Belavia Flight 1834

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Belavia Flight 1834
Summary
Date February 14, 2008
Type Ground impact
Site Zvartnots International Airport, Yerevan, Armenia
Passengers 18
Crew 3
Injuries 10
Fatalities 0
Survivors 21 (all)
Aircraft type Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-100ER
Operator Belavia
Tail number EW-101PJ

Belavia Flight 1834 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Yerevan, Armenia, to Minsk, Belarus, operated by Belavia. On the morning of February 14, 2008, the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet carrying 18 passengers and 3 crew crashed and burst into flames shortly after take off from Zvartnots International Airport near the capital city of Yerevan, in the country of Armenia.

The jet hit its left wing on the runway during takeoff, crashed to the ground, flipped over, and came to rest inverted near the runway. All passengers and crew managed to escape the aircraft before it erupted into flames, partly due to the timely response of the fire and rescue crews.

There were no fatalities, but between 4 and 10 people were taken to hospital for treatment.

Contents

[edit] Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved, EW-101PJ (MSN 7316), was a 50-seat Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-100ER.[1] It was a fairly new member of the fleet since it was leased by the airline and delivered in February 2007.[citation needed]

The crew consisted of Captain Viktor Shishlov?, born in 1958?, who was hired by Belavia in ?, First Officer Alexander Mukhin?, born in 1964?, who was hired in ?, and flight attendant Olga?, ?, hired in ?.[2]

[edit] Passengers

Nationality Total
Flag of Armenia Armenia 10
Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia 5
Flag of Russia Russia 1
Flag of Ukraine Ukraine 1
Flag of Belarus Belarus 1
Total 18

It was initially reported that 16 of those on board were Armenian nationals[3], but CAGD later reported that there were 10 Armenians, 5 Georgians, a Russian, a Ukrainian, and a Belorussian among the passengers.[4] A list with the names of 16 of the passengers was subsequently published.[5]

[edit] Crash

Gayane Davtyan, a spokeswoman for the General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia said that the jet, operated by the Belorussian airline Belavia, hit its left wing on the runway during takeoff and erupted into flames.[6]

Eyewitness reports stated that the aircraft banked sharply to the left right after rotation when it was only 3 to 5 meters airborne, clipped its left wing on the runway, crashed to the ground and rolled many times until coming to a stop inverted near the runway.[citation needed]

It seems that one of the passengers was able to open the door and everyone got out quickly[citation needed] partly due to the timely intervention of the fire and rescue crews, which were reportedly on site within 50 seconds.[4] The passengers also helped the crew members out of the cockpit.[4]

[edit] Aftermath

Artyom Movsesyan, the general director of the General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia stated that 10 people were hospitalized with various injuries including burns & concussions. Gevorg Abramian, a spokesman for the airport said that none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.[7] A local official also confirmed that there were no fatalities, and stated that 4 people were taken to hospital with serious burns.[1][6] Gayane Davtyan also stated that nearly everyone on board received burns of various degrees.[3][1][6] A list of 6 injured passengers and their respective injuries was subsequently published by A1+.[8]

Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport was temporarily closed after the crash, which took place at 4:15 am local time.[6] As of 10:30 local time, the airport was still closed while arrivals were being diverted to Gyumri's Shirak Airport. The first plane expected to land at Zvartnots was from Tehran at 11:30 local time.[1]

[edit] Investigation

[edit] Probable cause

Initial speculation pointed to icing on the wings which caused the left wing to stall upon lift-off. Icing conditions were reported at the airport during the crash, and the CRJs are very prone to wing contamination and icing since they do not have any leading edge devices.[citation needed]

Russian investigators from the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) stated that the aircraft began to roll left immediately after liftoff, inverting before crashing. [9] Investigation teams from the General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia, from Belarus, and from Bombardier are participating in the investigation to determine the probable cause of the accident. [9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d CRJ-100 plane of Belavia burns at Zvartnots airport (2008-02-14). Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
  2. ^ Belavia, Erevan. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
  3. ^ a b Plane crashes in Armenian capital (2008-02-14). Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
  4. ^ a b c Black Boxes Being Transcribed (2008-02-14). Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
  5. ^ List of crashed plane passengers published (2008-02-14). Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
  6. ^ a b c d Plane crashes in Armenia's capital (2008-02-14). Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
  7. ^ Plane crashes in Armenia's capital (2008-02-14). Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
  8. ^ Passenger are in Stress (2008-02-14). Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
  9. ^ a b David Kaminski–Morrow (2008-02-15). Crashed Belavia CRJ rolled left after becoming airborne. Retrieved on 2008-02-15.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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