| Tu-134 | |
|---|---|
| Tu-134 of Kosmos in 2008 | |
| Role | Airliner |
| Manufacturer | Tupolev |
| First flight | 29 July 1963 |
| Introduction | September 1967 |
| Status | Active service |
| Primary users | Aeroflot Soviet Air Force numerous commercial airlines |
| Produced | 1966–1984 |
| Number built | 852 (850 + 2 prototypes) |
| Developed from | Tupolev Tu-124 |
The Tupolev Tu-134 (NATO reporting name: Crusty) is a twin-engined airliner, similar to the French Sud Aviation Caravelle and the later-designed American Douglas DC-9, and built in the Soviet Union from 1966–1984. The original version featured a glazed-nose design and, like certain other Russian airliners (including its sister model the Tu-154), it can operate from unpaved airfields. One of the most widely used aircraft in former Warsaw Pact countries, the number in active service is decreasing because of noise restrictions. The model has seen long-term service with some 42 countries, with some European airlines having scheduled as many as 12 daily takeoffs and landings per plane. In addition to regular passenger service, it has also been used in various air force, army and navy support roles; for pilot and navigator training; and for aviation research and test projects. In recent years, a number of Tu-134s have been converted for use as VIP transports and business jets. A total of 852 Tu-134s were built of all versions (including test bed examples) with Aeroflot as the largest user; by 1995, the Tu-134 had carried 360 million passengers for that airline.
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Following the introduction of engines mounted on pylons on the rear fuselage by the French Sud Aviation Caravelle, airliner manufacturers around the world rushed to adopt the new layout. Its advantages included clean wing airflow without disruption by nacelles or pylons and decreased cabin noise. At the same time, placing heavy engines that far back created challenges with the location of the center of gravity in relation to the center of lift, which was at the wings. To make room for the engines, the tailplanes had to be relocated to the tail fin, which had to be stronger and therefore heavier, further compounding the tail-heavy arrangement.
During a 1960 visit to France, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was so impressed by the quiet cabin of the Caravelle, that on 1 August 1960 the Tupolev OKB received an official directive to create the Tu-124A with a similar engine arrangement. The requirement was also driven by the need to replace slow, aging piston-engined Il-14s on domestic routes. In 1961, the Soviet state airline, Aeroflot, updated its requirement specifications to include greater payload and passenger capacity.
The first Tu-124A prototype, SSSR-45075, first flew on 29 July 1963. Then, on 22 October 1963, the British BAC One-Eleven, which had a similar layout, crashed with the loss of all crew. The aircraft had stalled shortly after takeoff and entered pitch-up: The high-mounted tailplane became trapped in the turbulent wake produced by the wings (see deep stall), which prevented recovery from the stall. As a result, the tailplane on Tu-124A was enlarged by 30% for greater control authority. Since Aeroflot's requirements dictated a larger aircraft than initially planned, the Soloviev design bureau developed the more powerful D-30 low-bypass turbofan engines. On 20 November 1963, the new airliner was officially designated Tu-134.
Design curiosities of the Tu-134 included a sharp wing sweepback of 35 degrees, compared to 25-28 degrees in its counterparts. The engines on early production Tu-134s lacked thrust reversers, which made the aircraft one of the few airliners to use a brake parachute for landing. The majority of onboard electronics operated on direct current. The lineage of early Soviet airliners could be traced directly to the Tupolev Tu-16 strategic bomber, and the Tu-134 carried over the glass nose for the navigator and the landing gear fitted with low-pressure tires to permit operation from unpaved airfields.
Serial production began in 1966 at the Kharkov Aviation Production Association, and production of the Tu-126 was discontinued. The Tu-134 was designed for short-haul lines with low passenger traffic. Originally the aircraft had 56 seats in a single class configuration, or 50 seats in a two-class configuration.
In 1968, Tupolev began work on an improved Tu-134 variant with a 72 seat capacity. The fuselage received a 2.1-metre (6 ft 11 in) plug for greater passenger capacity and an auxiliary power unit in the tail. As a result, the maximum range was reduced from 3100 kilometers to 2770 kilometers. The upgraded D-30 engines now featured thrust reversers, replacing the cumbersome parachute. The first Tu-134A, converted from a production Tu-134, flew on 22 April 1969. The first airline flight was on 9 November 1970. An upgraded version, the Tu-134B began production in 1980, with the navigator position finally abandoned, and seating capacity increased to 96 seats. Efforts subsequently began to develop a Tu-134D with increased engine thrust, but the project was cancelled.
