Where is 'the first contact with the ground' of the Polish Airforce One

as you can see, the place where Tu 154 had 'the first contact with the ground' is down below main road. It was an airport aerial.

why they flew so low?

Either they were following the radar altimeter and got caught by the slope, or they they mixed up QFE and QNH and ignored the GPWS.

the finest pilots? messing around with the systems???

i know the plane flipped, but it looks like they were heading for a taxiway.


mast, possibly. VHF aerial i doubt.

if you hit something then you probably have no chance to keep direction
how low they were flying -10/15 meters?
WHY?

Just confusion. It can get hectic up front. We'll see soon enough, but accidents happen. Even to the best of them.


It would make sense, the NDBs in former soviet countries are usually lined up with the runway.

is it possible the pilot got a false reading due to atmospherics and the fog ?

or is that just wishful thinking ?

QNH = height above sea level

QFE = height above point of measurement

So say Smolensk for instance. It's 720ft above sea level.

If the plane is on the ground, and the altimeter has the QNH pressure, it would read 720

If it is QFE it would read 0

QFE is just an ordinary measure in aircrafts, if you fly too low you will get a warning message

GPWS would have alerted them. You would hear it on the CVR.

the finest pilots???

Yea, we'll see when they release the CVR transcripts... I still think it might be get-there-itis.

Convex,

My theory: the pilot was under pressure/stress to land on time. he misread his instruments. hitting the mast (if he did) makes no difference as all had gone wrong moments before. he had already ditched fuel on one of his circuits and gave himself no other chance.

lack of fire damage in photos makes me think he ditched fuel.

Result: pilot error... possibly relying on sight rather than instruments.

GPWS would have alerted him that he was low. The plane isn't capable of dumping fuel.

not true

OK.

Now i don't understand how he missed an audible warning. (had to check wiki)

i think i'll wait for the official report.

thanks for your explanations

Yea, GPWS gives you the "woop woop, pull up" warning...


One of the wisest things that have been said here :)