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GEORGIAN AIR CONTROLLERS 'TOLD ARMENIAN PLANE TO TURN BACK'
By Heghine Buniatian, Armen Dilanian in Prague and Ruzanna
Khachatrian in Sochi
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
May 4 2006
The crew of the Armenian airliner that crashed into the Black Sea on
Wednesday were warned by Georgian ground controllers against landing
in southern Russia due to stormy weather shortly before the disaster,
officials in Tbilisi said on Thursday.
Officials at Georgia's state air navigation service claimed that the
Armenian pilots heeded the warning but then decided to proceed to the
Russian resort city of Sochi after receiving clearance from Russian
air traffic controllers.
"The plane remained in Georgia's territory for about one hour and
twenty minutes," a spokeswoman for the service, Tea Godabadze, told
RFE/RL from Tbilisi. "We informed the crew that the weather in Sochi
is unfavorable and the crew decided to turn back. But twenty minutes
later, when the plane reached [the western Georgian city of] Kutaisi,
they told us, 'Wait a minute, we are getting different information from
[the southern Russian city] of Rostov.'"
"They were apparently told from Rostov that the weather is good,"
she said.
"The commander of the aircrew bade us farewell at about three o'clock
in the morning Yerevan time (2200 GMT) and even said, 'Will talk to
you in an hour,'" added Godabadze. "They were planning to return to
Yerevan immediate after [arriving in Sochi]. We passed the plan on
to the Rostov traffic controllers and it disappeared 15 minutes later."
The Airbus A-320 belonging to Armenia's national airline, Armavia,
reportedly disappeared from radar screens at as it attempted a
second landing at Adler airport near Sochi. Armavia officials say
traffic controllers initially told the plane to turn back because of
torrential rain, but later changed their minds and gave it permission
to land. They say the crew already began flying back to Yerevan when
they were told that heavy rains cleared.
Armavia and Armenia's civil aviation authorities believe that the
weather conditions were the most likely cause of the crash that
killed all 113 passengers and crew on board the A-320. The head of the
Georgian traffic control service, Giorgi Karbelashvili, appeared to
agree with this theory, saying that that Russian traffic controllers
should have told the passenger jet to steer clear of the Sochi area
right from the beginning.
"We are not saying who is guilty," Karbelashvili told RFE/RL by
phone. "We are only saying that we have very important information:
90 percent of the flight's audio recordings which could be very
helpful for identifying the causes of the accident."
"If you listen to the audio, you will hear very unpleasant statements
made by the Russian traffic controllers," he added, refusing to
elaborate.
The Georgian official also said that the Armenian authorities have
already been informed about the existence the pilots' recorded radio
communication with Georgian and Russian air navigation services.
Speaking to reporters in Sochi, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian
confirmed the information and said an Armenian prosecutor has traveled
to Tbilisi to obtain a copy of the audio.
Sarkisian was sent to the site of the crash by President Robert
Kocharian on Wednesday to coordinate, together Russian Transport
Minister Igor Levitin, the continuing official investigation into the
worst air disaster in Armenia's history. The two officials co-chair a
Russian-Armenian inter-governmental commission on economic cooperation.
Levitin said on Thursday that the investigators are already studying
the audio of the Armenian pilots' radio communication with Russian
traffic controllers. Citing unnamed sources close to the inquiry,
Armenian state television reported late Wednesday that the Russian
airport official who has personally told them to land at Adler is
giving "conflicting" testimony.
Both Sarkisian and Armavia owner Mikhail Baghdasarov ruled out on
Thursday the possibility that the crash was caused by a malfunction
of the A-320. The 150-seat aircraft had operated for Armavia since
February 2004 and had accumulated more than 28,200 flying hours,
in 14,000 flights. According to Baghdasarov, the plane had undergone
full-scale servicing a year ago and was inspected by Belgian aviation
engineers as recently as last month.
"If the initial order [for the plane] to return to Yerevan was
carried out, the crash would not have taken place," the Armavia boss
told RFE/RL.
Baghdasarov also said that the families of the people killed in the
crash will each receive approximately $20,000 in compensation. "I
understand, of course, that you can't make up for the loss with money,"
he said.
(GI-Photolur photo: A Russian rescue worker stands at Sochi port dock
next to the tail of the Armavia Airbus A320 plane.)
