Tu-154 aircraft have been operating for 48 years. Is it safe?

Aviation expert Roman Gusarov answers

On the morning of December 25, immediately after taking off from Adler Airport, the aircraft of the Russian Ministry of Defense, which performed a flight to Syria, crashed. 92 people died - all who were on board. Tu-154 aircraft began to fly in the 1960s of the last century, and despite numerous disasters with their participation, they continue to be operated, including Russian law enforcement agencies. The editor-in-chief of the Avia.ru industry edition Roman Gusarov explained to Medusa why for half a century flying on the Tu-154.

Roman Gusarov

editor -in -chief of the Avia.ru publication

The Tu-154 aircraft has been produced since 1968 and is the most massive main aircraft of our civil aviation. The take-off of Soviet civil aviation was associated with the Tu-154. For many decades, he showed himself a reliable, working machine, which is why he is still in operation. Now its production has been stopped.

The fact that the Tu-154 has been produced since the 1960s, of course, does not mean that it has old equipment. He was modernized several times. In addition, the crashed plane took place in 2014 overhaul at the factory in Samara. Overhaul - this is when the plane is completely versed, the bare metal and wings remain, then it all is nicknamed the ultrasound to search for microcracks; All devices are checked what is needed - repaired or replaced. Then they collect the plane again; After major repairs, it leaves almost like from the factory.

Removing from production is not at all associated with its unreliability or something else-by its aerodynamic configuration, the aircraft does not meet modern economic requirements: too high fuel consumption, a lot of noise and inconsistency on ecology. Until recently, it was still produced for the Ministry of Defense, because this plane is well -known and clear to everyone, and military aviation is not civilian, it is important not fuel consumption, but reliability, unpretentiousness, operation at any airfields and at low temperatures.

What is good age technique - it has long been spared from all "childhood diseases", all systems are so worked out in production, adjusted that the machine has no problems, it is brought to its perfection. And with new aircraft there are always problems - both with ours and Western ones. Any technique passes such a period.

There is also certification, so if the aircraft is allowed to operate, then it absolutely complies with all the requirements, including safety, even comfort. Last autumn I flew from Minsk to Moscow to the Tu-154-yes, of course, it was outdated by the cabin, and the seats are not a little, and the width is not the same-but from the point of view of the flight everything was wonderful, and the landing was very soft.

They also say that with the Tu-154 there are somehow many incidents. But it was the most used aircraft in Russia, and there were a lot of such aircraft.

I now recall disasters with the participation of the Tu-154 over the past 15 years- the plane [President of Poland Lech] Kachinsky (crashed on April 10, 2010 when landing in Smolensk; 96 dead-the crew and all passengers who made up the highest leadership of the country-approx. Medusa) , the disaster in the Donetsk region, when the pilot tried to jump over the thunderstorm and stumbled into the corner (August 22, 2006, 170 dead - the crew and all passengers - approx. Medusa) - there were pilots' mistakes there; Other incidents are terrorist attacks in 2004 or the Ukrainian missile hit in 2001 were also not related to the plane itself. So if you look at the relative number of incidents associated with technical reasons, this is an absolutely normal aircraft.

Evgeny Berg