S7 Airlines Flight 778

Aircraft The aircraft involved, manufactured in 1987, was a 19-year-old Airbus A310-324 registered . The ITAR-Tass news agency in Russia reported that many children were among the passengers who were flying to a holiday on Lake Baikal, near Irkutsk, about east of Moscow. A total of 14 children, up to age 12, were on board. Besides Russian citizens, there were 14 other non-Russians on board, 3 each from Germany, China, and Belarus, 2 each from Moldova and Poland and one from Azerbaijan. and Sergei Koryakov, the head of Federal Security Service (FSB) of Irkutsk region. The captain was 45-year-old Sergey Gennadievich Shibanov, who had been working for the airline since June 2005. He had 10,611 flight hours, including 1,056 hours on the Airbus A310. He graduated from Ulyanovsk Institute of Civil Aviation in 1991 and obtained his civil aviation pilot license in 1993. He was authorized to carry out international flights in 1997 and had been flying the A310 since May 2005. He graduated from Kirovograd Civil Aviation Flight Academy in 1983 and obtained his civil aviation license in 1996. He had undergone a conversion training in April 2006 and was subsequently appointed as a co-pilot of the Airbus A310 in May. ==Flight==

S7 Airlines Flight 778 was a flight from Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport to Irkutsk, a major Siberian city in Irkutsk Oblast. Irkutsk International Airport is one of the airports that serves the region near Lake Baikal, which is also a major tourist attraction in the country. The flight was one of the most popular flights in Russia. As it was July, the summer holiday was in effect and the flight was packed with tourists who were going to travel to Lake Baikal. On 9 July 2006, Flight 778 was scheduled to take off from Domodedovo International Airport at 20:15 Moscow Time (UTC 17:15). On board were 195 passengers and 8 crew members; 2 cockpit crew and 6 flight attendants. The flight was commanded by Captain Shibanov and his co-pilot was First Officer Chernykh. The aircraft took off at 20:17 local time and the course to Irkutsk was set. Due to the possibility of foggy condition in Irkutsk, the nearby Bratsk Airport was listed as the alternate airport for Flight 778. The estimated time of arrival in Irkutsk was at 06:44 Irkutsk Time (UTC 22:44). at a speed of 97 knots (180 kph). The impact caused the nose gear to collapse. The engines detached from the pylons and the aircraft's left wing was sheared off. The fuel on the wings then ignited, creating massive burst of flames. The cabin lights immediately went out. The aircraft then struck rows of private garages and finally stopped. The crash immediately killed one woman passenger, while the rest managed to survive with varying degrees of injuries. It took two hours for local firefighters from five different fire stations to extinguish the blaze. == Casualties ==

Out of 203 passengers and crew on board, 125 were killed: five crew members and 120 passengers. The captain and the first officer died in the accident, while three out of six flight attendants were killed. Forensic examination on the bodies of 120 passengers concluded that 119 passengers were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, while one female passenger was killed by severe head trauma that had been inflicted by the crash. As of 20 July, a total of 109 bodies had been identified. The remains of the flight attendants were also recovered from the wreckage. According to authorities, due to the severe charring of their remains, only one flight attendant could be identified. survived the crash. Six children were among the survivors. Of the 78 survivors, 60 were taken to the hospital in Irkutsk. Of those, 38 suffered serious injuries and the other 22 suffered minor injuries. Due to the severity their injuries, 8 survivors were transported to Moscow for further treatment. Six people, including a 10-year-old child, were reportedly in critical condition. A total of 14 survivors also reportedly refused medical assistance. Chinese officials reported that one of their citizens from Inner Mongolia had survived the crash with burn injuries, however the other two were missing. Russian state-owned media RIA Novosti reported that two Polish nationals, two Belarusians, two Germans and one Azerbaijani were being treated at a hospital in Irkutsk. According to the Belarusian embassy, three Belarusians were among the injured. == Response ==