By Heghine Buniatian, Armen Dilanian in Prague and Ruzanna
Khachatrian in Sochi
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
May 4 2006
The crew of the Armenian airliner that crashed into the Black Sea on
Wednesday were warned by Georgian ground controllers against landing
in southern Russia due to stormy weather shortly before the disaster,
officials in Tbilisi said on Thursday.
Officials at Georgia's state air navigation service claimed that the
Armenian pilots heeded the warning but then decided to proceed to the
Russian resort city of Sochi after receiving clearance from Russian
air traffic controllers.
"The plane remained in Georgia's territory for about one hour and
twenty minutes," a spokeswoman for the service, Tea Godabadze, told
RFE/RL from Tbilisi. "We informed the crew that the weather in Sochi
is unfavorable and the crew decided to turn back. But twenty minutes
later, when the plane reached [the western Georgian city of] Kutaisi,
they told us, 'Wait a minute, we are getting different information from
[the southern Russian city] of Rostov.'"
"They were apparently told from Rostov that the weather is good,"
she said.
"The commander of the aircrew bade us farewell at about three o'clock
in the morning Yerevan time (2200 GMT) and even said, 'Will talk to
you in an hour,'" added Godabadze. "They were planning to return to
Yerevan immediate after [arriving in Sochi]. We passed the plan on
to the Rostov traffic controllers and it disappeared 15 minutes later."
The Airbus A-320 belonging to Armenia's national airline, Armavia,
reportedly disappeared from radar screens at as it attempted a
second landing at Adler airport near Sochi. Armavia officials say
traffic controllers initially told the plane to turn back because of
torrential rain, but later changed their minds and gave it permission
to land. They say the crew already began flying back to Yerevan when
they were told that heavy rains cleared.
Armavia and Armenia's civil aviation authorities believe that the
weather conditions were the most likely cause of the crash that
killed all 113 passengers and crew on board the A-320. The head of the
Georgian traffic control service, Giorgi Karbelashvili, appeared to
agree with this theory, saying that that Russian traffic controllers
should have told the passenger jet to steer clear of the Sochi area
right from the beginning.
"We are not saying who is guilty," Karbelashvili told RFE/RL by
phone. "We are only saying that we have very important information:
90 percent of the flight's audio recordings which could be very
helpful for identifying the causes of the accident."
"If you listen to the audio, you will hear very unpleasant statements
made by the Russian traffic controllers," he added, refusing to
elaborate.
The Georgian official also said that the Armenian authorities have
already been informed about the existence the pilots' recorded radio
communication with Georgian and Russian air navigation services.
Speaking to reporters in Sochi, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian
confirmed the information and said an Armenian prosecutor has traveled
to Tbilisi to obtain a copy of the audio.
Sarkisian was sent to the site of the crash by President Robert
Kocharian on Wednesday to coordinate, together Russian Transport
Minister Igor Levitin, the continuing official investigation into the
worst air disaster in Armenia's history. The two officials co-chair a
Russian-Armenian inter-governmental commission on economic cooperation.
Levitin said on Thursday that the investigators are already studying
the audio of the Armenian pilots' radio communication with Russian
traffic controllers. Citing unnamed sources close to the inquiry,
Armenian state television reported late Wednesday that the Russian
airport official who has personally told them to land at Adler is
giving "conflicting" testimony.
Both Sarkisian and Armavia owner Mikhail Baghdasarov ruled out on
Thursday the possibility that the crash was caused by a malfunction
of the A-320. The 150-seat aircraft had operated for Armavia since
February 2004 and had accumulated more than 28,200 flying hours,
in 14,000 flights. According to Baghdasarov, the plane had undergone
full-scale servicing a year ago and was inspected by Belgian aviation
engineers as recently as last month.
"If the initial order [for the plane] to return to Yerevan was
carried out, the crash would not have taken place," the Armavia boss
told RFE/RL.
Baghdasarov also said that the families of the people killed in the
crash will each receive approximately $20,000 in compensation. "I
understand, of course, that you can't make up for the loss with money,"
he said.
(GI-Photolur photo: A Russian rescue worker stands at Sochi port dock
next to the tail of the Armavia Airbus A320 plane.)