2016 Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 crash

{{Short description|Plane crash in the Black Sea near Sochi, Russia}}

{{Infobox aircraft occurrence

| name = 2016 Russian Defence Ministry Tupolev Tu-154 crash

| image = Tupolev Tu-154B-2 (RA-85572) on final approach at Chkalovsky Airport.jpg

| image_upright =

| alt =

| caption = RA-85572, the aircraft involved, in May 2016

| occurrence_type = Accident

| date = {{start date|2016|12|25|df=y}}

| summary = Loss of control at night, spatial disorientation

| site = Black Sea, approx {{cvt|1.5|km|2}} off the coast from Sochi, Russia

{{cvt|288|km|2}} off the coast from Trabzon, Turkey

| coordinates = {{coord|43|25|30|N|39|50|13|E|type:event|display=inline,title}}

| aircraft_type = Tupolev Tu-154B-2

| aircraft_name =

| operator = Russian Air Force

| callsign =

| tail_number = RA-85572

| origin = Chkalovsky Airport, Russia

| stopover = Sochi International Airport, Sochi, Russia

| destination = Khmeimim Air Base, Latakia, Syria

| occupants = 92

| passengers = 84

| crew = 8

| fatalities = 92

| survivors = 0

}}

On 25 December 2016, a Tupolev Tu-154 jetliner of the Russian Defence Ministry crashed into the Black Sea shortly after taking off from Sochi International Airport, Russia, while en route to Khmeimim Air Base, Syria. All 92 passengers and crew on board, including 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble choir of the Russian Armed Forces, were killed. The aircraft had flown from Chkalovsky Airport and had landed at Sochi to refuel.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Tupolev 154B-2, tail number RA-85572, msn 83A-572, which had been in operation since 1983,{{cite web|url=http://rbth.com/politics_and_society/2016/12/25/live-debris-of-tu-154-plane-found-near-sochi-coast_667721|title=Monday declared day of mourning following Tu-154 crash near Sochi |work=Russia Beyond The Headlines|first=Gleb|last=Fedorov|date=25 December 2016|access-date=25 December 2016}} and had flown for about 7,000 hours before the crash.{{cite news |last1=Devitt |first1=Polina |last2=Osborn |first2=Andrew |date=25 December 2016 |title=All 92 on Syria-bound Russian military jet killed in crash, including 60 from Red Army Choir |work=Reuters |editor-last=Ireland |editor-first=Louise |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-airplane-idUSKBN14E02Y}}

Accident

{{location map|European Russia|width=200

|caption=Accident site within the western part of Russia

|lat_deg=|lon_deg=|lat=43.2530

|long=39.5013

}}

The Tupolev had taken off at 05:27 local time ({{start date|df=y|2016|12|25|02|27|7=Z}}) from the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Russia, where it had landed to refuel, bound for Syria.{{cite web|url=http://www.itv.com/news/story/2016-12-25/russian-military-plane-with-91-on-board-crashes-over-black-sea/|title=Russian military plane with 91 on board crashes over Black Sea|publisher=ITV|access-date=25 December 2016|archive-date=25 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225062829/http://www.itv.com/news/story/2016-12-25/russian-military-plane-with-91-on-board-crashes-over-black-sea/|url-status=dead}} Two minutes after takeoff, the aircraft crashed into the Black Sea, {{convert|1.5|km|mi|1}} from the coast. Wreckage was found at a depth of {{convert|50|to|70|m|ft}}.{{cite web|last1=Farrer|first1=Martin|title=Russian military plane missing in Black Sea with up to 100 on board|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/25/russian-military-plane-missing-in-black-sea-with-up-to-100-on-board-report-says|work=The Guardian|date=25 December 2016 |access-date=25 December 2016}} All 92 people on board were killed.{{cite web |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20161225-0 |title=Accident description |publisher=Aviation Safety Network |access-date=25 December 2016}}

Passengers and crew

Of the 92 passengers and crew on board, 64 were members of the Alexandrov Ensemble choir, the official choir of the Russian Armed Forces, including its director Valery Khalilov.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38430164 |title=Russian military plane crashes in Black Sea near Sochi |work=BBC News |date=25 December 2016 |access-date=25 December 2016}} The members of the Ensemble were travelling from Moscow to the Russian military base at Khmeimim near Latakia, Syria, to take part in New Year celebrations.{{cite news |last=Filipov |first=David |date=26 December 2016 |title=Russia focusing on pilot error or technical issues rather than terrorism in plane crash |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/no-survivors-found-after-russian-military-plane-with-92-on-board-crashes-en-route-to-syria/2016/12/25/d4bca3f0-ca7c-11e6-a22f-f4d703887285_story.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225105041/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/no-survivors-found-after-russian-military-plane-with-92-on-board-crashes-en-route-to-syria/2016/12/25/d4bca3f0-ca7c-11e6-a22f-f4d703887285_story.html |archive-date=25 December 2016}}

