Accident
Aeroflot Flight 699, a scheduled flight from Moscow Domodedovo Airport to Krasnovodsk Airport (now Türkmenbaşy International Airport), crashed on approach to its destination. The aircraft made a very heavy landing and broke apart after a poorly executed approach by an inexperienced co-pilot.
Aircraft
The accident aircraft was a Tupolev Tu-154B-1 operated by Aeroflot, registered as CCCP-85254 (msn 78A254). It was first flown in 1977 and had accumulated 15,859 flying hours over 8,082 cycles.
Investigation
The investigation found the aircraft to be serviceable at the time of the crash with no significant faults. The crew came under scrutiny and were found to be seriously lacking in crew resource management and the skills necessary to carry out a challenging approach. The pilot in charge allowed an inexperienced co-pilot to conduct the approach without close supervision, resulting in an unstable approach and a very heavy landing estimated at 4.8g. The aircraft's tail broke off, and 11 passengers were thrown from the fuselage and killed.
Causes
The primary cause of the accident was the poor crew resource management of the pilot in charge, who failed to closely monitor the pilot flying, who had limited experience and skill.