Tumbling Tu-154, April 2011

On April 29, 2011, a Tu-154B-2 took off from Chkalovsky Air Base on a ferry flight to a maintenance facility in Samara. Reportedly, the aircraft had been grounded for several years before this flight. Only the flight crew was on board.

Immediately after takeoff, eyewitnesses on the ground noticed that the aircraft was in trouble. It began to oscillate violently, rocking from wingtip to wingtip and pitching from nose to tail. The Tu-154 turned back toward the airfield. It was clear that the crew was struggling to regain control, desperately trying to stabilize the aircraft.

The drama happend at low altitude - between 300 and 1,000 meters. The pilots attempted to land, but the first approach was unsuccessful. The aircraft continued to roll and yaw, gaining altitude again as the crew repositioned for a second attempt. Dozens of witnesses at Chkalovsky watched the Tu-154 perform dangerous gyrations in the sky. One of them recorded the entire incident on video.

During the second landing attempt, the crew managed to counter the rolls and align the aircraft with the runway. At one point, the aircraft disappeared behind trees on the video. Seconds later, it emerged over the runway and, to the applause and cheers of onlookers, safely touched down. However, the landing was hard: smoke burst from the landing gear upon impact, the aircraft bounced several times, and overran the runway. Remarkably, no one on board was injured.

An investigation by the prosecutor’s office revealed that the incident was caused by a maintenance error. A senior technician had incorrectly connected a component of the automatic flight control system to the aircraft’s power supply - he had simply mixed up the wires.

For their courage, composure, and dedication to duty, the crew members were awarded the Order of Courage.