10/28 runway (roughly east–west) which is 2140 metres (7,021 ft) long. The airport has an elevation of 28 metres (91.9 ft) above mean sea level (MSL), and has an aerodrome flight information service
(AFIS), which is subordinate Bodø Air Traffic Control Center
(Bodø ATCC). The airport is regarded as uncontrolled and does not provide approach service. On that day, all aircraft had used Runway 28, due to favorable wind conditions, climb-up conditions and short distance from the terminal.
The crew used Jeppesen
charts dated 21 January 1994. According to procedures, both horizontal situation indicator
s (HSI) were set to 283°, but the magnetic localizer course of 300° was not set. A global positioning system
(GPS) was used as a back-up. No requests were made for VHF direction finding
. From 3000 metre MSL until impact, the flight was carried out in instrument meteorological conditions
(IMC) and the flight controlled by automatic stabilization mode, with lateral navigation controlled by the navigator.
At 08:10 UTC, the aircraft reached 1524 metre MSL, 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, there was a malfunction in the electric trimming mechanism, which 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.
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 kilometres (2.3 mi) 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. For the rest of the flight, the plane continued with autopilot only in roll.
Following the aircraft passing through the localizer centerline and having rolled out on 290°, there was a discussion 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 NM from the airport and 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) right of the centerline at 1520 metre MSL with an airspeed of 330 kilometres per hour (205.1 mph). Instead of intercepting the centerline, the crew continued to track on the right side, nearly paralleling the localizer course.
At 08:20:17 UTC, the pilot in command ordered the aircraft turned to 291°, which 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). 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 m/s. The aircraft started turning left at 08:22:05 UTC, and immediately entered an area of turbulence
created by the surrounding mountains.
During initial approach, the radio altimeter warning had been activated several times, which indicated less than 750 metres (2,460.6 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 (2,975.7 ft) elevation, located 14.2 kilometres (8.8 mi) from Svalbard Airport and 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) right of the approach centerline. The aircraft was destroyed and all occupants perished instantly. It is the single deadliest plane crash to have occurred on Norwegian soil.
received a message about the crash at 10:30 CEST (8:30 UTC) and 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 kilometres (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 there were no survivors.
The responsibility of the recovery was transferred to the Governor of Svalbard
on 30 August, since there were no survivors. 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, it was often impossible to transport workers to the plateau, and work therefore started in the valley.
Governor Ann-Kristin Olsen
traveled to Barentsburg on 30 August to inform the communities about the accident, and distributed ample written information in Russian about the then-known details about the crash. Later in the day, a Russian aircraft arrived with Deputy Minister Aleksandr Petrovich of the Ministry of Emergency Situations along with a team of 11 rescue workers, and representatives from the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), the Embassy of Ukraine in Moscow
, the Federal Air Transport Agency
and Vnukovo Airlines. In a meeting that evening, the Governor accepted Russia assistance, while it was confirmed by international agreement that the investigation would be led by the authorities in the country where the accident occurred, Norway. On 31 August, Minister of Justice Grete Faremo
visited the Russian settlements as a representative from the Government of Norway.
The accident had a large impact on the community, with only 1,600 people living in the two Russian settlements. The population in the communities do not speak Norwegian, and do not have a road connection to Longyearbyen. This made it difficult for the Governor 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. The accident was one of the triggers causing Aktikugol to abandon Pyramiden in 1998.
There was still fog 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).
All identification of people was performed in Tromsø
, as a cooperation between Troms Police District, Kripos
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. An autopsy was performed on all crew members, without finding any abnormalities.
The official responsibility for investigating the incident lay with the Accident Investigation Board Norway (AIBN), although the investigation and report was a close cooperation with the Interstate Aviation Committee and to a lesser extent, the Federal Air Transport Agency. AIBN had the primary responsibility for investigations at the crash site, cooperation with the Norwegian police and the Norwegian Civil Aviation Administration
, and writing the report. IAC was responsible for handling the investigations in Russia, the reading of the cockpit voice recorder
, the flight data recorder
, the relationship with Vnukovo Airlines and a test flight.
, was caused by pilot error
s and that there was no fault with the aircraft. 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 wrong, 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.
