THE SPECIAL SERVICES KNEW EVERYTHING

CIRCUMSTANCES

Thirteen minutes before disappearing from radar, the Tu-154 aircraft, flying on a Moscow-Sochi flight, entered the air traffic control zone of the Rostov region. Seven minutes later, an MTR signal was transmitted from the aircraft (message signal ...

Thirteen minutes before disappearing from radar, the Tu-154 aircraft, flying on a Moscow-Sochi flight, entered the air traffic control zone of the Rostov region. Another seven minutes later, an MTR signal (hazard message signal) was transmitted from the aircraft, which is used in civil aviation to inform ground services about an attack on the crew or about an emergency on board. Vasily KOVALINSKY, Deputy Head of the Rostov Zonal Center, told us about what happened to the plane in those last minutes before the crash.

“I can’t say for 100 percent that it was just a capture,” the plane received not information, but a signal. There is a special conditional code signal - sound. For what reason it was included, by whom it was included - we do not know. It can be submitted by both a crew member from the cockpit and a flight attendant from the cabin. <...> The crew did not convey a single word to the ground.

- And usually in practice they still manage to convey something?

- Any of the versions that are considered preliminary, with the exception of the explosion, suggests that the crew may have time to transmit some information.

- So it is clear that there was an explosion?

- It is simply assumed from the development of the situation.

What time did this sound signal come in?

— At 22.53 Moscow time. And then the mark disappeared from the locator indicator. The radar indicator is like a regular TV, which shows a picture of the sector of responsibility where the dispatcher controls. Air routes are drawn, there is a label from the aircraft in the form of a square and an escort form, where the aircraft number, its flight altitude, flight speed and either the remaining fuel or the vertical descent are written. That is, the information that is necessary for air traffic control is all displayed against each specific point-aircraft. If she disappears, it's a disaster, a disaster. In this case, it was. There was a signal, immediately loss of communication <…>. It can be assumed that the situation happened instantly. <...> The signal was turned on either from some kind of impact, or one of the crew members managed to do it.

- Were there any changes in the flight parameters of the aircraft before the disappearance?

- If something starts to change, we immediately see that the plane is either gaining altitude or descending. In this case, the label simply disappeared. All information was gone instantly. In world practice in civil aviation, this happens precisely if the plane explodes.

- And what happened in that period of time, a few minutes after the sound signal came from the board about the capture, and the plane was still on the radar screen?

- Sometimes the signal is triggered by accident, through negligence. Such cases have happened more than once, but the crew responds to the request, and after communication it turns out that everything is fine on board. In this case, the crew's request - the controller requested it - was not answered. Other aircraft in the zone were connected, they called, but there was no answer. So, there can't be two opinions here.

- And the FSB, the military and civilians immediately became aware of this?

“There are laws and special rules. In civil aviation, there is also a notification procedure. The algorithm is like this. There is a dispatcher, a flight director, to whom they report initially, and, accordingly, this flight director has a list of messages, to whom to report further in the first place.

- And to whom in the first place?

- To the Zonal Center, the Main Center, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the security service.

- That is, in the FSB?

- Yes. They were informed within five minutes. There are temporary criteria, after which certain actions are taken. If the board does not respond within five minutes, then an alarm is raised. And there already every body acts according to the instructions.

COMMENTS

Specialist of the regional dispatch center of Rostov-on-Don:

- Tu-154 aircraft (board number 85556, flight Moscow-Sochi) entered our zone at 22:46 Moscow time. Everything was as usual. The crew reported that they were passing at a given altitude. We replied that we received the information. The flight went well. The liner was moving at a speed of 850-900 km / h at an altitude of 12,100 meters.

At 10:53 p.m., the SSO (danger message signal) sounded, indicating an emergency. This signal is interpreted as an attack on the crew. From the Tu-154 here, to the RDC base, they gave 6 signals for 11 seconds, then there was a pause of 40 seconds, and then the signals were repeated again.

We began, as is customary in such cases, to request the board for the crew to confirm or deny the signal. But the crew did not answer. All nearby stations were notified (tracking this air traffic zone. - Ed.), An aircraft was called at all frequencies. Ahead was another liner towards Krasnodar. They requested them. The Tu-154 did not answer them either.

At 22.55, the plane disappeared from the view locator altogether. If the liner, as a result of an emergency situation, a catastrophe, was descending, falling, then the locator would show it, and then the dot instantly disappeared. It became clear that something had happened.

PS While checking information about possible danger signals sent from another airliner, which almost at the same time crashed near Tula, we turned to the Moscow Regional Dispatch Center. The leadership of the RDC of Moscow did not confirm, but did not refute the data on such signals, adding that it is not customary for them to share information. And finally, they gave advice: “The less you know, you sleep more calmly.”