Among the passengers was Russian humanitarian worker Elizaveta Glinka,{{cite web |last=Pappas |first=Steven M. |date=December 27, 2016 |title='Dr. Liza' dies in Russian plane crash |url=https://www.timesargus.com/dr-liza-dies-in-russian-plane-crash/article_951ad9d3-d000-52fd-a08b-bc469e7e202a.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226054429/http://www.timesargus.com/article/20161225/THISJUSTIN/161229731 |archive-date=26 December 2016 |access-date=25 December 2016 |work=Barre Montpelier Times Argus |df=dmy-all}} the Director of the Department of Culture for the Russian Ministry of Defence Anton Gubankov,{{cite news|title=Putin declares national day of mourning over Russia military plane crash|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/russia-plane-with-up-to-100-onboard-disappears-from-radar-bbc|access-date=25 December 2016|work=The Straits Times|date=25 December 2016|quote=Other passengers named were the head of the military band, Valery Khalilov, and the head of the defence ministry’s department of culture, Anton Gubankov, said RT.}} seven soldiers (besides Khalilov), nine journalists (three each from Channel One Russia, NTV, and Zvezda), and two civilian officials.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

The Crew is:

Captain: Roman Alexandrovich Volkov, 35
First Officer: Alexander Sergeevich Rovenskiy, 33
Flight Engineer: Valery Nikolaevich Parikmaherov, 29
Flight Engineer: Alexander Anatolievich Tregubov, 51
Navigator: Alexander Nikolaevich Petukhov, 49
Navigator: Andrei Vladimirovich Mamonov, 34
Flight Operator: Alexei Olegovich Sukhanov, 31
Flight Mechanic: Viktor Sergeevich Sushkov, 25

Investigation

File:RA-85572 crash site sketch en.jpg]]

By 27 December, the cockpit voice and flight data recorders had been located, and both were later recovered and sent to Moscow for analysis.{{cite web |url=http://news.sky.com/story/russian-plane-crash-black-box-found-in-wreckage-10709187 |title=Russian plane crash: Black box found in wreckage |publisher=Sky News |access-date=27 December 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38441903|title=Russian plane crash: Experts begin examining flight recorder|date=27 December 2016|publisher=BBC|access-date=27 December 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://tass.com/world/923122|title=Third flight data recorder of Tu-154 plane destroyed – source|agency=TASS|access-date=29 December 2016}} By 28 December, the bodies of 18 people had been recovered from the sea.{{Cite news|url=https://rg.ru/2016/12/28/reg-ufo/v-chernom-more-nashli-tela-eshche-treh-pogibshih-pri-krushenii-tu-154.html|title=В Черном море нашли тела еще трех погибших при крушении Ту-154|newspaper=РИА Новости|language=ru|trans-title=Rescuers find three more bodies from Tu-154 disaster in the Black Sea|access-date=26 December 2016}} On 29 December, a third recorder, which backs up data from the CVR and FDR, was found, which, despite being damaged, revealed more information.

One Russian official downplayed the possibility of a terrorist attack as the cause of the crash, focusing more on the possibility of mechanical or human error.{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/terror-attack-possible-cause-of-russian-plane-crash-investigators-say-35320211.html|title=Terror attack possible cause of Russian plane crash, investigators say |work=The Irish Independent |date=25 December 2016 |access-date=26 December 2016}}

A bright flash was purportedly caught on surveillance cameras along the Sochi coastline before the crash.{{cite news|title=(VIDEO) OVO JE TRENUTAK KADA JE AVION PAO U MORE: Od eksplozije noć se pretvorila u dan!|url=http://www.kurir.rs/planeta/video-ovo-je-trenutak-kada-je-avion-pao-u-more-od-ekspolozije-noc-se-pretvorila-u-dan-clanak-2606315/|access-date=25 December 2016|publisher=Kurir, Serbia|language=hr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226220035/http://www.kurir.rs/planeta/video-ovo-je-trenutak-kada-je-avion-pao-u-more-od-ekspolozije-noc-se-pretvorila-u-dan-clanak-2606315|archive-date=26 December 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} Witnesses told reporters the plane appeared to experience trouble in gaining altitude, turned 180 degrees, started descending and crashed into the sea.{{cite web |last1=Pavlov |first1=Alexander |last2=Tikhonov |first2=Dmitry |last3=Shevchenko |first3=Ksenia |date=25 December 2016 |title=Катастрофа Ту-154 Минобороны России в Черном море |trans-title=Catastrophe Defense Ministry Russian Tu-154 in the Black Sea |url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3181481 |access-date=27 December 2016 |publisher=ommersant.ru |language=ru |via=Kommersant}}{{cite web |last=Pazderka |first=Josef |date=27 December 2016 |title=Chyba zkušených pilotů? Rusové našli první černou skříňku, při zkoumání pádu letadla ale stále tápou |trans-title=Error experienced pilots? The Russians found the first black box, when examining the plane crash but still grope |url=https://zpravy.aktualne.cz/zahranici/chyba-zkusenych-pilotu-rusove-zatim-porad-tapou-pri-vysetrov/r~b46cfac6cbc811e6aa860025900fea04/?_ga=1.237193024.1583613805.1466620372 |access-date=27 December 2016 |publisher=zpravy.aktualne.cz |language=cs}}

