Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 23 December 2002 |
Summary | Multiple crew errors due to insufficient training |
Site | Near Ardestan, Iran |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Antonov An-140 |
Operator | Aeromist-Kharkiv |
Registration | UR-14003 |
Flight origin | Kharkiv International Airport, Ukraine |
Destination | Isfahan International Airport, Iran |
Passengers | 38 |
Crew | 6 |
Fatalities | 44 |
Survivors | 0 |
On 23 December 2002, an Antonov An-140 crashed near Ardestan, Iran, killing everyone on board. The crash, with 44 fatalities, killed a number of Russian and Ukrainian aviation specialists.
The aircraft was en route from Kharkiv in Ukraine to Isfahan in Iran, having stopped in Trabzon, Turkey to refuel. [1] It hit high ground on a night-time descent to Isfahan International Airport, killing all on board. [2] [3] The passengers, including several Russian and Ukrainian specialists and officials, [1] were headed for the official inauguration of Iran's version of another Antonov plane, the An-140 commuter airliner, which is licensed by the Antonov design bureau. Iranian officials at first said they believed pilot error was the cause of the crash, but later said it was too early to determine what caused the accident. A short summary of the report was published on the Flight Global website. [2] [4]
The aircraft's flight data recorder was recovered and the initial investigation into the crash stated that the primary cause was due to "procedural navigation errors by the crew". [2] The Commonwealth of Independent States' Interstate Aviation Committee report concluded that the main causes of the crash were poor crew management, failing to apply approach procedures, and incorrect use of the aircraft's GPS satellite navigation system, in breach of its operational requirements and their rating for its use on approach; failure to use information from other installed navigation equipment; failure to seek an alternative approach when they realised the GPS could not be giving a realistic distance measuring equipment readout. [2] [5]
The Antonov An-72 is a Soviet/Ukrainian transport aircraft, developed by Antonov. It was designed as an STOL transport and intended as a replacement for the Antonov An-26, but variants have found success as commercial freighters.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 2002:
The Antonov An-26 is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.
The Antonov An-140 is a turboprop regional airliner, designed by the Ukrainian Antonov ASTC bureau as a successor to the Antonov An-24, with extended cargo capacity and the ability to use unprepared airstrips.
Pilot error generally refers to an accident in which an action or decision made by the pilot was the cause or a contributing factor that led to the accident, but also includes the pilot's failure to make a correct decision or take proper action. Errors are intentional actions that fail to achieve their intended outcomes. Chicago Convention defines accident as "An occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft [...] in which [...] a person is fatally or seriously injured [...] except when the injuries are [...] inflicted by other persons." Hence the definition of the "pilot error" does not include deliberate crash.
Aeromist-Kharkiv or Aeromost-Kharkov was an airline headquartered in Kharkiv, Ukraine, operating scheduled and chartered regional flights out of its base at Kharkiv International Airport using a fleet of up to three Antonov An-140 aircraft, the first ones of that type to enter commercial airline service. The company was established on 6 June 2002 under Pavlo Naumenko's initiative. It ceased operations in June 2007.
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 was a scheduled passenger flight between Baku and Aktau, Kazakhstan that crashed into the Caspian Sea at ca. 22:40 on 23 December 2005. The flight was operated by an Antonov An-140.
Aerosvit Flight 241 (VV241/EW241) was a scheduled international passenger flight from the Ukrainian city of Odessa to Thessaloniki, Greece. On 17 December 1997, the Yakovlev Yak-42 operating the flight registered as UR-42334 flew into a mountainside during a missed approach into Thessaloniki in Greece. All 70 people aboard were killed.
On 12 September 2012 at about 12:20 local time, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Flight 251, operated by an Antonov An-28, crashed while attempting to land at Palana Airport in Russia. Both pilots were killed, together with 8 of the 12 passengers. All 4 survivors were in serious condition. The aircraft descended below minima on approach in instrument meteorological conditions and impacted a forested slope. On July 6, 2021, an Antonov An-26 assigned to the same flight route and number also crashed while on its approach to land at Palana Airport.
On 13 February 2013, a Ukrainian Antonov An-24 passenger aircraft operating South Airlines flight 8971 crashed on landing at Donetsk International Airport, Ukraine, killing 5 of the 52 people on board.
Aeroflot Flight 415 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight operated by Aeroflot from Lviv to Sochi with a stopover in Simferopol. On 28 July 1962 the Antonov An-10 operating the route crashed near Gagra, Abkhaz ASSR, Georgian SSR, killing all 81 passengers and crew on board.
Ukrainian-Mediterranean Airlines Flight 4230 was a chartered international passenger flight, a Yakovlev Yak-42D operated by Ukrainian UM Airlines, which crashed in 2003.
Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Iranian capital Tehran Mehrabad International Airport to Tabas, South Khorasan Province, Iran. On 10 August 2014, the HESA IrAn-140 twin turboprop serving the flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Mehrabad International Airport, falling into a boulevard near the Azadi Stadium. Of the 42 passengers and six crew on board, 40 people died.
The Antonov An-12 is a transport aircraft designed and manufactured by the Ukrainian manufacturing and services company Antonov. Given the long operational history of the An-12, more than 190 An-12s have crashed involving many casualties. The An-12 has also been involved in a number of aviation incidents.
Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704 was a scheduled Iranian domestic passenger flight from Iranian capital Tehran Mehrabad International Airport to Yasuj in southwest Iran. On 18 February 2018, during its approach to Yasuj, the aircraft serving the flight, an ATR 72-212 operated by Iran Aseman Airlines, crashed into Mount Dena in the Zagros Mountains near Noqol village in Semirom county, Isfahan Province. All 60 passengers and 6 crew members on board were killed.
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Flight 251 (PTK251) was a domestic Russian scheduled passenger flight from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana, both in Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East. On 6 July 2021, the Antonov An-26 serving the flight crashed on approach to Palana, killing all 28 passengers and crew on board.