On 1. July 2002 at 21:35:32 hrs a Tupolev TU 154 M of its flight from Moscow/ Russia to Barselona/ Spain and a Boeing B 757, which was on a flight from Bergamo/ Italy to Brussels/ Belgium, collided near the town of Űberlingen (Lake Constance).
Following the collision both aeroplanes crashed on the ground north of the town of Űberlingen. The wreckages were spread over seven sites where major and many sites where minor wreckage were found.
Tupolev TU 154 M
At 18:48 hrs the aeroplane took off from Moscow/ Domodedovo airport for a charter flight to Barselona. 12 crew members and 57 passengers, of when 45 were children and adolescents and 12 were adults, were aboard the aeroplane.
At 21:15 hrs the aeroplane entered the German airspace and was guided by Munich Radar. The clearance given already previously included a direct approach to the Transdingen VOR at a cruise flight level of FL 360 (36000 feet). With the change to the Swiss air traffic control (ACC Zurich) at21:30 hrs the aeroplane was guided on the frequency of 128.050 MHz with the transponder code A 7520.
At 21:34:42 hrs the airborne Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) warned the crew against probable conflicting traffic.
Seven seconds later ACC Zurich instructed the crew of the Tupolev to conduct an “expedite descent” to FL 350 and during this advised them of the conflicting traffic. The crew did not confirm this instruction but initiated a descent. Simultaneously the airborne TCAS issued the command to climb. Another seven seconds later the radar controller repeated his instruction to the crew to conduct an expedite descent to FL 350. This instruction was immediately acknowledged by the crew. After that, the radar controller informed the crew about other traffic at FL 360 in the 2 o’clock position.