Date: 03 MAY 2006
Time: ca 02:15
Type: Airbus A.320-211
Operator: Armavia
Registration: EK-32009
Msn / C/n: 547
Year built: 1995
Crew: 8 fatalities / 8 on board
Passengers: 105 fatalities / 105 on board
Total: 113 fatalities / 113 on board
Airplane damage: Written off
Location: 6 km SW off Adler/Sochi Airport (AER) (Russia)
Phase: Approach (APR)
Nature: International Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: Yerevan Airport (EVN) Destination airport: Adler/Sochi Airport (AER) Armavia flight 967 departed Yerevan (EVN) at 00:47 on a scheduled flight to Sochi (AER). Weather at Sochi was poor with rain and poor visibility. The crew were cleared for an approach to runway 06, which took them over the Black Sea, approaching the coastal city from the Southwest. Reportedly weather was below minima and the approach had to be abandoned. Press reports say that visibility at the other runway (02) was 4000 m (2.5 miles) with cloud base at 360 m (1175 ft). Since this was within the allowed limits (3000 m resp. 220 m), permission was given to carry out a runway 02 approach. While manoeuvering over the Black Sea, the airplane contacted the water and broke up.
Weather around the time of the accident (22:15Z, May 2) was reported as:
URSS 022200Z VRB01MPS 4000 -SHRA BR BKN006 OVC027CB 11/11 Q1018 TEMRO 1500 BR VV005 RMK G/~Z QFE762 SC05= [wind variable at 1m/sec, visibility 4000m, light rain showers, mist 5-7 oktas cloud at 600ft, 8 oktas overcast cloud at 2700ft with thunder clouds, temperature 11C dewpoint 11C, QNH 1018hPa, visibility 1500m mist vertical visibility 500ft]
sources: AP
Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS) of Russia Gazeta.ru
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AIRCRAFT PROFILE AIRBUS A.320
* Last fatal hull-loss accident: 23 AUG 2000 Gulf Air A4O-EK, off Bahrain International Airport - 143 fatalities
* Total number of A.320 hull-losses: 15 (10 accidents, 1 criminal occurrence and 3 other occurrences), of which 6 losses were fatal
* 2nd worst accident
* Survival rate for all fatal A.320 accidents: on average 37,5% of all occupants survived fatal accidents
* history of this airplane:
- F-WWIU Airbus (first flight JUN 1995)
- VH-HYO Ansett Australia (delivered AUG 1995)
- VH-HYO stored at Melbourne after Ansett quit (MAR 2002)
- EK-32009 Armavia (FEB 2004)
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OPERATOR PROFILE ARMAVIA
Armenian airline operating an Airbus A.319 amnd two A.320 planes. One of the A.320 planes (EK-32010) was destroyed by a hangar fire at Brussels (BRU), May 5, 2006.
The airline is a Subsidiary of Sibir Airlines (Russia).
* 1st airliner hull-loss accident
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COUNTRY PROFILE RUSSIA
* Last fatal airliner hull-loss accident: 16 MAR 2005 Antonov 24 of Regional Airlines at Varandey - 28 fatalities
* 8th worst civil airliner hull-loss accident [excl. ground fatalities]
* The country is rated Cat.1 (meeting ICAO standards) in FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment Program (IASA)