Flydubai Flight 981

Coordinates: 47°15′30″N 039°49′6″E / 47.25833°N 39.81833°E / 47.25833; 39.81833
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Flydubai Flight 981
A6-FDN, the aircraft involved in the crash, seen departing from Dubai International Airport in 2011
Accident
Date19 March 2016 (2016-03-19)
SummaryCrashed during aborted landing attempt; under investigation
SiteRostov-on-Don Airport, Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast, Russia
47°15′30″N 039°49′6″E / 47.25833°N 39.81833°E / 47.25833; 39.81833
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 737-8KN
OperatorFlydubai
RegistrationA6-FDN
Flight originDubai International Airport
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
DestinationRostov-on-Don Airport
Rostov-on-Don, Russia
Passengers55
Crew7
Fatalities62 (all)
Survivors0
Flydubai Flight 981 is located in Middle East
Dubai International Airport
Dubai International Airport
Rostov-on-Don Airport
Rostov-on-Don Airport
class=notpageimage|
Origin and destination airports

Flydubai Flight 981 (FZ981/FDB981)[a] was a scheduled international passenger flight from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to Rostov-on-Don, Russia. On 19 March 2016, the Boeing 737-800 made two unsuccessful landing attempts at Rostov-on-Don Airport in inclement weather. After aborting its second approach, the aircraft climbed to 4,000 feet (1,200 m), then descended rapidly and crashed by the runway.[1][2] All 62 people on board the aircraft were killed in the high-speed impact.[3][4]

The crash was Flydubai's only fatal incident in its eight-year history.[5]

Background

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a five-year-old Boeing 737-8KN,[b] registered as A6-FDN,[4] MSN 40241, equipped with two CFM International CFM56 engines.[6] Its first flight was on 21 December 2010, and it was delivered to Flydubai on 24 January 2011.[6] The aircraft had passed a C-grade maintenance check on 21 January 2016.[7]

Flight crew

The captain was 38-year-old Aristos Sokratous, from Cyprus.[8] He had 5,965 hours of total flying time,[9] with 5,000 hours being the minimum required for a captain at Flydubai.[10][11] Sokratous was promoted to captain a year and a half before the crash.[8] At the time of the crash, he was going to quit the airline after accepting a job from Ryanair, which would allow him to be based with his family in Cyprus.[12] His wife was due to give birth to their first child a few weeks after the crash.[8]

The first officer, 37-year-old Alejandro Cruz Alava, was Spanish.[13] He had 5,769 hours of flying time.[9] He started his career with Flydubai two years before the crash, having flown before for two regional airlines in the Spanish Canary Islands, Binter and Naysa.[14]

Both pilots had experiences of landing at Rostov-on-Don airport.[15]

Weather

At the time of the crash, range of wind speed in the vicinity was 14–22 m/s (27–43 kn; 31–49 mph)*.[16] Just before the crash, ATC reported to Flight 981 that wind direction was 230 degrees, wind speed 12 m/s (23 kn; 27 mph)* with gusts to 18 m/s (35 kn; 40 mph)*, and visibility was 3,500 m (11,500 ft), according to the ATC records published on YouTube.[17][18] Earlier in the same ATC recording, another flight reported icing conditions.

According to some news reports, a rare low-altitude jet stream, with a wind speed above 30 m/s (58 kn; 67 mph)*, was observed around the airport as low as 629 meters (2,064 ft)*, while normally it is observed above 5,000 meters (16,000 ft)*.[11] Some aviation safety experts suggested that a wind shear, a sudden change in wind speed or direction, might have contributed to the crash.[19]

Flight

Flight 981 was scheduled to depart from Dubai International Airport at 21:45 local time (UTC+4) on 18 March 2016 and arrive at Rostov-on-Don Airport at 1:20 local time (UTC+3) the next day.[20] It departed from Dubai with a 35-minute delay, at 22:20.[3]

At 01:41 local time, the aircraft made its first landing attempt, but had to abort it, due to poor weather conditions.[21] 15 minutes before this attempt, two other flights landed successfully at Rostov-on-Don: S7 Airlines Flight 1159 (at 01:23), and Ural Airlines Flight 2758 (at 01:28).[11] Flight 981 went into a holding pattern near the airport, awaiting better weather conditions, for the next two hours.[21][22] It maintained 8,000 feet (2,400 m)* for the first 30 minutes of the hold and then climbed to 15,000 feet (4,600 m)* feet.[21] Soon after Flight 981's first aborted landing, Aeroflot Flight 1166, within 22 minutes made three unsuccessful attempts to land at Rostov-on-Don, and eventually diverted to the nearby Krasnodar Airport where it landed successfully at 02:59.[11][23][24][25]

