[Hunted]

A routine flight from Moscow's Domodedovo Airport to Orsk ended in a devastating tragedy as Saratov Airlines Flight 6W-703, an Antonov AN-148-100, registered as RA-61704, plummeted from the sky, resulting in the loss of all 71 souls on board.

With 65 passengers and 6 crew members on board, the flight commenced its journey from Moscow's runway 14R. Tragically, the aircraft's ascent was abruptly cut short when it reached a maximum altitude of 6000 feet, before descending rapidly and vanishing from radar screens at approximately 14:28 local time (11:28 UTC).

The grim discovery came swiftly, as the aircraft wreckage was located in an open field approximately 18 nautical miles southeast of the aerodrome, near the village of Stepanovskoye in Dergayevo, Ramensky District. The tragic scene offered no survivors, with approximately 50 bodies recovered from the wreckage. Thankfully, there were no reports of a post-crash fire.

Initial reports from Russian news agencies, Lenta and Interfax, indicated the possibility of a second aircraft, a helicopter, being involved in the incident. However, Interfax later retracted this claim, while Lenta continued to report the presence of a second aircraft.

Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations swiftly confirmed the crash and dispatched rescue forces, including helicopters, to the scene. While initial reports hinted at a midair collision with a post office helicopter, Russia's Post Office clarified that they do not operate helicopters in the Moscow region.

The seriousness of the incident prompted Russia's Interregional Transport Prosecution Office to launch a criminal investigation, focusing on compliance with aviation legislation, technical maintenance, and aircraft dispatch procedures.

The Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) reported the flight's sequence of events. Flight 6W-703, departing from Moscow Domodedovo at 14:21 local time, lost communication at 14:28 local time, coinciding with the disappearance of the radar target. The aircraft was ultimately found in the village of Argunovo in the Ramensky district.

[Hunted]

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[Bletch]

Horrific. Not much left of the airplane. In-flight breakup caused by metal fatigue perhaps.

[Hunted]

On Feb 13th 2018 the MAK reported that the flight data recorder needed to be torn down, the memory modules were removed from the FDR and inserted in a new electronics. Thereafter it was possible to read out all data which consist of 16 flights including the accident flight. The work to decode the data has started. The media of the voice recorder are currently being prepared for download.

In the afternoon of Feb 13th 2018 the MAK reported, that decoding of the FDR data has been completed. Preliminary analysis shows, that the pitot heatings for all three pitot probes were off while the pitot heatings had been turned on prior to departure on the previous 15 flights. About 2:30 minutes after becoming airborne a special situation developed at about 1300 meters of height and a speed of 465-470 kph (250 KIAS) when a disagreement between the speed readings #1 and #3 developed with the speed reading #2 not registering, #1 was showing about 30kph (15 knots) more than #3, an according message was issued. No significant altitude deviations between the pitot systems were noticed. At about 2000 meters height speed reading #1 began to reduce while #3 increased, another speed disagree message was issued. The crew disconnected the autopilot and continued in manual control. Speed readings from #3 reached 540-560 kph (290-300 KIAS), #1 speed readings continued to decrease. 50 seconds after the autopilot was disconnected the aircraft experienced vertical loads between 0.5 and 1.5G, the #1 speed reading reached 0, the #3 began to decrease reaching 200 kph (108 KIAS), the aircraft pitched down to about 30-35 degrees below horizont, the vertical load was 0G. Before collision with the ground #3 speed readings began to rapidly increase reaching 800 kph (432 KIAS) just before impact, #1 speed readings remained at 0. The pitch angle remained at 30 degrees below horizont until impact, 5 seconds prior to impact a right bank of 25 degrees developed. The MAK wrote: "A preliminary analysis of the recorded information, as well as an analysis of similar cases that occurred in the past, suggest that the development of a special situation in the flight could be caused by incorrect data on the flight speed on the pilots indicators, which in turn was apparently due to icing of the pitot probes when the heating systems are off."

[Bletch]

^^great info! Thanks!

[kellyhound]

The pitot tube measures the flow of air into the opening at the end of the tube and provides the pilot with airspeed. Pitot heat is turned on by the pilot anytime ice is suspected in order to melt any which might freeze over the tube and create an erroneous reading or no reading at all on the airspeed indicator.

On a 744, pitot heat is automatically turned on once aircraft power is established.

Should be mandatory on all planes.

[booboo2718]

Man, it looks cold there. And having to trudge around in knee deep snow looking for bodies. Well, they'll be well preserved for awhile.

[booboo2718]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

The pitot tube measures the flow of air into the opening at the end of the tube and provides the pilot with airspeed. Pitot heat is turned on by the pilot anytime ice is suspected in order to melt any which might freeze over the tube and create an erroneous reading or no reading at all on the airspeed indicator.

On a 744, pitot heat is automatically turned on once aircraft power is established.

Should be mandatory on all planes.

Thanks for the explanation. I had no idea what a pitot tube was.

[Sharon]

Tragic accident. Sad recovery footage, such despair

[Ninjavandal]

Not much left to it.