Azerbaijan Airlines Flight A-56 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from
Nakhchivan to
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...
operated by
Azerbaijan Airlines
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
which crashed on 5 December 1995, killing 52 people. The aircraft servicing the flight, a
Tupolev Tu-134B-3, experienced engine failure while
climbing
Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done ...
. The pilots performed a
forced landing
A forced landing is a landing by an aircraft made under factors outside the pilot's control, such as the failure of engines, systems, components, or weather which makes continued flight impossible. For a full description of these, see article on ' ...
that required a sharp right turn to avoid an apartment block. The aircraft crashed in the south-western outskirts of Nakhchivan, from the airport runway.
The crash became Azerbaijan Airlines' deadliest accident.
The airline no longer operates the Tu-134.
Aircraft
The Tu-134B-3 involved in the accident, (c/n 63383), was manufactured on 28 August 1980 and was powered by two
Soloviev D-30
The Soloviev D-30 (now the Aviadvigatel PS-30) is a Soviet two-shaft low-bypass turbofan engine, officially referred to as a "bypass turbojet". It is probably the single most important turbofan engine developed in the Soviet Union. Development o ...
turbofan engines. The aircraft had flown 27,500 hours of its 35,000 flight hour life before the crash, was last serviced on 25 July 1995, and an unspecified repair was carried out on 30 March 1993. The engines had operated roughly 16,000 hours out of their assigned 18,000 hour life and were last serviced on 27 November 1995. The
no. 1 (left) engine had undergone eight unspecified repairs and the no. 2 (right) five unspecified repairs before the crash.
Crash
The aircraft took off from Nakhchivan at 17:52 local time. At an altitude of and an
airspeed
In aviation, airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air. Among the common conventions for qualifying airspeed are:
* Indicated airspeed ("IAS"), what is read on an airspeed gauge connected to a Pitot-static system;
* Calibrated ...
of , the
no. 1 engine failed. The
co-pilot
In aviation, the first officer (FO), also called co-pilot, is the pilot who is second-in-command of the aircraft to the captain, who is the legal commander. In the event of incapacitation of the captain, the first officer will assume command of ...
Sergey Kuliyev, who was at the controls, responded by countering the left
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
, but five seconds later the
flight engineer
A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is the member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referred to as the "air m ...
Alexander Sokolov reported, in error, that the no. 2 engine had failed. The
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Eduard Hasanov took over control of the aircraft. However, because the co-pilot had countered the left bank, the captain did not have the sensory information which could have alerted him that it was the no. 1 engine that had failed. The aircraft continued to climb. The captain then ordered the no. 2 engine to be shut down. The flight engineer retarded the right
throttle
A throttle is the mechanism by which fluid flow is managed by constriction or obstruction.
An engine's power can be increased or decreased by the restriction of inlet gases (by the use of a throttle), but usually decreased. The term ''throttle' ...
and noticed that the power on the working engine was decreasing, he then pushed the no. 2 throttle back to full power, but the no. 2 engine had already stopped. Eight seconds later, the flight engineer reported that both engines had failed. The aircraft climbed to an altitude of , while the speed had decreased to . The captain decided to make an emergency landing, but encountered an apartment block and made a sharp right turn to avoid it. The aircraft crashed into a field with a 37-degree right bank and a
sink rate
In aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronauti ...
of . Thirty people out of eighty-two on-board survived the accident (twenty-six passengers and four crew members).
Investigation
A joint investigation by the Russian
Interstate Aviation Committee
The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC; russian: Межгосударственный авиационный комитет, МАК) is an executive body of the Civil Aviation and Airspace Use Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States ( ...
, aircraft manufacturer, engine manufacturer and
Azerbaijani Ministry of National Security was launched. Azerbaijan Airlines believed defective
spare parts caused the crash. The joint investigation commission found that vibration caused the
nuts on the engine mounts to loosen and fall off. This caused the engine
turbine
A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating ...
s to shift and become damaged, leading to the crash. Azerbaijan Airlines deputy head Nazim Javadov, however, said the use of the defective parts for repairs was permitted by the engine manufacturer, Russian company
Perm Motors
Perm or PERM may refer to:
Places
*Perm, Russia, a city in Russia
** Permsky District, the district
**Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005
**Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005
**Perm Governorate, an administra ...
.
See also
*
Kegworth air disaster
The Kegworth air disaster occurred when British Midland Airways Flight 092, a Boeing 737-400, crashed onto the motorway embankment between the M1 motorway and A453 road near Kegworth, Leicestershire, England, while attempting to make an emer ...
– another accident involving the accidental shutdown of an operable engine following an engine failure event
*
TransAsia Airways Flight 235
TransAsia Airways Flight 235 was a TransAsia Airways domestic flight from Taipei to Kinmen (Quemoy). On , the aircraft serving the flight, a 10-month-old ATR 72-600, crashed into the Keelung River shortly after takeoff from Taipei Songshan Air ...
*
SA Airlink Flight 8911
SA Airlink Flight 8911 was a positioning flight from Durban International Airport to Pietermaritzburg Airport, South Africa, that crashed into the grounds of Merebank Secondary School, Durban shortly after take-off on 24 September 2009, injurin ...
References
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1995
1995 in Azerbaijan
December 1995 events in Asia
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1995
Accidents and incidents involving the Tupolev Tu-134
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by engine failure
Aviation accidents and incidents in Azerbaijan
Airliner accidents and incidents caused by wrong engine shutdown
History of Nakhchivan