Aeroflot Flight 8556 - Misplaced Pages

1991 aviation accident

Aeroflot Flight 8556
Accident
CCCP-85097, The aircraft involved in the accident, seen in Helsinki Airport in 1985
Date	23 May 1991 (1991-05-23)
Summary	Struck the ground short of the runway, pilot error
Site	Leningrad-Pulkovo Airport, Leningrad, Russian SSR, Soviet Union
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Tupolev Tu-154B-1
Operator	Aeroflot
Registration	CCCP-85097
Flight origin	Sukhumi-Babusheri Airport, Georgian SSR
Destination	Leningrad-Pulkovo Airport, Russian SSR
Occupants	181
Passengers	174
Crew	7
Fatalities	13
Injuries	37
Survivors	168

Aeroflot Flight 8556 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Sukhumi to Leningrad. It crashed 13 meters short of the runway on approach killing 13 passengers.

Accident

At 12:45 Moscow time the aircraft began its descent from 10,100 metres (33,100 ft). During the descent the weather deteriorated and heavy rain and a cumulonimbus cloud were present, which was not transmitted to the crew. At 13:05 the plane was at around 200 metres (660 ft) when the descent rate was increased to 7.5 m/s and the aircraft slipped below the glideslope. At this time the controllers were replaced in a violation of procedure. The crew noticed they were below the glideslope so they increased engine-power and initiated a climb. The approach continued however and the rate of descent again reached 7 m/s. At an altitude of 20 metres (66 ft) the crew realized the danger and tried to stop the descent, but the aircraft struck the ground 13 meters short of the runway. The landing gear collapsed and the fuselage broke into three pieces.

Causes

The approach was destabilized due to a number of factors. The actions of the crew were inconsistent and uncoordinated. There was no assistance from the approach controller in the final stages of the flight. The accident could have been avoided had the pilots initiated a go-around once they realized the approach was unstable.

References

"ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev Tu-154B-1 CCCP-85097 Leningrad-Pulkovo Airport (LED)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
"Карточка самолёта: Туполев · Ту-154Б-1 · СССР-85097 (зав.н. 75A097) ✈ russianplanes.net ✈ наша авиация". russianplanes.net. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
^ "Катастрофа Ту-154Б-1 Ленинградского УГА в а/п Пулково (борт СССР-85097), 23 мая 1991 года. // AirDisaster.ru - авиационные происшествия, инциденты и авиакатастрофы в СССР и России - факты, история, статистика". airdisaster.ru. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
^ "Crash of a Tupolev TU-154B-1 in Leningrad: 13 killed | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives". www.baaa-acro.com. Retrieved 2023-12-29.

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1991 (1991)
Feb 1 Los Angeles Airport runway collisionFeb 17 Ryan International Airlines Flight 590Feb 20 LAN-Chile Flight 1069Mar 3 United Airlines Flight 585Mar 5 Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 109Mar 26 Singapore Airlines Flight 117Apr 4 Merion mid-air collisionApr 5 Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311May 23 Aeroflot Flight 8556May 26 Lauda Air Flight 004Jul 10 L'Express Airlines Flight 508Jul 11 Nigeria Airways Flight 2120Aug 16 Indian Airlines Flight 257Sep 11 Continental Express Flight 2574Oct 5 Jakarta Indonesian Air Force C-130 crashOct 25 Vallejo helicopter crashOct 29 RAAF Boeing 707 crashNov 7 Yugavia Flight S-519Nov 20 Azerbaijani helicopter shootdownDec 27 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 751Dec 29 China Airlines Flight 358
1990 ◄ ► 1992

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1991 (1991)

Feb 1 Los Angeles Airport runway collisionFeb 17 Ryan International Airlines Flight 590Feb 20 LAN-Chile Flight 1069Mar 3 United Airlines Flight 585Mar 5 Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 109Mar 26 Singapore Airlines Flight 117Apr 4 Merion mid-air collisionApr 5 Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311May 23 Aeroflot Flight 8556May 26 Lauda Air Flight 004Jul 10 L'Express Airlines Flight 508Jul 11 Nigeria Airways Flight 2120Aug 16 Indian Airlines Flight 257Sep 11 Continental Express Flight 2574Oct 5 Jakarta Indonesian Air Force C-130 crashOct 25 Vallejo helicopter crashOct 29 RAAF Boeing 707 crashNov 7 Yugavia Flight S-519Nov 20 Azerbaijani helicopter shootdownDec 27 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 751Dec 29 China Airlines Flight 358

1990 ◄ ► 1992

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union in the 1980s and 1990s
1980	Aeroflot Flight Sh-88 (June 1980) Aeroflot Flight 4225 (July 1980)
1981	Pushkin Tu-104 crash (February 1981) Aeroflot Flight 498 (June 1981) Armenia mid-air collision (July 1981) Aeroflot Flight 811 (August 1981) Zheleznogorsk mid-air collision (September 1981) Aeroflot Flight 3603 (November 1981)
1982	Aeroflot Flight 8641 (June 1982) Aeroflot Flight 411 (July 1982) Sukhumi Dranda Airport runway collision (August 1982)
1983	Aeroflot Flight E-46 (April 1983) Aeroflot Flight 5463 (August 1983) Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (September 1983) Aeroflot Flight 601 (December 1983)
1984	Aeroflot Flight 3352 (October 1984) Aeroflot Flight 3519 (December 1984)
1985	Aeroflot Flight 7841 (February 1985) Zolochiv mid-air collision (May 1985) Aeroflot Flight 5143 (July 1985) Aeroflot Flight 101/435 (December 1985)
1986	Aeroflot Flight F-77 (March 1986) Aeroflot Flight 2306 (July 1986) Aeroflot Flight 6502 (October 1986)
1987	Aeroflot Flight N-528 (June 1987) Aeroflot Flight U-505 (July 1987)
1988	Aeroflot Flight 699 (18 January 1988) Aeroflot Flight 29674 (24 January 1988) Aeroflot Flight 3739 (March 1988) Soviet Air Force Il-76 crash (December 1988)
1989	Soviet Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 crash (October 1989) Aeroflot Flight 37577 (November 1989)
1990	Aeroflot Flight 6246 (January 1990) Navoiy Aeroflot An-24 crash (March 1990)
1991	Aeroflot Flight 8556 (May 1991) Yugavia Flight S-519 (7 November 1991) Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 shootdown (20 November 1991)
1970–1979 ◄ 1980–1991 ► 1990–1999 (Russia) Aviation incidents in other Post-Soviet states: Armenia · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Georgia · Kazakhstan · Kyrgyzstan · Tajikistan · Ukraine · Uzbekistan

Aviation accidents and incidents in Russia in the 1990s

Russian SFSR
(Soviet Union)

1990	Aeroflot Flight 6246 (January 1990)
1991	Aeroflot Flight 8556 (May 1991) Yugavia Flight S-519 (November 1991)

Russian
Federation

1992	Aeroflot Flight 2808 (August 1992)
1993	Sakha Avia Flight 301 (August 1993)
1994	Baikal Airlines Flight 130 (January 1994) Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9045 (February 1994) Aeroflot Flight 593 (March 1994) Vanavara air disaster (September 1994)
1995	Khabarovsk United Air Group Flight 3949 (December 1995)
1996	Abakan Il-76 crash (November 1996)
1997	Stavropolskaya Aktsionernaya Avia Flight 1023 (March 1997) Irkutsk An-124 crash (December 1997)

Aviation incidents in other parts of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991 are not included
1980–1991 (USSR) ◄ 1990–1999 ► 2000–2009

Categories:

Accident

Causes

See also

References