Investigators examine voice recorder from Russian aircraft

Airline Industry Information, July 11, 2002

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2002 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

German investigators examining the voice and data recorders from the crashed Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev 154 aircraft and DHL Worldwide Express Boeing 757 cargo aircraft, are reportedly having difficult understanding cockpit discussions from the Russian aircraft.

A Russian investigator is currently attempting to translate the voice recorder, in a bid to discover why the two aircraft collided in mid-air over southern Germany on 1 July, killing 71 people.

Investigators have so far established that the Russian aircraft - carrying 57 passengers and 12 crew members from Moscow, Russia to Barcelona, Spain - was told to descend by Swiss air traffic control after the aircraft's collision avoidance system instructed the pilot to climb. The pilot choose to follow the air traffic controller's instructions and subsequently both aircraft descended and collided at 35,000 feet.

The cockpit voice recordings are expected to include discussions between the pilot and co-pilot of the Russian aircraft, which may determine why the pilot followed orders from the Swiss controller rather than those from his instruments.

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