The AFIS air controller has a different role in Norway than 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
. 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.
Situational awareness was also reduced because the pilots did not have a chart in front of them at all times. The crew was not aware that they could check the aircraft location in relation to the centerline with a VDF. 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.
s (RUB), about 400 United States dollars (US$) for each deceased. Ukrainian relatives stated to Norwegian media that they had not received information about the cause and other issues surrounding the accident. At the time, Ukraine was experiencing very high unemployment, and Arktikugol offered wages many times what was then offered in mainland 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 deceased. 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.
In February 1998, the Norwegian Ministry of Justice stated that the relatives did not have a right to occupational injury compensation
from the Norwegian National Insurance. Because of the Svalbard Treaty
, the archipelago is an economic free zone and Arktikugol is exempt from paying social insurance, so its employees did not have a right to Norwegian benefits. Had this been the case, widows would have received about NOK 600,000 per worker. By 1998, a few of the relatives had accepted the US$20,000 compensation, while the rest of them were planning to sue both the airline's insurance company and Arktikugol. Among the issues in the case, which took place at at Nord-Troms District Court
, was whether the accident was to be considered a working accident, and thus result in injury compensation from the mining company. In November, it was decided that the Ukrainians needed to make a guarantee for NOK 2.5 million to run the case, which they could not afford. They therefore had no alternative than to accept the proposal from the insurance company. In June 1999, the parties agreed on a settlement, where the compensation was not disclosed to the public. It was later disclosed that the settlement was about three times the initial offer from the insurance company. In 1999, 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.
Central European Summer Time
Central European Summer Time is one of the names of the Daylight saving time offset using the UTC offset of UTC+02:00, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in most European countries. During the winter, Central European Time is used...
, crashed
Controlled flight into terrain
Controlled flight into terrain describes an accident in which an airworthy aircraft, under pilot control, is unintentionally flown into the ground, a mountain, water, or an obstacle. The term was coined by engineers at Boeing in the late 1970s...
in Operafjellet
Operafjellet
Operafjellet is a mountain on Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway. It is tall and is located on the north side of Adventfjorden. It is named for the amphitheatre-shape of the mountain on the western side, with the peak Tenoren sticking up...
, Svalbard
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. All 141 people aboard the Tupolev Tu-154M
Tupolev Tu-154
The Tupolev Tu-154 is a three-engine medium-range narrow-body airliner designed in the mid 1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. As the mainstay 'workhorse' of Soviet and Russian airlines for several decades, it serviced over a sixth of the world's landmass and carried half of all passengers flown...
were killed during the approach
Final approach (aviation)
A final approach is the last leg in an aircraft's approach to landing. In aviation radio terminology, it is often shortened to "final".In a standard airport landing pattern, which is usually used under visual meteorological conditions , aircraft turn from base leg to final within one to two miles...
to Svalbard Airport, Longyear, making it the deadliest aviation accident ever in Norway. The accident was the result of a series of small navigational errors causing the aircraft to be 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) from the approach centerline at the time of impact. The accident was investigated by the Accident Investigation Board Norway with assistance from the Interstate Aviation Committee and became known as the Operafjell Accident .
The Vnukovo Airlines
Vnukovo Airlines
Vnukovo Airlines is a defunct Russian airline based at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow. It was created as a spin-off from the Vnukovo Airport division of Aeroflot in March 1993 and operated until 2001, when it was bought by Siberian Airlines....
aircraft, registration number
Aircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
RA-85621, was chartered by Arktikugol, a Russian state owned coal mining company, to fly Russian and Ukrainian workers from Vnukovo International Airport
Vnukovo International Airport
Vnukovo International Airport , is a dual runway international airport located southwest from the centre of Moscow, Russia. It is one of three major airports serving Moscow...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
to Svalbard Airport, Longyear in Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen
Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of Svalbard, Norway. It is located on the western coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago, on the southern side on Adventfjorden , which continues inland with Adventdalen...
