Forum turned upside down?

[webfact]

The story behind the Tupolev-154

 

 

The Tupolev-154 is a Russian aircraft which was designed towards the end of the 1960’s. It has been one of the most widely used planes by the former Eastern Block countries. The three-engined plane was originally designed as a civilian aircraft before it was used for military purposes.

 

The Tu-154 is 47,90 m long and 11,40m high, and can carry between 155 and 180 passengers at a cruising speed of 850 kilometers per hour.

 

“The Tupolev 154 was the workhorse of civil aviation and military transport during the time of the Soviet Union and for several years after the end of the Iron Curtain,” explains our aviation correspondent Giovanni Magi. “It has been involved in many accidents and each time the cause has been attributed to human error or the over intensive use of the aircraft. The grounding of the aircraft which is still in use by the Ministry of Defence is an understandably prudent measure, but I hardly think they will find any defects in a model which has been flying for 48 years.”

 

There have been 39 fatal incidents involving the Tupolev-154, which was first flown in 1968.

 

The production of this aircraft, which is similar in size and performance to a Boeing 737, has consistently decreased from the mid nineteen-nineties until 2013, when the last aircraft was delivered to the Russian Defence.

 

 

-- © Copyright Euronews 2016-12-28

[stancatts]

The Tupolev-154 is the typical product of dictatorship government: dangerous, no choice, and no one can complain. Reminds me of Thailand today. Though of course it did not take a dictatorship for Thailand to produce crap manufactured goods that you would have to be crazy or extremely poor to buy. Punitive taxes on imports achieved that. 

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

There have been 39 fatal incidents involving the Tupolev-154

The "39 fatal incidents" are related to the 39 aircraft that have crashed. With the recent crash the total fatality is more than 700 people. Long abandoned by the Russian commercial airline industry, it's time for the Russian military to change to a safer aircraft. Boeing 737 has a good track record - maybe Putin can get a great deal from Trump.

[RickBradford]

The cabins on the Tupolevs used to fill with condensation pouring out of some air vents before take-off, so you could hardly see to find your seat.

 

The other unnerving thing was the high speed at which they landed -  I always felt we were going to run out of runway, especially at crummy airports like Pochentong or Vientiane.

[Prbkk]

5 hours ago, Srikcir said:

The "39 fatal incidents" are related to the 39 aircraft that have crashed. With the recent crash the total fatality is more than 700 people. Long abandoned by the Russian commercial airline industry, it's time for the Russian military to change to a safer aircraft. Boeing 737 has a good track record - maybe Putin can get a great deal from Trump.

 

The govt would like all airlines to use the Sukhoi Superjet as the small 737- like plane. Some of the airlines are less than enthusiastic and have ordered both Airbus and Boeing.

As for the Tupolevs and Iluyshins (SP?), they were the mainstay of Chinese aviation in the 70s and 80s, along with a few old British things ( the trident, for one). Dreadful, as much in respect of they way they were flown (military style takeoffs and landings) as for the planes themselves. The arrival hall was always a welcome sight.

[ExpatOilWorker]

I have done about 25 ea. 3 hours flights with TU154 while working in Russia. They are certainly not nice planes to fly with.

[MaksimMislavsky]

The aircraft in the OP picture looks like a Tu-154, but not the one that crashed this time 

[Stargeezr]

I think the TU154  in  the  picture  is going to be  an  artificial reef  for  scuba  divers.  look  at  how  everything  is gone from  the fuselage!

Geezer