Posted July. 04, 2001 10:38,
The crashed Tupolev-154, which was operated by Vladivostok Avia, was originally planed to stop at the Irkutsk airport. But after two attempts for landing failed, the contact was lost while it was trying the third landing at about 9:10 pm in Moscow time (2:10 am on 4th in Korean time).
Right after the crash, eyewitnesses said, ``the airliner crashed into the site 5 km away from the village with a large explosion. And a massive fire broke out so we knew that it’s a major accident.``
Hastily arrived rescue workers have recovered tens of bodies and two black-boxes, devices that record the flight information, fighting against heavy rain and fog. Russian authorities said, ``the crashed airplane was completely torn apart. And although 300 rescue workers are continuing the search, there is very slim chance of finding survivors among its 144 passengers and crew members.`` The country’s emergency minister Sergei Shoigu, who was supervising the rescue mission, said, ``It is assumed that all three engines had stopped at the time of crash.``
A compensation of 12,000 rubl (about 500,000 won) will be given to the families of the victims according to the insurance policy of the airline company. The airliner was built in 1986 and has been operating for mostly domestic routes. The plane seats a maximum 180, a seating capacity almost same as American Boeing 727. This model was initially developed in 1968. Since the model’s commercial service debut which took place in 1972, more than 1,000 units were produced and have been in widespread use in the former Soviet Union, China, and Cuba.
There have been 4 accidents with the model since 1994, and recently a safety question has arisen for the model that has total 28 crash records. Experts pointed out that since the state-run Aeroflot Airline was split into about 400 small regional airlines, an array of safety concerns has occurred due to the lack of maintenance and safety management.