Circumstances
The aircraft was performing commercial flight GW-5719 from Krasnodar to Gyumri, transporting two VAZ-2121 "Niva" vehicles and luggage. [2] The total weight of the cargo was 2900 kg, with six attendants. The aircraft crew consisted of five people, with Commander Aristarkhov. The total calculated weight of the aircraft was 23988 kg, close to the maximum limit of 24000 kg. According to the weather forecast received by the crew, continuous cloud cover with a base of 90 meters, fog with vertical visibility up to 90 meters, and sometimes thickening fog reducing visibility to 200 meters and vertical visibility to 60 meters were expected in Gyumri. Based on this data, Commander Aristarkhov decided to take off for Gyumri. At 17:30 MSK, the aircraft was ready for the flight, and at 17:44, the crew contacted the taxiing controller to request engine start-up. However, the taxiing controller repeatedly prohibited engine start-up, stating that it was the instruction of the flight chief. It turned out that this delay was due to a unique reason — the controller wanted to board passengers without tickets, passing customs control. While the aircraft was on the aerodrome, the controllers, with the security personnel, first boarded 4 passengers with luggage, then 8 more. At 18:27, the crew finally received permission to start the engines, and at 18:32, began taxiing to the pre-departure area. During taxiing, 13 more passengers boarded. The calculated loading weight then reached 5628 kg, bringing the takeoff weight to 26246 kg, an overload of 2246 kg. The balance, however, was within the permissible rear limit. At 18:46, the Ан-26 with 5 crew members and 31 passengers on board took off from Pashkovsky Airport (Krasnodar). [3]
It is noted that at the time of the aircraft's takeoff, the weather in Gyumri was already poor: the airport was enveloped in fog, and visibility dropped to 700 meters. However, an hour and a half earlier and until 19:30, the controllers in Gyumri and Krasnodar stopped exchanging weather information. Although during the flight, the crew of 26141 was warned twice by the crews of planes returning from Gyumri that the fog was dense with visibility reduced to 300 meters. Moreover, when the aircraft was near Stavropol, the controller of the North Caucasus Air Traffic Management Center (СКЦ АУВД) contacted the crew to know if they intended to continue their flight to Gyumri, receiving an affirmative response. When the aircraft approached the limit of the Gyumri control center, the crew established a connection with the airport controller and reported its entry into the zone at an altitude of 5700 meters. The controller reported a horizontal visibility of 600 meters at the airport and asked the crew for their decision. The airport's meteorological minimum for Ан-26 aircraft performing an approach by trajectory guidance system was 60 on 800 meters, so the crew had to head to an alternate airport or wait for an improvement in weather conditions. The commander declared his intention to land and requested a descent to 4500 meters. At this altitude, the controller informed that the visibility at the airport had fallen to 400 meters, the crew responded "Understood" but continued to descend to 3600 meters, the transition altitude. At this altitude, the crew contacted the approach controller, indicating a descent for an approach based on radio beacons. The approach controller reported a visibility of 400 meters at the airport and a pressure of 642 mm Hg, authorizing the descent despite knowing the meteorological minimum of 200 on 2500 meters for this approach. The crew knew that the weather conditions were below the minimum but started the descent anyway. They set the altimeters to 640 mm Hg, slightly below the reported pressure, falsifying the readings by 26 meters. However, this did not affect the flight as the crew used the radio altimeter. [3]
Disaster
Knowing that the weather conditions at the airport were below the minimum required for Ан-26 aircraft, Commander Aristarkhov, however, wanted (needed) to land in Gyumri, which made him nervous and led to mistakes. In particular, the auxiliary power unit was not activated, as required by the operating manual in case of approach at a mountain airport for an aircraft weighing 20100 kg or more. During the third and fourth turns, the crew deployed the lift-enhancing devices and the landing gear hastily. On the descent path, the flight speed varied from 260 to 216 km/h instead of 230 km/h, engine power varied from 13 to 47° on the throttle position indicators, the course varied from 10 to 20°, with right and left inclinations of 8 to 10°, the movements of the depth controls created vertical loads of 0.85 to 1.3 