Incident Overview
On July 1, 2002, at 21:35:32 hours, a mid-air collision occurred near the town of Ueberlingen, located by Lake Constance. The accident involved a Tupolev TU-154M operating from Moscow-Domodedovo to Barcelona and a Boeing B757-200 flying from Bergamo to Brussels. Both aircraft impacted the ground north of Ueberlingen during a dark night with in-flight visibility exceeding 10 km.
Flight Operations
The Boeing B757-200 was a cargo flight carrying only two pilots. It departed Bahrain, stopped at Bergamo for refueling and cargo handling, and took off for Brussels at 21:06 hours. The Tupolev TU-154M departed Moscow-Domodedovo at 18:48 hours with nine crew members and 60 passengers aboard. Both flights were conducted under instrument flight rules (IFR).
Sequence of Events
At 21:34:42 hours, the TCAS system on the Boeing issued a Traffic Advisory to both crews. Fourteen seconds later, it issued a Resolution Advisory for the Boeing to descend. The Boeing crew complied, increasing their rate of descent to approximately 2,600 ft/min. Meanwhile, the Tupolev crew discussed traffic displayed on their vertical speed indicator. At the moment of impact, the Boeing was flying a northern heading with a pitch angle of approximately -2 degrees at an altitude of 34,890 feet.