In September 1967, the Tu-134 made its first scheduled flight from Moscow to Adler. The Tu-134 was the first Soviet airliner to receive international certification from the International Civil Aviation Organization, which permitted it to be used on international routes. Due to this certification, Aeroflot used most of its Tu-134s on international routes. In 1968, the first export customers, Interflug of East Germany and LOT Polish Airlines purchased the Tu-134. In spring, 1969, the Tu-134 was displayed at the Paris Air Show.
From 1972, Aeroflot began placing the Tu-134 in domestic service to Baku, Yerevan, Kiev, Kishinev, Krasnodar, Leningrad, Omsk, Riga, and Sochi from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow.
In its early years, the Tu-134 developed a reputation for reliability and efficiency, especially when compared with previous Soviet designs. However, after the establishment of tougher noise standards in the ICAO regulations in 2002, the Tu-134 was banned from most western European airports for its high noise levels. As late as early 2006, 245 Tu-134s were still in operation, 162 of which were in Russia. However, after a fatal accident in March 2007, and at the instigation of Russian Minister of Transportation Igor Levitin, Aeroflot announced that it would be retiring its fleet, and the last Tu-134 was removed from service on 1 January 2008. However, some are still in operations with Aeroflot subsidiaries on local routes within Russia. The Tu-134 also found a new life as a business jet with many having an expensive business interior. High fuel and maintenance costs are increasing limiting the number used today.
In June 2011, as a response to RusAir Flight 9605 which resulted in 47 fatalities, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev ordered preparations for taking the Tu-134 out of use by 2012.
Many Tu-134s have been preserved as memorials at airports throughout the former Soviet Union.
As of 5 July 2011 a total of 233 Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft (all variants) remain in airline service.[1] Major operators include:
Some 69 Tu-134 have been destroyed in accidents and wars, of which 35 were non-fatal incidents (in one of the remaining 34 fatal incidents no one on the plane died).
| Date | Tail number | Crash Site | Casualties | Brief description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 January 1966 | СССР-45076 | Near Chkalovsky Airport | 8/8 | Crash of second prototype in flight testing. |
| 23 May 1971 | YU-AHZ | near Rijeka, Croatia | 78/83 | Aviogenex Tupolev Tu-134 crashed on approach to Rijeka Airport located on the island of Krk, rough landing in bad weather conditions.[3][4] |
| 16 September 1971 | HA-LBD | Kiev, Ukraine | 49/49 | Malev Airlines Flight 110 crashed near Boryspil International Airport, Kiev in bad weather, following two missed approaches, after a generator failure caused the crew to switch to batteries. |
| 30 June 1974 | СССР-65668 | Amman | 7+2/84 | Failed takeoff, crashed into buildings. |
| 9 January 1976 | DM-SCD | Leipzig | 27/34 | Pilot failed to check rate of descent, crashed on landing. Later sentenced to 5 years in prison for negligence. Other crewmembers sentenced to three years. |
| 16 March 1978 | LZ-TUB | Near Sofia, Bulgaria | 73/73 | Balkan Bulgarian Airlines flight crashed on climb out from Sofia Airport near the village of Gabare, Bulgaria. |
| 22 May 1979 | 65301 | Near Liepāja | 4/5 | Overloaded plane failed landing in poor weather |
| 11 August 1979 | СССР-65816, СССР-65735 | Near Dniprodzerzhynsk, Ukraine | 96/96 + 84/84 | Two Aeroflot Tu-134s collided near Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine. |
| 17 June 1982 | CCCP-65687 | Severomorsk, Russia | 18/19 | A test aircraft operated by the Soviet government crashed during landing. The pilot had ignored warnings that he was descending too fast, collided with radio tower |
| 30 August 1983 | CCCP-65129 | Alma-Ata | 90/90 | Pilot ignored altimeter, crashed on landing |
| 18 November 1983 | CCCP-65807 | Tbilisi | 8/NA | Failed hijacking: plane destroyed when commandos stormed cockpit. |
