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Video: mysterious dancing Russian plane

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on May 5th 2011 at 10:30AM

A word of warning - this is a long video, but if you have the patience to watch it, you'll see what the title means. This Russian Tupolev Tu-154 took off from an airport near Moscow, and experienced a defect in its controls. According to one source, the plane hadn't flown for over ten years, and was sent skyward without any checks or repairs.

Apparently, the crazy dancing plane was able to stay airborne just long enough for the pilot to circle around and land safely. If you just want to see the highlights, point your mouse to the 3:20 mark. Any aviation experts care to comment on what they think we are looking at?

Filed under: Russian Federation

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

Branden Williams May 5th 2011 11:16AM

Looks like a loss of rudder control, or a rudder that's going the wrong way.

John Barrett May 7th 2011 8:44PM

Looks like a loss or malfunction of the Yaw Damper. This results in Dutch Roll -- very hard for the pilot to overcome and can lead to loss of the aircraft.

Pete May 7th 2011 10:03PM

After setting for so long of a time, air was in the control system

bizbee260 May 8th 2011 10:40AM

I'm wondering, first, why someone would fly a plane without a check after it's been sitting ten years, second... it just happens to be caught on video...

Andy May 5th 2011 1:26PM

Dutch Roll: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_roll

kenc29 May 5th 2011 10:35PM

Klingon cloaking device in Russian hands.

Justmyopinion May 7th 2011 5:22PM

I think the pilot wanted to go right and the copilot, left.

The Burns May 8th 2011 12:59AM

Funny..... sad and not cool..... but funny.

BeerBelly May 7th 2011 5:23PM

UFO

Ed Yo May 7th 2011 5:40PM

If it had not flown for several years all the flight control cables were loose in tension,every airliner has its cables checked for tension several times a year.

Joe May 7th 2011 5:27PM

Dutch roll or Russian vodka.

Bob Iverson May 7th 2011 7:04PM

It appears that the yaw damper is malfunctioning and swinging the rudder side to side in full deflection. I have 8,000 hours of 727 flying time (similar type aircraft)and we trained for just such a problem.

JAMES OLSON May 7th 2011 10:54PM

The pilot in comand of that bird impressed me with his god given ability to function it back on the ground-thats a tale he can, or she can be proud. That's a wonderful example of what makes aviation the great experiance to all who know what it takes to fly.

The Burns May 8th 2011 12:59AM

I agree ... yaw damper or lack of rudder control altogether - but, is a lack of yaw, or interference, going to continually push the nose over like that? It was almost as if the aircraft had a 50 mph tail wind.

I've never seen that. Never heard of that. Thank God he had his hand underneath that plane.

Frank May 7th 2011 5:42PM

Defiantly loss of rudder control. Dutch roll does not cause a change in forward direction. From flight experience I can tell you that it is hard to maintain direction using just your ailerons. That is a very skilled pilot to avoid going into a tail-spin.