, Norway. The passengers all belonged to the Russian communities of Barentsburg
Barentsburg
Barentsburg is the second largest settlement on Svalbard, with about 500 inhabitants , almost entirely Russians and Ukrainians. The Russian-owned Arktikugol has been mining coal here since 1932.-Status:...
and Pyramiden
Pyramiden
Pyramiden is an abandoned Russian settlement and coal mining community on the archipelago of Svalbard, Norway. It was founded by Sweden in 1910 and sold to the Soviet Union in 1927...
. The fatalities included 11 crew members and 130 passengers, of which 3 were children. The accident was a contributing cause for Arktikugol's closure of Pyramiden two years later. After the accident, there were a series of lawsuits to determine the compensations to the victims' families.
Flight
Flight 2801 was a chartered flight flown by Vnukovo Airlines on behalf of Arktikugol, which operated mines at the two company townCompany town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
s of Barentsburg and Pyramiden in Svalbard. The aircraft was a Tupolev Tu-154M, with registration RA-85621, serial number 86A 742 and date of manufacture 14 January 1987. The flight consisted of a crew of eleven, including a cockpit crew of four (two aircraft pilots, one engineer
Flight engineer
Flight engineers work in three types of aircraft: fixed-wing , rotary wing , and space flight .As airplanes became even larger requiring more engines and complex systems to operate, the workload on the two pilots became excessive during certain critical parts of the flight regime, notably takeoffs...
and one navigator
Navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing to...
), a cabin crew
Cabin Crew
Cabin Crew are a dance music duo from Sydney, Australia, that consists of Ben Garden and Rob Kittler.-Career:...
of five and two technicians. The pilot in command
Pilot in command
The pilot in command of an aircraft is the person aboard the aircraft who is ultimately responsible for its operation and safety during flight. This would be the "captain" in a typical two- or three-pilot flight crew, or "pilot" if there is only one certified and qualified pilot at the controls of...
(PiC) had previously landed at Svalbard Airport; the first officer had not and was the piloting pilot.
On board were 130 passengers, of which 3 were children, consisting of Arktikugol employees and their families. Waiting at the airport for the return flight were 120 other employees and their families. The aircraft left Vnukovo Airport at 04:44 Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
(UTC) or 08:44 Moscow Summer Time. Estimated flight time was 3 hours and 30 minutes, and alternative airports were Murmansk Airport
Murmansk Airport
Murmansk Airport is the international airport of Murmansk, Russia. It is located near the town of Murmashi in Murmansk's southern suburbs, 24 km outside the citycentre....
and Severomorsk-3
Severomorsk-3
Severomorsk-3 is a naval air base in Murmansk Oblast, Russia located 28 km east of Murmansk...
, both in Murmansk Oblast
Murmansk Oblast
Murmansk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the northwestern part of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Murmansk.-Geography:...
, Russia. The flight proceeded normally until descent, following the routing W 29 from Moscow to Padun (west of Murmansk
Murmansk
Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...
), before crossing to Bodø Flight Information Region over the Barents Sea
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
cruising at FL 350 at an average airspeed
Airspeed
Airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air. Among the common conventions for qualifying airspeed are: indicated airspeed , calibrated airspeed , true airspeed , equivalent airspeed and density airspeed....
of 500 kilometres per hour (310.7 mph). It then proceeded over Bjørnøya non-directional beacon
Non-directional beacon
A non-directional beacon is a radio transmitter at a known location, used as an aviation or marine navigational aid. As the name implies, the signal transmitted does not include inherent directional information, in contrast to other navigational aids such as low frequency radio range, VHF...
(NDB), Isfjord NDB and Advent NDB.
The weather at the accident area was dominated by a low pressure trough, giving rain showers and wind from 15 to 30 kn (8.2 to 16.3 ) at 240–270°. Visibility exceeded 10 kilometres (6 mi). Between 08:00 and 09:00, a weak trough passed, reducing visibility to 6 kilometres (4 mi) and a cloud base at 400 metre.
Svalbard Airport, Longyear, is the main airport serving the Svalbard archipelago. It is located on the south shore of Isfjord, with high terrain to the south, southeast and east. It has a single, 10/28 runway (roughly east–west) which is 2140 metres (7,021 ft) long. The airport has an elevation of 28 metres (91.9 ft) above mean sea level (MSL), and has an aerodrome flight information service
Flight Information Service
A flight information service is a form of air traffic service which is available to any aircraft within a flight information region , as agreed internationally by ICAO....
