Air crash over Lake Constance: a list of the dead, photo

An air crash over the Lake Constance, which occurred in 2002, is a tragedy that claimed the lives of one hundred and forty people. The largest collision of two aircraft in the air was due to a dispatcher's error, whose life soon also broke.

TU-154

The Russian aircraft belonged to the company "Bashkir Airlines". It was almost new, since the year of its release in 1995. Twice leased to foreign airlines, but on January 15, 2002, he returned to his native penates.

The crew of the ship was quite experienced. The commander - AM Gross (fifty-two years old) - flew 12070 hours. The first pilot of this aircraft was in May 2001, before that he was acting as a co-pilot.

In the cockpit, apart from the FAC, was also M. A. Itkulov, who had worked in Bashkiravia for eighteen years. He was the second pilot of this vessel since April 2001.

The navigator was SG Harlov, probably the most experienced member of the crew. The airline has worked for twenty-seven years already, flying almost 13,000 hours.

In the cockpit there was a flight engineer O.I. Valeev, as well as the inspector - О.P. Grigoriev (pilot of the first class). The latter was on the spot of the co-pilot and watched the actions of Gross.

Four cabin crews worked in the cabin. The most experienced was Olga Bagina, who spent 1,456 hours in the sky.

Thus, a plane crash over the Lake Constance killed nine crew members.

Passengers of Tu-154

On board the airliner were sixty people. All of them died.

The worst news of that day was a plane crash over the Lake Constance. The list of the dead spoke louder than all the media, because fifty-two passengers were children whose lives were just beginning.

Almost all the people flying were from the capital of Bashkortostan - Ufa. Almost all the dead children were children of high-ranking officials of the republic (for example, the daughter of the head of the presidential administration of Bashkiria, the daughter of the deputy minister for culture, the son of the director of the Iglinsky plant, and others).

The list of victims of the plane crash over the Lake Constance was supplemented by Ekaterina Pospelova (born in 1973), who was the deputy dean of the social and humanitarian faculty for educational work.

Other passengers also belonged to the elite of Bashkiria, for example, Svetlana Kaloyeva, deputy general director of the Daryal Combine. She flew with two children to meet with her husband, who worked in Spain.

The plane crash above the Lake Constance became the largest for Bashkortostan. Mourning in the republic lasted three days.

Boeing 757

This aircraft was produced in 1990 and among the other ships of its airline was the oldest (flew more than 39,000 hours).

In 1996, the plane was bought by a freight company and used to transport documentation and other materials.

On an ill-fated day at the helm sat an Englishman Paul Phillips, forty-seven years of age. He was quite an experienced pilot. The company worked for thirteen years. As commander of an aircraft - since 1991.

The second pilot was Brent Cantioni from Canada.

Since the aircraft was a cargo plane, it was only two crew members, whose lives and carried a plane crash over the Lake Constance.

Events before the tragedy

Passengers of Flight 2937 flew from Moscow to Barcelona. For most of the children, this trip was an encouragement for excellent study and extracurricular activities. I paid for these deadly holidays. Committee for UNESCO. The head of the Committee lost his daughter in this flight.

I must say that around this flight the hype began far before departure from Ufa. Almost all high-ranking officials sought to get a place for their children on the plane, so that some "ordinary citizens" this power of power saved their lives. For example, a journalist L. Sabitova and her daughter of six years were supposed to sit in that ill-fated plane. Director of the travel agency, which organized this trip, as a fee for the article promised Sabitova permits to Spain. But on the last day everything was canceled, explaining it by pressure from above. The seats of the journalist and her child were taken by the children of the top leadership of Bashkortostan.

A fatal flight might not have happened, but a group of Bashkir schoolchildren was late for their plane. The airline, realizing the importance of passengers, quickly organized an additional one. He was also sold eight tickets directly to Moscow.

"Boeing 757" flew scheduled cargo flight from Bahrain to Brussels. Before the collision, he had already made an intermediate landing in Bergamo. An air crash (2002) over the Lake Constance occurred half an hour after their take-off from the Italian land.

