Russian plane disappears in demonstration flight in Indonesia

[Locutus]

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- Russia's newest civilian airliner disappeared Wednesday from radar screens during a half-hour demonstration flight in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, state-run RIA Novosti news service reported.

There were 44 passengers on board.

The plane went missing at about 2 p.m. in the area of Bogor, West Java, Indonesian Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan told Metro TV.

The pilots requested permission to descend from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet, air traffic controllers said. After that, all radio contact was lost.


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Russian plane disappears in demonstration flight in Indonesia - CNN.com

 

[#juan]

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- Russia's newest civilian airliner disappeared Wednesday from radar screens during a half-hour demonstration flight in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, state-run RIA Novosti news service reported.

There were 44 passengers on board.

The plane went missing at about 2 p.m. in the area of Bogor, West Java, Indonesian Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan told Metro TV.

The pilots requested permission to descend from 10,000 feet to 6,000 feet, air traffic controllers said. After that, all radio contact was lost.


more


Russian plane disappears in demonstration flight in Indonesia - CNN.com

The aircraft either exploded or decended into terrain. There should be more news after daylight.

 

[TenPenny]

Demonstrating the new stealth capabilities of commuter aircraft.

 

[The Old Medic]

Russian aircraft do NOT meet the standards of International Air Transport. That's why NO western airline will purchase them.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

Great sales job. Makes you want to run out an buy one!

 

[lone wolf]

Remember Boeing 747's teething troubles? ...or Douglas DC-10 ...or Lockheed Electra's nasty tendency to shed wings?

 

[#juan]

They found that Russian jetliner. It is a bit ironic that the pilot just requested a drop to 6000 feet, which was over a thousand feet lower than the mountain he hit I would have thought that jet would have had a radar altimeter.

 

[EagleSmack]

They found that Russian jetliner. It is a bit ironic that the pilot just requested a drop to 6000 feet, which was over a thousand feet lower than the mountain he hit I would have thought that jet would have had a radar altimeter.

I guess they solved the mystery.

Does ground control have any means to tell him that a drop to 6000 feet will put him into the bushes?

 

[#juan]

I would have thought the aircraft would have had a transponder which could have given all kinds of information. At this point I don't know what they had. Ground radar at the airport among all those mountains probably wouldn't have been much good. A good look at an area map might have told them there was a 7000
foot mountain in the area where they wanted to decend to 6000 feet.

 

[lone wolf]

One would think a pilot should be able to see a mountain - barring weather

 

[EagleSmack]

One would think a pilot should be able to see a mountain - barring weather

Or at least know he's in a mountainous area.

 

[#juan]

One would think a pilot should be able to see a mountain - barring weather

When they lost radion contact with the airplane, some search flights were called off because of fog. I don't have any more information.

 

[EagleSmack]

When they lost radion contact with the airplane, some search flights were called off because of fog. I don't have any more information.

Another mystery solved.

Lack of, not paying attention to, faulty altimeter.... and poor situational awareness.

 

[#juan]

Or at least know he's in a mountainous area.

You'd think, wouldn't ya,:roll:

 

[lone wolf]

A descent from 10 thou to 6 rules out decompression. Cloud would have been lots softer....

 

[#juan]

A descent from 10 thou to 6 rules out decompression. Cloud would have been lots softer....

Particularely since the aircraft hit several hundred feet up the side of a cliff.

 

[earth_as_one]

The radar altimeter would tell the pilot altitude. It wouldn't give information about the cliff face in front of the plane.

A radar transponder on the airplane replies to the radar request with detailed aircraft information like plane type, speed, altitude and even location and manifest information. More information than the radar would get from bouncing a radio wave the plane's aluminum. Like radar, it requires line of site. If the plane dropped below a mountain or an obstacle blocking line of site, transponder communication with the radar station would be lost.

My background is avionics.. Years ago I worked on radar, but my specialty was ground based navigational aids like Instrument Landing Systems, VORs, DMEs... as well as telecommunication equipment. Most of the technology is still available for use, but most modern aircraft use GPS. I got out of that technology when it started being replaced by GPS.

The pilot flew into a cliff while joy riding to impress his passengers. Pilot error and visibility appear to be the likely cause. There was probably nothing wrong with the plane, but we won't know for certain until the audio and data recording device (aka "black box") is recovered.

 

[lone wolf]

Terrain Collision Avoidance System would have been a useful item. Is it required equipment on new Russian aircraft?

 

[earth_as_one]

AKA TCAS... I don't have any experience with that, but yes that should have helped the pilot avoid flying into a cliff. Very likely he turned it off while hotdogging, so it wouldn't keep annoying him regarding those pesky cliffs...

 

[#juan]

Terrain Collision Avoidance System would have been a useful item. Is it required equipment on new Russian aircraft?

It might be now. GPS would also have helped, assuming he could read a map. I know 50 people died here but that accident sure
looks to have been avoidable.