(AFIS), which is subordinate Bodø Air Traffic Control Center
Bodø Air Traffic Control Center
Bodø Air Traffic Control Center or Bodø ATCC en route air traffic control unit located at Bodø Airport in Bodø, in North Norway.The ATCC has a total of 36 airports under its area of responsibility - 13 controlled and 23 uncontrolled, regional airports - including Svalbard Airport, Longyear...
(Bodø ATCC). The airport is regarded as uncontrolled and does not provide approach service. On that day, all aircraft had used Runway 28, due to favorable wind conditions, climb-up conditions and short distance from the terminal.
Accident
At 07:55 UTC (09:55 local Central European Summer Time, CEST), the crew requested clearance to start descent. Because of lack of communication with Bodø ATCC, this was not obtained. At 07:56, information from Longyear AFIS was given that there was no conflicting traffic, allowing a descent to 1800 metre MSL. 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.The crew used Jeppesen
Jeppesen
Jeppesen is an American company that specializes in navigational information, operations management solutions and flight training products and services...
charts dated 21 January 1994. According to procedures, both horizontal situation indicator
Horizontal Situation Indicator
The horizontal situation indicator is an aircraft instrument normally mounted below the artificial horizon in place of a conventional heading indicator. It combines a heading indicator with a VOR/ILS display, reducing pilot workload by lessening the number of elements in the pilot's instrument...
s (HSI) were set to 283°, but the magnetic localizer course of 300° was not set. A global positioning system
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
(GPS) was used as a back-up. No requests were made for VHF direction finding
VHF omnidirectional range
VOR, short for VHF omnidirectional radio range, is a type of radio navigation system for aircraft. A VOR ground station broadcasts a VHF radio composite signal including the station's identifier, voice , and navigation signal. The identifier is typically a two- or three-letter string in Morse code...
. From 3000 metre MSL until impact, the flight was carried out in instrument meteorological conditions
Instrument meteorological conditions
Instrument meteorological conditions is an aviation flight category that describes weather conditions that require pilots to fly primarily by reference to instruments, and therefore under Instrument Flight Rules , rather than by outside visual references under Visual Flight Rules . Typically, this...
(IMC) and the flight controlled by automatic stabilization mode, with lateral navigation controlled by the navigator.
At 08:10 UTC, the aircraft reached 1524 metre MSL, 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, there was a malfunction in the electric trimming mechanism, which caused the piloting pilot to deactivate the aircraft flight control systems
Aircraft flight control systems
A conventional fixed-wing aircraft flight control system consists of flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkages, and the necessary operating mechanisms to control an aircraft's direction in flight...
' servogear
Servomechanism
thumb|right|200px|Industrial servomotorThe grey/green cylinder is the [[Brush |brush-type]] [[DC motor]]. The black section at the bottom contains the [[Epicyclic gearing|planetary]] [[Reduction drive|reduction gear]], and the black object on top of the motor is the optical [[rotary encoder]] for...
in the pitch channel at 08:15:58. This was again activated at 08:16:42 UTC.
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 kilometres (2.3 mi) 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
Autopilot
An autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. An autopilot can refer specifically to aircraft, self-steering gear for boats, or auto guidance of space craft and missiles...
pitch channel. For the rest of the flight, the plane continued with autopilot only in roll.
Following the aircraft passing through the localizer centerline and having rolled out on 290°, there was a discussion 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 NM from the airport and 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) right of the centerline at 1520 metre MSL with an airspeed of 330 kilometres per hour (205.1 mph). Instead of intercepting the centerline, the crew continued to track on the right side, nearly paralleling the localizer course.
At 08:20:17 UTC, the pilot in command ordered the aircraft turned to 291°, which 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). 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 m/s. The aircraft started turning left at 08:22:05 UTC, and immediately entered an area of turbulence
Turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
created by the surrounding mountains.