| 10 January 1984 | LZ-TUR | Sofia, Bulgaria | 50/50 | Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-134 crashed on approach to Sofia Airport. |
| 1 February 1985 | CCCP-65910 | Minsk, Belarus | 58/80 | The crew failed to de-ice the wings before takeoff, causing a crash. |
| 5 March 1985 | CCCP-65856 | near Lviv | 15+ 79/79 | Mid-air collision with military An-24 |
| 2 July 1986 | CCCP-65120 | Syktyvkar, Russia | 54/94 | An uncontrolled fire in the rear cargo hold led to a crash. |
| 19 October 1986 | C9-CAA | Mbuzini, South Africa | 34/44 | Mozambican Presidential Jet crashed on approach during a thunderstorm due to failure of the ground proximity warning system. |
| 20 October 1986 | CCCP-65766 | Kuybyshev, Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia | 70/94 | A very hard landing caused the landing gear to collapse and the aircraft to break into several pieces. Pilot sentenced to six years in prison. |
| 12 December 1986 | CCCP-65795 | Berlin, East Germany | 72/82 | After being cleared to land on runway 25L at Berlin Schönefeld Airport, the Aeroflot flight from Minsk proceeded to approach runway 25R which was closed for construction. While attempting to switch to the correct runway, the aircraft struck trees and crashed.[5] |
| 27 February 1988 | CCCP-65675 | Surgut, Russia | 20/51 | Crew error while transitioning from ILS approach to visual landing resulted in the aircraft crashing to the right of the runway. |
| 9 September 1988 | VN-A102 | Bangkok, Thailand | 76/90 | Aircraft crashed while attempting ILS approach in poor weather when the captain failed to execute a missed approach at the decision altitude. |
| 13 January 1990 | CCCP-65951 | Pervouralsk, Russia | 27/72 | A fire in the cargo hold resulted in an emergency landing. |
| 27 August 1992 | CCCP-65058 | Ivanovo, Russia | 84/84 | Crashed short of the runway while attempting ILS approach. |
| 21 September 1993 | CCCP-65893 | Sukhumi, Georgia | 27/27 | In September 1993, three Transair Georgia aircraft were shot down in Abkhazia. |
| 9 September 1994 | CCCP-65976 | Zhukovsky, Russia | 7/7 | Mid-air collision with Tu-25M bomber during training flight |
| 24 June 1995 | CCCP-65617 | Lagos,Nigeria | 16/80 | Overran runway in rainstorm |
| 5 December 1995 | 4K-65703 | Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan | 44/82 | A maintenance error led to a double engine failure when the aircraft was taking off, causing the crash. |
| 3 September 1997 | VN-A120 | Phnom Penh, Cambodia | 65/66 | Vietnam Airlines Flight 815 descended below its approach path on a non-precision approach. Despite warnings from the other crew members that the craft was too low, the captain continued the approach, resulting in the crash. |
| 24 August 2004 | RA-65080 | Buchalki, Russia | 44/44 | Forty-one minutes after taking off from Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, the aircraft disappeared from radar. Witnesses reported seeing an explosion in the sky, and wreckage was located shortly thereafter. Later investigation revealed that the aircraft had been destroyed by terrorist bomber, along with Tu-154 airliner on the same day. |
| 17 March 2007 | RA-65021 | Samara, Russia | 6/57 | A UTair Tu-134 crashed about 400 metres short of the runway in poor weather due to air traffic control error. The aircraft then bounced and inverted. |
| 20 June 2011 | RA-65691 | Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Russia | 47/52 | After technical problems trying to land in heavy fog, and unable to reach Petrozavodsk Airport, RusAir Flight 9605 tried to land on a road 2 km from the airport at 1955 UTC (2355 MSD). The plane flipped and caught fire as it struck the ground. There is speculation that the pilot may have mistaken the motorway for the runway [6] |
| 28 December 2011 | EX-020 | Osh, Kyrgyzstan | 0/79 | This plane belonged to the Kyrgyzstan Air Company. A hard landing in marginal weather conditions led one wing to shear off. The aircraft went off the runway where it turned over on one of its sides. A fire then started with no casualties.[7][8] |
Source: Aircraft Accident Database[9]
Data from OAO Tupolev[10]
General characteristics
Performance
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