[Peetwo]

Sukhoi Superjet on fire emergency landing Moscow - RIP  

Well this is kind of topical on the AP forum ATM -  

Ref: news.com.au - https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-up...340073f97a

 

‘Carry-on bags drove death toll’

• ROBYN IRONSIDE
  AVIATION WRITER
  @ironsider
  
  
• 11:15AM MAY 6, 2019
  
• 43 COMMENTS
  

A slow-moving fire service and passengers retrieving carry-on bags are thought to have pushed the death toll higher following the fiery landing of an Aeroflot flight at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

Forty-one of the 78 people on board the Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet-100 died when Flight SU-1492 to Mumansk returned to Sheremetyevo minutes after takeoff on Sunday at 6.02pm (1.02am yesterday AEST) and landed heavily, bouncing twice. 

As a result, the main landing gear collapsed and the fuel tanks ruptured, leaving the aeroplane to careen off the runway on its nose gear and engines, resulting in a massive fire. With the flames spreading along the fuselage, two emergency slides were deployed from the front exits and passengers began fleeing the aircraft, many with bags in tow.

The scenes horrified aviation experts including Australian cabin safety consultant Susan Rice, who said there was no question in her mind that passengers grabbing bags would’ve cost others their life.

“For people to be standing in the aisle retrieving their bags from the overhead lockers, that could mean seconds between their own life and death,” Ms Rice said.

“That’s a conscious decision to hold up other people and I can’t comprehend it.”

Concerns were also raised about the length of time taken for fire crews to appear on the scene, with experts describing the response at Moscow’s largest airport as “extraordinarily poor”.
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[/url]Breaking Mash@BreakingMash




Видео из салона самолета Москва-Мурманск, сгоревшего при посадке в Шереметьево.

Люди в панике, огонь охватывает почти все за бортом.

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5:39 AM - May 6, 2019

Veteran aviation commentator Neil Hansford said once a mayday was called, as in this instance, firefighters should have been mobilised. “It looks like they hadn’t even left the fire station when the plane touched down,” he said.

It took 45-minutes for the fire to be extinguished, not helped by the large amount of fuel on board for the 2½ hour-flight to Murmansk.

Exactly what caused the initial problems was unclear, although some Russian reports blamed a lightning strike for disabling radio communications and prompting the return to Sheremetyevo.

US aviation safety consultant John Cox said modern airliners were generally built to withstand lightning strikes. “I have had several, all with minimal damage,” Captain Cox said.

“If they did take a strike and had a problem with the aeroplane, it would be very unusual. The ­European Aviation Safety Agency standards are strict and effective.”

A statement from Aeroflot said malfunctions occurred shortly after departure prompting the flight to urgently return to Moscow and make an emergency landing, during which the plane’s engines caught fire on the runway.

The five crew did everything to save the passengers, who were evacuated in 55 seconds, it said.

One crew member was among the victims but the captain and first officer escaped unhurt. “The aircraft commander left the burning car last,” Aeroflot said.

The airline operates about 50 Sukhoi Superjets, which have a reputation for poor reliability, partly due to US sanctions that have forced US-made parts to be replaced with Russian equivalents.

Previous incidents involving the aircraft include a crash in Indonesia during a demonstration flight in 2012 that killed everyone on board, and more recently a runway excursion at Yakutsk Airport, Russia, in which the main landing gear collapsed but there was no fire.

Ms Rice said she hoped the latest incident would be a catalyst for change in the way passengers behaved in an emergency.

“I do think we’re coming to a point where education of passengers needs to become more of a priority for our regulatory authorities as well as the airlines,” she said.

“I’ve been in the industry for well over 40 years and in years gone by people didn’t take cabin baggage with them. Is it a mark of today’s society that it’s just ‘me, me, me’?”

Apart from the potential delays in an emergency, Ms Rice said taking luggage on to the emergency slide could cause injuries or even damage the inflatable slide.

“Now there’s talk of having the ability to lock the overhead lockers but if people are that determined to get their bag, they might hold up others even more, trying to get them open,” she said.

Mr Hansford said perhaps it was time for a marketing campaign asking: “Is your cabin bag more important than your life?”

Moscow’s Inter-regional Transport Prosecution Office announced an investigation into the Aeroflot incident. President Vladimir Putin reportedly offered his condolences to the victims’ families, to whom compensation of 1 million roubles ($22,000) was to be paid.

Meanwhile on the other side of the Arctic cap the Boeing MAX imbroglio just gets worse -  

Via Oz 60 Minutes:

Reference story here: https://www.9news.com.au/national/60-min...c47ddfe293




MTF...P2