During initial approach, the radio altimeter warning had been activated several times, which indicated less than 750 metres (2,460.6 ft) from the aircraft to the terrain. During final approach, the ground proximity warning system
Ground Proximity Warning System
A ground proximity warning system is a system designed to alert pilots if their aircraft is in immediate danger of flying into the ground or an obstacle. The United States Federal Aviation Administration defines GPWS as a type of terrain awareness 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 (2,975.7 ft) elevation, located 14.2 kilometres (8.8 mi) from Svalbard Airport and 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) right of the approach centerline. The aircraft was destroyed and all occupants perished instantly. It is the single deadliest plane crash to have occurred on Norwegian soil.
Recovery
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Northern NorwayJoint Rescue Coordination Centre of Northern Norway
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Northern Norway or JRCC NN is a rescue coordination centre located in Bodø responsible for coordinating search and rescue operations in the northern part of Norway; it is responsible for coordinating search and rescue operations within Norway's Search and...
received a message about the crash at 10:30 CEST (8:30 UTC) and the search and rescue
Search and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
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 kilometres (8.7 mi) east of Svalbard Airport. Most of the aircraft was located on the mountain's plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
, although some debris had slid down a vertical cliff and was scattered along the valley and partially covered by an avalanche
Avalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
. Rescue workers and medics from Longyearbyen Hospital arrived at 12:36, and quickly established that there were no survivors.
The responsibility of the recovery was transferred to the Governor of Svalbard
Governor of Svalbard
The Governor of Svalbard represents the Norwegian government in exercising its sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago .The position reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, but it maintains all Norwegian interests in the area, including environmental protection, law enforcement,...
on 30 August, since there were no survivors. 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, it was often impossible to transport workers to the plateau, and work therefore started in the valley.
Governor Ann-Kristin Olsen
Ann-Kristin Olsen
Ann-Kristin Olsen is a Norwegian jurist and civil servant. Known as the first female chief of police in Norway, and the first female Governor of Svalbard, she has served as County Governor of Vest-Agder since 1998.-Early life:...
traveled to Barentsburg on 30 August to inform the communities about the accident, and distributed ample written information in Russian about the then-known details about the crash. Later in the day, a Russian aircraft arrived with Deputy Minister Aleksandr Petrovich of the Ministry of Emergency Situations along with a team of 11 rescue workers, and representatives from the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), the Embassy of Ukraine in Moscow
Embassy of Ukraine in Moscow
The Embassy of the Republic of Ukraine in Moscow is the chief diplomatic mission of Ukraine in the Russian Federation. It is located at 18 Leontyevsky Lane in the Presnensky District of Moscow.- External links :...
, the Federal Air Transport Agency
Federal Air Transport Agency
The Federal Air Transport Agency , also known as Rosaviatsiya , is the Russian government agency which is responsible for overseeing the civil aviation industry in Russia.- External links :...
and Vnukovo Airlines. In a meeting that evening, the Governor accepted Russia assistance, while it was confirmed by international agreement that the investigation would be led by the authorities in the country where the accident occurred, Norway. On 31 August, Minister of Justice Grete Faremo
Grete Faremo
Grete Faremo , is a Norwegian politician who serves as the Norwegian Minister of Justice and the Police in Norway....
visited the Russian settlements as a representative from the Government of Norway.
The accident had a large impact on the community, with only 1,600 people living in the two Russian settlements. The population in the communities do not speak Norwegian, and do not have a road connection to Longyearbyen. This made it difficult for the Governor 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. The accident was one of the triggers causing Aktikugol to abandon Pyramiden in 1998.
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.There was still fog 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
Norwegian krone
The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"...
(NOK).
All identification of people was performed in Tromsø
Tromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
, as a cooperation between Troms Police District, Kripos
Kripos
Den nasjonale enhet for bekjempelse av organisert og annen alvorlig kriminalitet is a Norwegian special police division under the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police....
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. An autopsy was performed on all crew members, without finding any abnormalities.
