The passengers were most likely not wearing seat belts
Four crew members of the Falcon 10 business jet that crashed in Afghanistan survived. Honored Military Pilot of the Russian Federation, Major General Vladimir Popov told MK what helped them survive the aviation accident.
Let us recall that on January 21, it became known that a private Falcon 10 plane crashed in the mountains of Afghanistan, carrying out a commercial ambulance flight on the route Gaya (India) – Tashkent – Zhukovsky (Russia). There were six people on board: two pilots, two doctors and a married couple as passengers – all Russian citizens. The woman was seriously ill.
According to Aamaj News, the aircraft crashed into a mountain. Operational services reported that the plane crashed due to a technical malfunction – engine failure. Later, the Federal Air Transport Agency published data that the local ground search and rescue service discovered the Falcon 10 aircraft. Both pilots and both doctors managed to survive. The married couple, unfortunately, died.
According to the honored military pilot of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Popov, the crew was able to survive thanks to several factors.
“The first is that the plane did not fall, but was planning until the last moment under the control of the crew,” explained the major general. “Of course, the survivors were lucky that they found a site on which the plane was able to land. The aircraft stopped without falling into the abyss.
The second is the safety rules on board the aircraft. Those who were wearing seat belts survived. These people, of course, were subjected to high impact loads and received various injuries. But there was no extreme overload, which could have resulted in rupture or separation of internal organs, they remained alive.
Most likely, the sick woman who was lying down and her husband accompanying her were not wearing a seat belt. The man wanted to hold her, but with such abrupt overloads, it is almost impossible to hold another person with your hands. In any case, the commission that will look into the tragedy will find out what the shock loads were, whether the overloads were compatible or incompatible with life.
– It is reported that both pilots were trained to fly the Falcon 10 only in 2023. Consequently, they had minimal experience flying this aircraft model.
– Look, what is the peculiarity – both in civil aviation and in military aviation. Pilots first retrain theoretically, and then just start flying. Practical flights are performed first on simulators, then you will be taken on an airplane with an experienced instructor, then you yourself perform several flights with an instructor, and only after that you are allowed to carry out the flight on your own.
The pilots of the crashed Falcon 10 have a total flight time was big enough. One has over eight hundred hours, the second has over a thousand. These are not some cadets who just graduated from college yesterday and immediately took the helm. This doesn't happen. But, I repeat, in any case, all the circumstances will be clarified by the competent authorities.
– What could have caused both engines to fail?
– I think it might have something to do with the fuel system, the operation of the automation, or the fact that there simply wasn’t enough fuel. The pilots wanted to make an emergency landing at an airfield in Tajikistan to refuel. There may also be several reasons for this. For example, incorrect calculation of fuel consumption. Moreover, if the crew is not very experienced in terms of flying this particular type of aircraft. They could have made a mistake in calculating fuel consumption.
The plane is small, the fuel supply is small, and it is quickly consumed. Meteorological conditions also need to be taken into account. This is especially important when oncoming air currents are strong. At altitudes, fuel consumption increases. This also needs to be taken into account.
There is such a thing as navigation fuel reserve, which should remain after landing, which does not seem to be used up, but it is still taken into account. Most likely, the pilots, especially if it is confirmed that this was their first solo flight on this aircraft model, could have miscalculated something.
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