![]() 4K-AZ48, the aircraft involved in the accident | |
Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 23 December 2005 |
Summary | Instrument failure followed by controlled flight into water |
Site | Caspian Sea, near Nardaran, Azerbaijan 40°35′22.1″N50°02′03.2″E / 40.589472°N 50.034222°E |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Antonov An-140-100 |
Aircraft name | Yevlakh |
Operator | Azerbaijan Airlines |
IATA flight No. | J2217 |
ICAO flight No. | AHY217 |
Call sign | AZAL 217 |
Registration | 4K-AZ48 |
Flight origin | Baku Airport, Azerbaijan |
Destination | Aktau Airport, Kazakhstan |
Occupants | 23 |
Passengers | 18 |
Crew | 5 |
Fatalities | 23 |
Survivors | 0 |
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. [1] The flight was operated by an Antonov An-140.
Around five minutes after a night-time departure from Baku Airport, the crew reported a systems failure. Heading over the Caspian Sea at night without flight instruments made it difficult for the crew to judge their flight parameters. Whilst attempting to return to Baku, the aircraft crashed shortly afterwards on the shore of the Caspian Sea, killing all passengers and crew. [2] [3]
Investigations from the Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company have discovered that three independent gyroscopes were not providing stabilised heading and altitude performance information to the crew early in the flight. [4]