Accident Tupolev Tu-204-100 RA-64011,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 321332

Date:	Monday 22 March 2010
Time:	02:35
Type:	Tupolev Tu-204-100
Owner/operator:	Aviastar-TU
Registration:	RA-64011
MSN:	14507413640
Year of manufacture:	1993
Total airframe hrs:	18335 hours
Cycles:	4795 flights
Engine model:	Soloviev PS-90A
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 8
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	2 km N of Moskva-Domodedovo Airport (DME) - Russia
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:	Hurghada Airport (HRG/HEGN)
Destination airport:	Moskva-Domodedovo Airport (DME/UUDD)
Investigating agency:	MAK
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A Tupolev 204-100 passenger jet, registered RA-64011, was destroyed when it crash-landed in a forest while on approach to Moskva-Domodedovo Airport (DME), Russia. The airplane operated Aviastar-TU flight TUP1906 on a ferry service from Hurghada Airport (HRG), Egypt. All eight crew members survived the accident.
The flight operated on a passenger service from Moskva-Domodedovo Airport to Hurghada the day before, carrying 210 passengers. Shortly after takeoff at 01:20, the crew noticed a burning smell in the cabin and returned to Domodedovo. An uneventful landing was carried out at 03:08. The problem turned out to be an electric heater that had malfunctioned. The flight continued to Egypt at 13:34 after repairs had been accomplished.
The return flight to Moscow was a ferry flight without passengers or cargo. Three flight crew members, an engineer and four flight attendants were on board when the airplane departed Hurghada at 19:00.
On approach to Moscow the flight was cleared for a runway 14L ILS-approach. Weather was reported to the crew as: visibility at the beginning of runway 1300, mid-600, at the end of 550 m, vertical visibility 60 m, wind 170 degrees, at 2 m/sec. The airplane descended until it struck trees, cutting a swath trough the forest. It came to rest 1450 m short of the runway threshold and 150 m further to the right of the runway.

Conclusion:
Investigators concluded that the flight crew conducted an approach to the airport in below-minima weather conditions for an airplane with a defective flight control computer system. They failed to execute a go-around when failing to obtain visual contact with the ground.
Contributing factors were:
- Insufficient training of the crew to perform approaches at or near weather minima;
- Lack of control over the activities of the crew, which led to poor resource management (CRM) of the captain;
- Failure of the flight control computer system, which led to an increase in the allowed weather minima of the aircraft;
- Failure of captain to divert to another airport;
- Failure of captain to decide about a missed approach when there was visual contact with the approach lights;
- Failure of the co-pilot to call for a missed approach;
- Unsatisfactory interaction in the crew, resulting in a descent below safe altitude.
Failure of the flight control computer system in flight (most likely due to unstable radio altimeters at altitudes exceeding their operating range) and the impossibility of "removal" of failure on this plane because of the lack of buttons to simulate the compression of the undercarriage, and inadequate crew training, and possibly fatigue, led to a significant increase of mental and emotional stress in which it it is not possible to make the best decision for the successful completion of the flight.

Accident investigation: