Tupolev Tu-154


The Tupolev Tu-154 is a three-engine medium-range narrow-body airliner designed in the mid-1960s and manufactured by Tupolev. A workhorse of Soviet and Russian airlines for several decades, it carried half of all passengers flown by Aeroflot and its subsidiaries, remaining the standard domestic-route airliner of Russia and former Soviet states until the mid-2000s. It was exported to 17 non-Russian airlines and used as a head-of-state transport by the air forces of several countries.
With a cruising speed of the Tu-154 is one of the fastest civilian aircraft in use and has a range of. Capable of operating from unpaved and gravel airfields with only basic facilities, it was widely used in the extreme Arctic conditions of Russia's northern/eastern regions where other airliners were unable to operate. Originally designed for a 45,000-hour service life but capable of 80,000 hours with upgrades, it was expected to continue in service until 2016, although noise regulations have restricted flights to western Europe and other regions.
Since 1968 there have been 39 fatal incidents involving the Tu-154, most of which were caused either by factors unrelated to the aircraft, incorrect maintenance, or by its extensive use in demanding conditions. Few of the Tu-154 accidents appear to have involved technical failure.

Development

The Tu-154 was developed to meet Aeroflot's requirement to replace the jet-powered Tu-104 and the Antonov An-10 and Ilyushin Il-18 turboprops. The requirements called for either a payload capacity of with a range of while cruising at, or a payload of with a range of while cruising at. A takeoff distance of at maximum takeoff weight was also stipulated as a requirement. Conceptually similar to the British Hawker Siddeley Trident, which first flew in 1962, and the American Boeing 727, which first flew in 1963, the medium-range Tu-154 was marketed by Tupolev at the same time as Ilyushin was marketing the long-range Ilyushin Il-62. The Soviet Ministry of Aircraft Industry chose the Tu-154 as it incorporated the latest in Soviet aircraft design and best met Aeroflot's anticipated requirements for the 1970s and 1980s.
The first project chief was Sergey Yeger; in 1964, Dmitryi S. Markov assumed that position. In 1975, the project lead role was turned over to Aleksandr S. Shengardt.
The Tu-154 first flew on 4 October 1968. The first deliveries to Aeroflot were in 1970 with freight services beginning in May 1971 and passenger services in February 1972. There was still limited production of the 154M model as of January 2009 despite previous announcements of the end of production in 2006. 1025 Tu-154s have been built, 214 of which were still in service as of 14 December 2009. The last serial Tu-154 was delivered to the Russian Defense Ministry on 19 February 2013 from the Aviakor factory, equipped with upgraded avionics, a VIP interior and a communications suite. The factory has four unfinished hulls in its inventory which can be completed if new orders are received.

Design

The Tu-154 is powered by three rear-mounted low-bypass turbofan engines arranged similarly to those of the Boeing 727, but it is slightly larger than its American counterpart. Both the 727 and the Tu-154 use an S-duct for the middle engine. The original model was equipped with Kuznetsov NK-8-2 engines, which were replaced with Soloviev D-30KU-154 in the Tu-154M. All Tu-154 aircraft models have a relatively high thrust-to-weight-ratio which give excellent performance, at the expense of lower fuel efficiency. This became an important factor in later decades as fuel costs grew.
The cockpit is fitted with conventional dual yoke control columns. Flight control surfaces are hydraulically operated.
The cabin of the Tu-154, although of the same six-abreast seating layout, gives the impression of an oval interior, with a lower ceiling than is common on Boeing and Airbus airliners. The passenger cabin accommodates 128 passengers in a two-class layout and 164 passengers in single-class layout, and up to 180 passengers in high-density layout. The layout can be modified to what is called a winter version where some seats are taken out and a wardrobe is installed for passenger coats. The passenger doors are smaller than on its Boeing and Airbus counterparts. Luggage space in the overhead compartments is very limited.
Like the Tupolev Tu-134, the Tu-154 has a wing swept back at 35° at the quarter-chord line. The British Hawker Siddeley Trident has the same sweepback angle, while the Boeing 727 has a slightly smaller sweepback angle of 32°. The wing also has anhedral which is a distinguishing feature of Russian low-wing airliners designed during this era. Most Western low-wing airliners such as the contemporary Boeing 727 have dihedral. The anhedral means that Russian airliners have poor lateral stability compared to their Western counterparts, but also are more resistant to Dutch roll tendencies.
Considerably heavier than its predecessor Soviet-built airliner the Ilyushin Il-18, the Tu-154 was equipped with an oversized landing gear to reduce ground load, enabling it to operate from the same runways. The aircraft has two six-wheel main bogies fitted with large low-pressure tires that retract into pods extending from the trailing edges of the wings, plus a two-wheel nosegear unit. Soft oleo struts provide a much smoother ride on bumpy airfields than most airliners, which very rarely operate on such poor surfaces.
The original requirement was to have a three-person flight crew – captain, first officer and flight engineer – as opposed to a four- or five-person crew, as on other Soviet airliners. It became evident that a fourth crew member, a navigator, was still needed, and a seat was added on production aircraft, although their workstation was compromised due to the limitations of the original design. Navigators are no longer trained and this profession is becoming obsolete with the retirement of the oldest Soviet-era planes.
The latest variant includes an NVU-B3 Doppler navigation system, a triple autopilot, which provides an automatic ILS approach according to ICAO category II weather minima, an autothrottle, a Doppler drift and speed measure system, and a "Kurs-MP" radio navigation suite. A stability and control augmentation system improves handling characteristics during manual flight. Modern upgrades normally include modernised TCAS, GPS, and other systems.
Early versions of the Tu-154 cannot be modified to meet the current Stage III noise regulations and are no longer allowed to fly into airspace where such regulations are enforced, such as the European Union. However, the Tu-154M's D-30 engines can be fitted with hush kits, allowing them to meet noise regulations.

Variants

Many variants of this airliner have been built. Like its western counterpart, the 727, many of the Tu-154s in service have been hush-kitted, and some converted to freighters.
; Tu-154
; Tu-154A
; Tu-154B
; Tu-154B-1
; Tu-154B-2
; Tu-154S
; Tu-154M
; Tu-154M-LK-1
; Tu-154M-ON monitoring aircraft
; Tu-154M-100
; Tu-155
; Tu-164
; Tu-174
; Tu-194

Operators

Current operators

As of August 2017, there were 44 Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft of all variants still in civil or military service. A 45th aircraft has been sighted flying with Air Kyrgyzstan in 2017, but is not listed by the airline as part of its fleet. A 46th aircraft, a Polish Tu-154 with operational number 102, is currently in storage at the military airport in Mińsk Mazowiecki. It was operated by 36th Special Aviation Regiment, but after 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 Crash of the Tu-154 101, the Regiment has been disbanded and the plane was grounded. It is fully operational, but government decided to do not use it or sell until the investigation into the Smoleńsk crash is finished, so, as for August 2019 the aircraft is not flying, but it is likely for it to come back into service, although most probably not for Polish government, as the government operates a fleet of brand-new, more fuel-efficient jets like the Embraer E-190 and the Boeing 737 MAX.
In January 2010 Russian flag carrier Aeroflot announced the retirement of its Tu-154 fleet after 40 years, with the last scheduled flight being Aeroflot Flight 736 from Yekaterinburg to Moscow on 31 December 2009. In December 2010, Uzbekistan Airways also declared that it was retiring its Tu-154s.
In February 2011, all remaining Iranian Tu-154s were grounded after two incidents.
The remaining operators are:
AirlineIn serviceNotes
Air Koryo2
ALROSA1Last Russian passenger airline to operate this aircraft
Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan1
Federal Security Service2
Gromov Flight Research Institute1
People's Liberation Army Air Force12six of them are of ELINT versions with synthetic aperture radar and six–eight of them are airliners
Russian Air Force16
Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs4Operated for the government
Russian Navy2
SibNIA named after S. A. Chaplygin1
Yuri A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center1
Total:44

On 27 December 2016, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that it had grounded all of its Tu-154s until the end of the investigation into the December 2016 crash of a 1983 Tupolev Tu-154. This was followed by the grounding of all Tu-154s in Russia. The Tu-154 had crashed into the Black Sea just after takeoff from Sochi, Russia, on 25 December 2016 killing all 92 people on board, including 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, an official army choir of the Russian Armed Forces. The Red Army Choir singers and dancers were en route to Syria to entertain Russian troops in the run-up to the New Year.

Former operators

Former civil operators

; Afghanistan
; : Armenian Air Force
; : Bulgarian Air Force One 154B retired 1988; one 154M retired April 2010, replaced by A319 CFM
; : Cuban Air Force
; : Czechoslovak Air Force
; : Czech Air Force
; : East German Air Force
; : German Air Force
; : Mongolian Air Force
; : Polish Air Force – 1 Tu-154M was retired in 2011, 1 Tu-154M crashed in 2010.
; : Slovak Government Flying Service
; : Soviet Air Force
; : Military of Turkmenistan – two Tu-154B-2 retired
; : Ukrainian Air Force
; : Military of Uzbekistan

Incidents and accidents

Between 1970 and December 2016 there have been 110 serious incidents involving the Tu-154, and 69 hull losses, 30 of which did not involve fatalities. Of the fatal incidents, five resulted from terrorist or military terrorist action, several from poor runway conditions in winter, cargo overloading in the lapse of post-Soviet federal safety standards, and mid-air collisions due to faulty air traffic control. Other incidents resulted from mechanical problems, running out of fuel on unscheduled routes, pilot errors, and cargo fires; several accidents remain unexplained.
The Tu-154 is described as having an average safety record considering its length of service and heavy use in demanding conditions where other airliners are unable to operate. On 2 January 2011, Russia's Federal Transport Oversight Agency advised airlines to stop using remaining examples of the Tu-154 until the fatal fire incident in Surgut had been investigated. Its operation in Iran ceased in February 2011 due to a number of crashes and incidents involving the type. This grounding compounded the effects of US embargo on civil aircraft parts, substantially decreasing the number of airworthy aircraft in the Iranian civil fleet. In 2010 there were two fatal losses of the Tu-154 due to pilot error and/or weather conditions. Following these accidents, in March 2011 the Russian Federal Bureau of Aviation recommended a withdrawal of remaining Tu-154Ms from service.
On 27 December 2016, the Russian Defence Ministry grounded all Tu-154s in Russia pending investigation into the 25 December 2016 Tupolev Tu-154 crash which killed 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, an official Red Army Choir of the Russian Armed Forces.

List

Aircraft on display

In popular culture