units, the vertical speed varied from 2 to 12 m/s, and the actions on the ailerons were very marked. At 20:54:15, the controller announced that the visibility at the airport had dropped to 200 meters, the aircraft passed the outer marker (DPRM). After passing the DPRM, the crew stabilized the speed at 230 km/h, but the vertical speed was 4 m/s instead of 3 m/s, making the aircraft descend below the normal path and the outer marker was crossed at an altitude of 40–50 meters, 20 meters below the standard. The pilots seemed to be looking for visual references, causing inclinations of 8-10° to the right and left, and course variations of 10 to 25°. Four to five seconds after passing the outer marker, the aircraft was at an altitude of 10–20 meters, when the pilots pulled the stick, raising the nose of the aircraft, creating a load of 1.2 units and reducing the descent speed to 1 m/s. The engine power was reduced from 30 to 22° on the throttle, slowing down the decrease in flight speed. Ten seconds later, the aircraft passed the runway threshold, the speed decreasing to 216 km/h. On the distance between the outer marker and the runway threshold, the aircraft was inclined to the right by 12°, but at the moment of crossing the threshold, the inclination was reduced to 1-2°. [3]
In horizontal flight, the 26141 aircraft crossed the runway threshold at an altitude of 15–25 meters. The speed continued to decrease, the engine power was increased to 48° on the throttle, slowing down the rate of speed decrease. During the flight over the runway, the angle of attack and pitch angle increased to 6-8°, making the flight path horizontal, which shifted the angle of vision higher, making it difficult to perceive close visual references. With visibility on the runway at 200 meters, the runway became difficult to discern. At a speed of 190 km/h, the aircraft was 1000 meters from the runway threshold when the controller ordered: Climb to eight hundred meters. The commander decided on a go-around, pulling the stick sharply to pitch the aircraft up and setting the engines to takeoff power. At 20:56:28, he informed the controller: I am climbing to eight hundred meters. The Ан-26, with the flaps in the landing position (deployment angle — 38°), started to climb with a vertical speed of 2–3 m/s, the crew retracted the landing gear. But due to the high weight of the aircraft, the engine thrust was insufficient, the speed started to decrease. The aircraft climbed for about 30 seconds to 95 meters, the speed dropped to 165 km/h, entering a stall, the aircraft tilted to the right and descended, at 20:57:01 with a tilt of 60°, a vertical speed of about 20 m/s and a flight speed of 150 km/h, it crashed to the ground to the left of the runway at 2990 meters from the threshold. The Ан-26 was completely destroyed and burned. One passenger was seriously injured but survived. The 35 other people on board (30 passengers and 5 crew members) perished. [3] As of 2015, this aviation disaster is the second deadliest in Armenia, and the largest in the country since 1991. [4] It is noted that the largest aviation disaster in Armenia is the 1988 Soviet Air Force Il-76 crash near Leniankan (name of Gyumri at the time) in 1988, killing 77 victims with only one survivor. [5]
The 22 January 1971 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash occurred when an Aeroflot Antonov An-12B, registered CCCP-11000, flying from Omsk Tsentralny Airport, in the Soviet Union's (RSFSR) on 22 January 1971, crashed 15 km (9.3 mi) short of the runway on approach to Surgut International Airport, Surgut, RSFSR. An investigation found the aircraft's ice protection system was ineffective because the engine bleed air valves were closed during the flight; ice therefore built up on the aircraft causing it to go out of control.
Aeroflot Flight 721 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight between Moscow and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the Russian SFSR. On Wednesday, 2 September 1964, the aircraft flying this route, an Ilyushin Il-18V, crashed into the side of a hill on approach to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, killing 87 of the 93 people on board. At the time of the accident, it was the deadliest Il-18 crash and the deadliest aviation accident on Russian soil.
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.
Aeroflot Flight 191 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight from Vnukovo International Airport to Ashkhabad International Airport, with a stopover in Krasnovodsk Airport. On 5 March 1963, the Ilyushin Il-18 crashed while landing at Ashgabat International Airport as a result of a dust storm. 12 of the 54 people on board were killed.