Officials set up a crisis centre in Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport for the relatives of the victims. Ambulances were put on standby and families were provided with social workers. The names of those who had survived the crash were put on a list in the airport's conference hall. Ministry of Emergency Situations announced that a team of psychologists would be flown from Moscow to Irkutsk with an Ilyushin Il-76. Additionally, two ambulances and five tonnes of cargo, consisting of medicines and various medical equipment, would be provided as well. Presidential envoy to the Siberian Federal District stated that all of the victims and the relatives would be provided with necessary help, including financial assistance. S7 Airlines agreed to take part in the payments, adding that relatives should contact their lawyers to obtain them. Medical treatments would be covered in the compensation. Voluntary donations amounted to 35 million rubles were also distributed to the families of the victims. In response to the crash, Russian prosecutors opened a criminal inquiry. Russian President Vladimir Putin offered condolences to the families and friends of the victims and ordered authorities to open an inquiry. He later declared 10 July as a national day of mourning. Flags would fly at half-mast across the country and cultural institutions and television stations were called to cancel entertainment programs to commemorate the victims of the crash. Mayor of Irkutsk announced that a memorial stone would be unveiled at the crash site and a memorial service would also be held. The installment of chapel or monument in the memorial area would be discussed further between the city's officials. On 14 July, both pilots were buried in Irkutsk. In December 2006, during an awards ceremony in Moscow's Red Army Theatre, flight attendant Viktoria Zilberstein was awarded by Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia for her heroic actions during the evacuation of the passengers on board. ==Investigation==

Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) was ordered to investigate the crash. Contributing parties of the investigation were Russia's Federal Service for Supervision of Transport (Rostransnadzor) of the Ministry of Transport, Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya), Rosaeronavigatsiya, representatives from Irkutsk Airport, Aeroflot and S7 Airlines. As the manufacturer of the aircraft, Airbus sent a team of experts to assist in the investigation. French BEA, U.S NTSB and German BFU were also appointed as accredited representatives. Pratt & Whitney also assisted in the investigation of the crash. Both recorders were sent to Moscow on 10 July for decryption. The data from both recorders was successfully downloaded in good quality. Irina Andrianova, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Emergency Situations, said, "The aircraft veered off the runway on landing. It was travelling at a terrific speed." News agencies reported that the pilots advised air traffic controllers they had landed successfully, but that radio contact then broke off suddenly. Russian prosecutors reported that the crash was most likely had been caused by human error or equipment failure. Speaking before flying from Moscow to Irkutsk, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin was quoted as saying the runway was wet after rain and that a technical failure should be considered as one of the causes of the crash. According to Airbus, the aircraft was properly maintained. The most recent A Check, or maintenance check, on the aircraft was on 1 June 2006, Sibir said. A C Check, which involves a more thorough overhaul, was carried out 12 July 2005 in Frankfurt. Faulty aircraft In the immediate aftermath, the cause of the crash of Flight 778 was unofficially attributed to some sort of mechanical errors, with the brakes in particular as the most frequently cited and scrutinized by the media. A total of 57 recommendations were issued by the MAK, which were aimed to Russian aviation authorities, S7 Airlines, Airbus, EASA and other certifying authorities, IATA, ICAO, and Domodedovo Airport. Among the recommendations were calls from the investigators to discontinue the use of thrust reverser altogether if the other one was in faulty condition, to ease the customs on importing spare parts, to pay more attention towards the possibility of accidental movement of an aircraft's thrust lever, and to create a specific procedure for engaging reverse thrust. MAK also issued a request to ICAO regarding the implementation of a video camera inside the cockpit. == Aftermath ==

In July 2007, prosecutors completed the primary investigation for the criminal case of the crash. The investigation was extended until October 2007 as another analysis was requested by the court. It was later extended again to June 2008 and again to September 2008. Following extensive consideration, the criminal case investigation was terminated in March 2010 by authorities from East Siberian Department for Transport of the Investigative Committee. A memorial for the victims of the crash was erected at Mozhaisky Street, near the crash site of Flight 778. A service was held in July 2015 to commemorate the accident. The service was attended by families of the victims, representatives from Irkutsk Airport and S7 Airlines. ==See also==