On 27 December the Interfax news agency reported that Russian investigators believed the crash was due to a fault with the aircraft flaps. The Life.ru news portal was reported to have obtained a recording of the last words of one of the pilots: "The flaps, damn it. Commander, we are going down." There was no official confirmation.{{cite web |last=Osborn |first=Andrew |date=27 December 2016 |editor-last=Williams |editor-first=Alison |title=Wing flap fault main theory behind Black Sea Russian jet crash |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-airplane-black-box-idUSKBN14G0CY |access-date=28 December 2016 |work=Reuters}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/flaps-damn-it-russian-pilots-last-words-before-tu-154-plunged-into-black-sea-1598312|title='The flaps, damn it,' Russian pilot's last words before Tu-154 plunged into Black Sea|first=Vasudevan|last=Sridharan|date=28 December 2016|work=International Business Times |access-date=28 December 2016}}

On 29 December it was announced by the Flight Safety Service of the Russian Ministry that a preliminary analysis of data from the cockpit voice recorder showed that no explosion had occurred on board.{{cite web|url=http://tass.com/world/923191|title=Defense Ministry: Terror attack possibility in Tu-154 crash not discarded|agency=TASS|access-date=29 December 2016}}

On 16 January the Interstate Aviation Committee, the civil authority in aviation accident investigation, announced that its representative would participate in the investigation.{{cite web|url=http://mak-iac.org/en/rassledovaniya/tu-154b-2-ra-85572-25-12-2016|title=TU-154B-2 RA-85572 25.12.2016 investigation|access-date=16 January 2017}}

On 19 January Interfax reported that, during the underwater search, remains had also been found of a Soviet Douglas A-20 Havoc/DB-7 Boston bomber, supplied from the U.S. through the Lend-Lease agreement, which crashed on 15 November 1942.{{cite web |title=Американский бомбардировщик времен войны найден под Сочи в ходе поисков Ту-154 |url=http://www.interfax.ru/russia/546071 |access-date=19 January 2017 |website=Interfax}}

On 31 May 2017, Russia's Kommersant said all the evidence pointed to the pilot, Maj Roman Volkov having suffered from somatogravic illusion. Analysis of the flight data suggested that the pilot had "lost his bearings and ignored his instruments, believing that the jet was climbing too sharply." Fatigue was thought to be a factor. Experts said that he was already feeling unwell on the ground and had trouble getting the plane on to the correct runway; he could not understand which of the two runways he was to take off from and which way to taxi. An escort vehicle was deployed to get him to the correct runway.{{cite web|url=https://kommersant.ru/doc/3313458|title=Управляемая катастрофа|language=ru|date=31 May 2017|trans-title=Managed catastrophe |quote=The Commission fully confirmed as set out in the "b" version of another January 9 that managing their pilot lost orientation in space, hitting the power of the so-called somatogravic illusions.}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40117209|title=Russia Black Sea air crash: Pilot error blamed|work=BBC News|date=1 June 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://themoscowtimes.com/news/defence-ministry-says-december-plane-crash-caused-by-disorientation-58133|title=Deadly TU-154 Christmas Day Plane Crash Caused by Human Error, Says Russian Defence Ministry |date=June 2017 |publisher=The Moscow Times |access-date=1 September 2017}}

The criminal case was dismissed in December 2019 due to lack of corpus delicti. All materials of the investigation are classified.{{Cite web |date=2021-06-23 |title=Дело о катастрофе Ту-154 реанимируют через Европу |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4869140 |access-date=2023-06-13 |website=Kommersant |language=ru}}

Reactions

Russia observed a national day of mourning on 26 December, at the declaration of President Vladimir Putin.{{cite web |last1=Blau |first1=Max |last2=Fantz |first2=Ashley |date=25 December 2016 |title=Russian plane crash: Choir members on board, no sign of survivors |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/25/asia/russian-military-jet-disappears/ |access-date=25 December 2016 |publisher=CNN}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/europe/100000004841464/russia-observes-day-of-mourning-for-crash-victims.html|title=Russia Observes Day of Mourning for Crash Victims|agency=Reuters, Associated Press|date=26 December 2016|access-date=28 December 2016|work=The New York Times}} Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu ordered that the Moscow Military Music College be given the honorific Valery Khalilov.{{Citation|last=Ruptly|title=Russia: Moscow Military Music College to be renamed after Alexandrov Ensemble director|date=26 December 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jgbAAlSxVY}}

On 28 December, French satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo published several cartoons mocking the tragedy.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2016-12-28 |title=French Satirists at Charlie Hebdo Infuriate Russians With Mockery of Dec. 25 Plane Crash |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2016/12/28/french-satirists-at-charlie-hebdo-infuriate-russians-with-mockery-of-dec-25-plane-crash-a56685 |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=The Moscow Times |language=en}} In response, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said: "If such, I dare say, 'artistry' is the real manifestation of 'Western values', then those who hold and support them are doomed".{{Cite web |last=Kreiter |first=Marcy |date=2016-12-28 |title=Russian Official Calls Charlie Hebdo Cartoon 'Abomination' |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/charlie-hebdo-cover-russia-angered-cartoon-tu-154-plane-crash-2466716 |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=International Business Times |language=en-US}}