The official responsibility for investigating the incident lay with the Accident Investigation Board Norway (AIBN), although the investigation and report was a close cooperation with the Interstate Aviation Committee and to a lesser extent, the Federal Air Transport Agency. AIBN had the primary responsibility for investigations at the crash site, cooperation with the Norwegian police and the Norwegian Civil Aviation Administration
Avinor
Avinor AS is a state owned limited company in that operates most of the civil airports in Norway. The Norwegian state, via the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications controls 100 percent of the share capital. Avinor was created on 1 January 2003, by the privatization of the...
, and writing the report. IAC was responsible for handling the investigations in Russia, the reading of the cockpit voice recorder
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
, the flight data recorder
Flight data recorder
A flight data recorder is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters...
, the relationship with Vnukovo Airlines and a test flight.
Cause
The official investigation concluded that the flight, regarded as a controlled flight into terrainControlled flight into terrain
Controlled flight into terrain describes an accident in which an airworthy aircraft, under pilot control, is unintentionally flown into the ground, a mountain, water, or an obstacle. The term was coined by engineers at Boeing in the late 1970s...
, was caused by pilot error
Pilot error
Pilot error is a term used to describe the cause of an accident involving an airworthy aircraft where the pilot is considered to be principally or partially responsible...
s and that there was no fault with the aircraft. 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 wrong, which along with the course deviation indicator
Course deviation indicator
Course Deviation Indicator is an avionics instrument used in aircraft navigation to determine an aircraft's lateral position in relation to a track. If the location of the aircraft is to the left of course, the needle deflects to the right, and vice versa.-Use:The instrument shows the direction...
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.
The AFIS air controller has a different role in Norway than 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
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
skills. The pilot in command had insufficient crew resource management
Crew Resource Management
Crew resource management or Cockpit resource management is a procedure and training system in systems where human error can have devastating effects. Used primarily for improving air safety, CRM focuses on interpersonal communication, leadership, and decision making in the cockpit...
. 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.
Situational awareness was also reduced because the pilots did not have a chart in front of them at all times. The crew was not aware that they could check the aircraft location in relation to the centerline with a VDF. 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.
Aftermath
On 20 September, the surviving relatives of each deceased received 2 million Russian rubleRussian ruble
The ruble or rouble is the currency of the Russian Federation and the two partially recognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Formerly, the ruble was also the currency of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union prior to their breakups. Belarus and Transnistria also use currencies with...
s (RUB), about 400 United States dollars (US$) for each deceased. Ukrainian relatives stated to Norwegian media that they had not received information about the cause and other issues surrounding the accident. At the time, Ukraine was experiencing very high unemployment, and Arktikugol offered wages many times what was then offered in mainland 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 deceased. 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.
In February 1998, the Norwegian Ministry of Justice stated that the relatives did not have a right to occupational injury compensation
Workers' compensation
Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence...
from the Norwegian National Insurance. Because of the Svalbard Treaty
Svalbard Treaty
The Treaty between Norway, The United States of America, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland and the British overseas Dominions and Sweden concerning Spitsbergen signed in Paris 9th February 1920, commonly called the Svalbard Treaty or the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, the archipelago is an economic free zone and Arktikugol is exempt from paying social insurance, so its employees did not have a right to Norwegian benefits. Had this been the case, widows would have received about NOK 600,000 per worker. By 1998, a few of the relatives had accepted the US$20,000 compensation, while the rest of them were planning to sue both the airline's insurance company and Arktikugol. Among the issues in the case, which took place at at Nord-Troms District Court
Nord-Troms District Court
Nord-Troms District Court is a district court in Tromsø, Norway. It covers Troms north of Malangen, plus Svalbard, and is subordinate Hålogaland Court of Appeal, with whom it shares a courthouse. The municipalities which are under the court are Tromsø, Karlsøy, Balsfjord, Storfjord, Gáivuotna –...
, was whether the accident was to be considered a working accident, and thus result in injury compensation from the mining company. In November, it was decided that the Ukrainians needed to make a guarantee for NOK 2.5 million to run the case, which they could not afford. They therefore had no alternative than to accept the proposal from the insurance company. In June 1999, the parties agreed on a settlement, where the compensation was not disclosed to the public. It was later disclosed that the settlement was about three times the initial offer from the insurance company. In 1999, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway...
established a scholarship to help children who lost a parent in the accident to take senior secondary and tertiary education.