Over the course of its life, the Tu-154 family of aircraft has seen an appropriate helping of variants. The initial production model was known simply as the "Tu-154" with seating for 164 with 42 examples being built in all. An upgraded form then appeared to become the Tu-154A which added additional internal fuel stores, exit doors and multiple interior configurations to suit carrier requirements. The engines were uprated Kuznetsovs. The Tu-154B brought about use of new, stronger wings due to fractures that began emerging in the preceding production models then in service. Additional fuel storage, exit doors and passenger seated was also introduced. The Tu-154B became the new Tu-154 standard to which the preceding marks were upgraded to when possible. A slightly differing Tu-154B form followed, this as the Tu-154B-1 with improved avionics, comforts and undercarriage with seating for 160 passengers. 64 of this subvariant were delivered. The Tu-154B-2 was similar and increased seating to 180 passengers with the loss of the onboard kitchen facility. 311 of this type were produced in all. The Tu-154S was a cargo-hauler conversion model with revised internals. Nine were converted from existing Tu-154 and Tu-154B models. The Tu-154M was a modernized variant appearing in 1982 with Soloviev D-30KU-154 series turbofans. Performance and operational ranges were both improved. The Tu-154M-LK-1 was a VIP model converted for astronaut (cosmonaut) training. The Tu-154M-ON was a one-off observation platform utilized by East Germany, lost to accident in 1997. The Tu-154M-100 was the last offered modernized mark first appearing in 1998. These three examples were differentiated by their Western-type avionics and seating for 157 and delivered to Slovakia for a time.
Early Tu-154 marks were powered by the Kuznetsov NK-8 series turbofan engines while later, more modern marks, appeared with the Soloviev D-30 series turbofan. Maximum take-off weight (MTOW) and range were improved between the two designs while maximum speeds and service ceilings reamined comparable.
Use of the Tu-154 inevitably went beyond civilian carrier hands with operations conducted at the government level for some. The type also gained a foothold in the lucrative military market where it served the air forces of Armenia, Bulgaria, China, Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic, Cuba, East Germany/Germany (reunified), North Korea, Poland, Mongolia, Russia/Soviet Union, Turkmenistan , Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
The a recent high profile crash involving a Tu-154 occurred on October 4th, 2010 when aircraft 101 - carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his cabinet - crashed on final approach, killing all on board. One of the deadliest crashed was CCCP-85311 on October 7th, 1985, which stalled and crashed due to pilot error and an overloaded plane - 200 souls were lost. The most recent published incident was on January 1st, 2011 when RA-85588 caught fire during taxiing, resulting in an explosion and death of three of the 124 persons on board.
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