Collision

At the time of the collision, both aircraft were in the airspace of Germany. Despite this circumstance, the movement in the sky was ruled by a Swiss company. On that night shift at work there were only two dispatchers, one of whom left his workplace shortly before the catastrophe.

Since Peter Nielsen was alone and had to follow several air routes, he did not immediately notice that the two planes were moving towards each other in the same echelon.

KVS TU-154 was the first to notice an object in the sky moving in their direction. He decided to decline. At about the same time, Nilsen came on the link, who also gave an indication of a decline. At the same time, he did not provide the necessary information to another board, which is in dangerous proximity.

On "Boeing" the signal "Dangerous rapprochement" has worked and has given a command on decrease. In parallel, on the TU-154, the same signal was ordered to gain altitude. The pilot of "Boeing" began to decline, the pilot TU-154, acting on the orders of the dispatcher, too.

Nielsen also misled the crew of the Russian aircraft, giving incorrect information about the location of the Boeing. The planes collided at 21:35:32 almost at right angles. At 21:37 the wreckage of the aircraft fell to the ground in the vicinity of Uberlingen.

An air crash (2002) over the Lake Constance was visible from the ground. Some, seeing two fireballs in the sky, decided that it was a UFO.

Investigation

To find out the causes of the tragedy, a special commission has undertaken. It was created by the German Federal Bureau, which conducts an investigation into air crashes. Two planes were collided over the Lake Constance, all the passengers were killed. The report of this commission was announced only after two years.

Among the main reasons, the wrong actions (and, rather, inaction) of the dispatcher and the error of the TU-154 crew were mentioned, which ignored the system of automatic warning of dangerous rendezvous completely submitting to Peter Nielsen.

Also, unlawful actions of SkyGide, which was engaged in air traffic control, were noted. The management should not have allowed to watch at night only one dispatcher.

In the ill-fated night in the control room did not work telephone communication, as well as equipment (radar), which warns about the possible rapprochement of aircraft.

All these facts were taken into account by the commission, which conducts investigation of air crashes.

Collision over Lake Constance caused great resonance not only in society, but also in the entire flight control system. Because if the TU-154 crew acted on the order of the warning system, there would not be a tragedy. However, in normative documents such a system was called auxiliary, that is, the instructions of the dispatcher were priority. After the incident, it was decided to make appropriate changes in flight control.

Kill the dispatcher

On July 1, 2002, a plane crash occurred over the Lake Constance. The list of the victims included Svetlana Kaloyeva and her two children: Kostya and Diana. The family flew to Barcelona, where their father Vitaly was.

The man was one of the first to arrive at the site of the tragedy and personally helped to find the remains of his beloved people.

In February 2004, Kaloev was detained on suspicion of the murder of Peter Nielsen, the same controller. The man was mortally wounded on the threshold of his house in Zurich. Vitali did not admit his guilt, but confirmed that he visited Peter in order to apologize for what he had done.

Kaloyev was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. In November 2007, the man was released ahead of schedule and deported to Russia.

Court

An air crash over the Lake Constance, the reconstruction of which proved the controller's misconduct, led to high-profile lawsuits.

So, the company "Bashkir Airlines" filed a lawsuit against the "SkyGeed", and then on Germany. The charges consisted in the fact that neither side had taken the necessary measures to ensure the safety of traffic in airspace.

The court ruled that Germany is responsible for what happened, since the country did not have the right to hand over ATC to a foreign company. The conflict between the country and the airline was settled only in 2013 extrajudicially.

SkyGuide was found guilty of a plane crash over the Lake Constance. The list of guilty persons consisted of four persons, one of which cost only a fine.

Memory

At the site of the fall of the aircraft was installed a monument in the form of a torn pearl thread.

In Zurich, where the control of the aircraft took place, the control room is always decorated with fresh flowers in memory of the dead.

A memorial to those killed in a plane crash above Lake Constance was installed in Ufa, in a cemetery where their remains rest.