​​"Andrey, don't panic!" - Crash of Tu-154 near Donetsk

On August 22, 2006, a Tu-154M aircraft of russian Pulkovo Airlines departed from Anapa to Saint Petersburg.

The captain of the aircraft was a very experienced pilot, 49-year-old Ivan Korogodin. He had logged 12,312 flight hours, 5,956 of which were on the Tu-154 (2,349 of those as captain). The co-pilot, 59-year-old Vladimir Onishchenko, had 11,876 flight hours, 2,200 of which were on the Tu-154. Although present in the cockpit, he did not participate in the piloting. On his place, in the right seat, sat the 23-year-old trainee co-pilot Andrey Khodnevich. Also in the cockpit were the navigator, 36-year-old Igor Levchenko, and the flight engineer, 51-year-old Viktor Makarov. In the cabin, 5 flight attendants were serving 160 passengers.

The takeoff was smooth. When the aircraft entered Ukrainian airspace, the Kharkiv controllers did not inform the crew about a thunderstorm ahead on their flight path, approximately 100 kilometers away at the time. As a result, the flight was heading directly towards the thunderstorm front, and the pilots had no information about its size. This prevented the crew from accurately assessing the situation and deciding to change the route.

When the aircraft reached 11,000 meters, the navigator likely realized that the cloud height did not allow the storm to be avoided from above and requested permission from the controller to climb to 11,600 meters. The captain asked to specify the reason: "due to the storm...". The controller granted the permission.

NAV: We need to climb quickly now.
CREW: Set to 90.
CREW: Control will be in twenty (unintelligible).
CREW: (unintelligible)
CREW: (unintelligible)
CAPT: Maintain the mode.
NAV: "Kharkiv-Radar", Pulkovo 612, request climb to FL380.
CAPT: Tell them it's due to the storm.
ATC: Pulkovo 612, proceed to flight level 360 LISPO.
Sound signal.
NAV: Request climb to FL380.
ATC: Pulkovo 612, climb to flight level 380.
FE: (unintelligible) Well (unintelligible).
NAV: Climbing to flight level 380, Pulkovo 612.

The aircraft flew directly into the storm, at an altitude close to the maximum allowable for the aircraft given its current weight and balance (=12,100 meters). At that moment, there were about 50 km left to the storm front, leaving an opportunity to avoid it or return to the departure airport. However, the captain continued the climb on the same path. Later, the commission would find that he had a tendency to take risks, underestimate consequences, and deny negative information.

NAV: (unintelligible) with drops, fu..
CAPT: We need to go higher, probably (unintelligible).
CREW: Oh, Andrey got scared.
CREW: (laughter)
CREW: Andrey
CREW: It looks light now.
CREW: It's fine.
NAV: From above here (unintelligible).

According to the flight operations manual, the altitude clearance when avoiding thunderstorms from above should be not less than 500 meters, which was not ensured at the current flight level. Apparently, realizing this, the crew requested permission to bypass the storm from the left. The controller granted permission, but by this time, the storm core was already directly on the aircraft's flight path. The crew changed route, but this was insufficient to avoid the storm clouds.