According to ATC communications published online, before the aircraft was established on the localizer, the instrument which indicates the center line of the runway when pilots are landing using instruments rather than visually, pilots reported to ATC that in case they would need to make another go-around, they would climb to flight level 80—approximately 8,000 feet (2,400 m).[c] They then reported that they were established on the localizer and continued their descent.[17][18] Judging by Flightradar24's data, when the aircraft was 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) from the runway threshold, it started climbing again from the altitude of 1,575 feet (480 m). After reaching an altitude of 4,050 ft (1,230 m) by 3:41:37, the altitude of the aircraft decreased rapidly with a vertical speed reaching more than 21,000 ft/min.[26][non-primary source needed][contradictory] In less than a minute, the aircraft crashed close to the runway at 03:42 local time.[27][28] ATC records appeared to show that the crew decided to go around moments before the crash. The pilots reported their intention to abort the landing with "Going around, Skydubai[d] 981". ATC advised Flight 981 to switch to another air traffic controller ("Skydubai 981, contact Rostov Radar on 121.2"). Flight 981 acknowledged this with "121.2, bye-bye", which was their final transmission.[17][18]

At 03:42 local time, the air traffic controller (ATC) of the airport alerted the local emergency services about the crash.[29] The aircraft crashed about 250 m (800 ft) from the start of the runway.[30] A CCTV video, uploaded online after the crash, shows an aircraft making a steep descent into the ground, followed by an explosion.[31]

According to a source in the rescue team, the small radius of the expansion of debris and the small size of the debris parts, points out that the speed of the fall was more than 400 km/h, as even aircraft's magnesium wheel rims, its most solid part, were shattered.[32] This speed assessment matches the Flightradar24 data.[33] According to the same source, the plane struck the ground at a nose-down pitch of about 60 degrees.[32]

Flight 981 carried fuel for 8 and a half hours of flight; until the time of impact, it had been airborne for 6:02.[21]

  • Aerial view of the crash site
    Aerial view of the crash site
  • Debris scattered on the runway
    Debris scattered on the runway
  • Rescue workers sift the wreckage
    Rescue workers sift the wreckage
  • Makeshift memorial at the airport
    Makeshift memorial at the airport

Victims

People on board by nationality[13]
Nationality Passengers Crew
 Russia 44 1
 Ukraine 8 0
 India 2 0
 Uzbekistan 1 0
 Spain 0 2
 Colombia 0 1
 Cyprus 0 1
 Kyrgyzstan 0 1
 Seychelles 0 1
Total 55 7

All 62 people on board, 55 passengers and 7 crew members, died in the crash.[3] Forty-four of the passengers, including four children, were Russian citizens.[34][13] Thirty of them were tourists on a package tour from Natalie Tours, one of the largest Russian tour operators.[11]

Among the passengers were Igor Pakus, chief physician of the Rostov Oblast regional clinic hospital and a member of the Regional Legislative Assembly, and Elvira Belyakova, head of Rostvertol's pension fund.[11]

Investigation

On the day of the crash, a commission was established by the Interstate Aviation Committee to investigate the circumstances of and reasons for the crash.[4] While being led by Russian air accident investigators, the commission included representatives of the aviation authorities of the United Arab Emirates (the state of the plane's registration and the aircraft operator), of the United States (where the aircraft was designed and produced), and of France (where the plane's engines were designed).[4] The US team in the commission consists of air accident investigators from NTSB, experts from Boeing, and representatives from the FAA.[35]

The Russian Investigative Committee also opened a criminal investigation into any possible safety violations leading to the fatal crash,[36] and allocated more than fifty investigators to work on the case.[19] In a statement, it listed "crew error, technical failure, adverse weather conditions and other factors" as possible reasons for the crash.[19] Terrorism was ruled out earlier as the cause of the crash.[7]

Both flight recorders were recovered from the crash site.[37] They were significantly damaged.[4] The recorders were delivered to the Interstate Aviation Committee in Moscow.[4] Russian air crash investigators, together with their colleagues from the UAE and France, started the extraction of the memory modules from the protective casing.[4] They announced that within one day they should be able to complete the preparation works for the data downloading.[4]

Reaction

In light of the disaster, the Governor of Rostov Oblast, Vasily Golubev, announced that the government would pay 1 million rubles (about $15,000 USD) to the families of the dead.[7] The day after the crash has been designated as a day of mourning in the region.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ FZ is the IATA designator and FDB is the ICAO airline designator. These codes are commonly used in flight numbers, eg. Flight FZ981.
  2. ^ The aircraft was a Boeing 737-800 model; Boeing assigns a unique customer code for each company that buys one of its aircraft, which is applied as an infix in the model number at the time the aircraft is built. The code for Flydubai is "KN", hence "737-8KN".
  3. ^ Aircraft altitude is measured by air pressure according to calculated sea level taking into account the actual pressure, which declines as altitude above sea level increases. A flight level is the pressure altitude in hundreds of feet related to standard pressure of 1013,25 Hpa at sea level.
  4. ^ Skydubai is the airline's assigned call sign.

