What happened
On October 20, 1986, Aeroflot Flight 6502, a domestic Soviet passenger service, was operating a Tupolev Tu-134A from Sverdlovsk to Grozny with a scheduled stop in Kuibyshev. The aircraft was carrying 94 individuals, comprising both passengers and crew members.
During the approach phase at Kuibyshev, the flight crew initiated an instrument-only landing procedure. To facilitate this, the cockpit windows were covered with curtains. However, the aircraft failed to stop within the runway limits and overran the end of the paved surface, resulting in a catastrophic crash. The impact and subsequent events claimed the lives of 70 individuals on board, while 24 survived.
Investigation
Soviet authorities conducted an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the accident. The investigation focused heavily on the operational decisions made by the flight crew during the final approach. Investigators noted that the use of curtains to block out visual references from the cockpit windows was a critical factor in the sequence of events leading to the overrun.
Findings
The official conclusion attributed the accident to pilot negligence. The decision to rely solely on instruments while obscuring external visual cues contributed significantly to the loss of control and the subsequent runway excursion.