Pilot error cause of Tu-154 crash

Pilot error caused a Russian airliner carrying 170 passengers and crew to crash last year killing everyone on board, an official report published on Saturday said.

The Russian-made Tu-154 was flying passengers home from the Black Sea when it crashed into a wooded gully in eastern Ukraine. The disaster prompted Russia to launch a government inquiry into aviation safety.

The report issued by Russia’s Interstate Aviation Committee said the crew had pushed the aircraft beyond its limits as they attempted to fly around a thunder storm.

“The reason for the disaster… was the steering of the aircraft under manual control into an angle of attack that was beyond critical, a stall and the subsequent transition into a flat spin and a collision with the ground,” it said.

“A failure to monitor flight speed and non-compliance with instructions… on preventing the aircraft stalling… made it impossible to stop the situation becoming catastrophic,” said the report.

The aircraft was operated by Russian carrier Pulkovo Airlines. On August 22, the day of the crash, it was cutting across Ukrainian territory en route from Russia’s Black Sea resort of Anapa to the second city of St Petersburg.

Officials initially said the aircraft was brought down by the storm. But the accident report said the weather should not have been a major problem. It also said there were shortcomings in the pilots’ training.

Safety standards in Russian civil aviation plummeted after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

They have since shown substantial improvement, although last year saw three major crashes either in Russia or involving Russian airlines which killed a total of 405 people.