References

  1. ^ "Rostov-On-Don Airport in Russia". Sputnik News. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  2. ^ "A6-FDN – Boeing 737-8KN – FlyDubai – Flightradar24". www.flightradar24.com. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  3. ^ a b c "Statement relating to Flydubai FZ981". Flydubai. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Boeing 737-800 А6-FDN 19.03.2016". Interstate Aviation Committee. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  5. ^ Baldwin, Derek (19 March 2016). "Flydubai crash surprising as airline has excellent safety record, Dubai-based analyst says". Gulf News. Dubai. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Boeing 737 Next Gen MSN 40241". Airfleets.net. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d Chance, Matthew; Cullinane, Susannah; Meilhan, Pierre (19 March 2016). "Flydubai plane crashes in Russia; 62 aboard reported dead". CNN. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  8. ^ a b c "Cyprus Pilot of Crashed FlyDubai Jet Had a New Job Elsewhere". The New York Times. Associated Press. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  9. ^ a b "Flydubai plane crash: airline to give victims' families $20,000 each". Gulf News. Dubai. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Captain". Flydubai. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "Струйное течение, полупустой самолет. Основные версии причин авиакатастрофы в Ростове-на-Дону" [Jet stream, half-empty aircraft. Main versions of the plane crash in Rostov-on-Don]. Meduza (in Russian). 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  12. ^ Long, Natalie (19 March 2016). "Flydubai plane crash pilot, co-pilot leave behind pregnant wives". Gulf News. Dubai. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  13. ^ a b c "Updated list of passengers and crew members of flight 981 – Dubai – Rostov-on-Don". Ministry of Emergency Situations. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  14. ^ Long, Natalie (19 March 2016). "Flydubai plane crash: Two Spaniards were from Canary Islands". Gulf News. Dubai. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  15. ^ Cornwell, Alexander (20 March 2016). "Flydubai chief executive: 'Airport was good enough to land'". Gulf News. Dubai. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  16. ^ Heintz, Jim (19 March 2016). "All 61 aboard Dubai airliner killed in crash in south Russia". Associated Press. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  17. ^ a b c "В Сети выложены переговоры экипажа рейса FZ981 с наземными службами" [Communications between FZ-981 crew and ATC have appeared on the net]. LifeNews. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  18. ^ a b c "Крушение самолета в Ростове-на-Дону" [Aircraft crash in Rostov-on-Don]. Aviation Safety. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  19. ^ a b c Nechepurenko, Ivan (19 March 2016). "Wind Given as Possible Cause of Fatal Plane Crash in Russia". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  20. ^ "Flydubai flight FZ 981: Dubai – Rostov". FlightMapper. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  21. ^ a b c d Hradecky, Simon (19 March 2015). "Crash: Flydubai B738 at Rostov on Don on Mar 19th 2016, struck wing onto runway after holding for 2 hours". Aviation Herald. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  22. ^ "Playback of FlyDubai flight FZ981". Flightradar24. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  23. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-8KN A6-FDN Rostov Airport (ROV)". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  24. ^ "Flightradar24". Twitter.com/Flightradar24. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  25. ^ "Aeroflot flight SU1166". Flightradar24. Retrieved 19 March 2016. The 3 landing attempts all happened between 22:53 and 23:15 UTC
  26. ^ "Flightradar24 on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  27. ^ "Уточненная информация на 12:00 об аварии с самолетом в г. Ростове-на-Дону" [Updated (for 12:00) information about the accident with the aircraft in Rostov-on-Don] (in Russian). Rostov-on-Don branch of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  28. ^ "FlyDubai flight FZ981 – Flightradar24". Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  29. ^ "Уточненная информация об аварии с самолетом в г.Ростове-н/Д" [Updated information about the accident with the aircraft in Rostov-on-Don] (in Russian). Rostov-on-Don branch of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  30. ^ "Russia plane crash: Dozens killed in Rostov-on-Don". BBC World Service. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  31. ^ "Plane Crashes in Russia". The New York Times. Reuters. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  32. ^ a b "Источник: Boeing потерпел крушение, пытаясь уйти на третий круг" [Source: Boeing crashed, trying to go around for a third attempt] (in Russian). TASS. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  33. ^ "Крушение «Боинга» Flydubai. Что до сих пор неизвестно" [Crash of Flydubai's Boeing. What is still unknown]. Meduza (in Russian). 20 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  34. ^ "Statement relating to Flydubai flight FZ981". Flydubai. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  35. ^ "US Transport Agency Sending Team to Russia to Assist in Boeing Crash Probe". Sputnik. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  36. ^ Roth, Andrew (19 March 2016). "Dubai passenger jet crashes in Russia, killing 62". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  37. ^ "Statement relating to flydubai flight FZ981". Flydubai. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flydubai Flight 981.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flydubai_Flight_981&oldid=711108887"