The 31 January 1971 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash occurred when an Aeroflot Antonov An-12B, aircraft registration CCCP-12996, flying from Roshchino International Airport, Tyumen, in the Soviet Union's Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR) on 31 January 1971, crashed 13.6 km (8.5 mi) short of the runway on approach to Surgut International Airport, Surgut, RSFSR. An investigation found the aircraft's loss of control was caused by icing.
True Aviation Flight 21 was a regularly scheduled domestic cargo flight in Bangladesh, flying from Cox's Bazar to Jashore. On 9 March 2016, the Antonov An-26 crashed into the Bay of Bengal shortly after take-off from Cox's Bazar Airport. The aircraft was attempting to return to the airport after experiencing an engine failure. Three of the four crew members on board were killed in the accident.
Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9045 was a cargo flight that crashed on approach to Nalchik while carrying 12,515 kg (27,591 lb) of coins from the Saint Petersburg Mint, killing all 13 occupants.
Aeroflot Flight 2808 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Mineralnye Vody to Ivanovo, both in Russia, with a stopover in Donetsk, Ukraine on 27 August 1992. While attempting to land at Ivanovo airport, the Tupolev Tu-134 crashed into a group of buildings in the village of Lebyazhy Lug. Investigators determined the cause of the accident was errors made by the crew and the air traffic controller. There were no fatalities on the ground, but all 84 people on board the flight died in the crash.
Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Moscow to Alma-Ata via Omsk, Soviet Union, that crashed in low visibility conditions on 4 January 1965, killing 64 of the 103 people on board.
Aeroflot Flight A-13 was a scheduled Soviet domestic passenger flight from Baku, Azerbaijan to Fort-Shevchenko in Kazakhstan that crashed on 18 August 1973 shortly after takeoff killing 56 of the 64 passengers and crew aboard. The Antonov An-24 had suffered an engine failure on takeoff and was attempting to return to the airport when it struck an oil rig cable at low altitude resulting in a crash. At the time, it was the second deadliest accident involving the An-24 and remains the second deadliest aviation accident in Azerbaijani history. The engine failure had been caused by the effect of continuous overheating on the performance of the blades.
Aeroflot Flight U-45 was a passenger flight operated by an Ilyushin Il-18 that crashed during the approach to Samarkand on Friday, 6 February 1970, resulting in the death of 92 of the 106 people on board. An investigation revealed the aircraft went below the minimum obstacle clearance altitude (MOCA) during approach to Samarkand International Airport.
Aeroflot Flight N-36 was a scheduled domestic Aeroflot passenger flight from Chernivtsi International Airport to Zhuliany Airport, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic that crashed on 17 December 1976 near Kiev Airport, resulting in 48 fatalities and 7 survivors.
The An-24 Crash in Navoiy came March 23, 1991. An-24 belonged to Aeroflot airline. The plane crashed in Navoiy airport during landing. 34 people died.
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Aeroflot Flight F-77 was an An-24B operating from Moscow to Bugulma with an intermediate stop in Cheboksary that crashed near Bugulma on Sunday, March 2, 1986, resulting in the deaths of all 38 occupants on board.
Aeroflot Flight 37577 was a scheduled domestic flight from Perm to Sovetsky. On Tuesday, November 21, 1989, the An-24B aircraft crashed near Sovetsky, killing 32 of the 40 people on board.
The 1961 Mineralnye Vody Il-18 crash was an aviation accident that occurred on December 31, 1961, near the city of Mineralnye Vody. The accident involved an Ilyushin Il-18V aircraft operated by Aeroflot and resulted in the deaths of 32 people.
The 1970 Batagay An-24 crash was an aviation accident that occurred on Wednesday, January 28, 1970, in the vicinity of Batagay involving an An-24B aircraft operated by Aeroflot, resulting in the death of 34 people.
Aeroflot Flight 145 was an aviation accident that occurred on Thursday, 29 January 1970, near Murmansk, involving a Tu-124V aircraft operated by Aeroflot. The flight, from Leningrad to Murmansk, crashed, resulting in 11 fatalities.
