What happened
During a flight originating from Vnukovo Airport, the aircraft was performing an approach to Kharkiv-Osnova Airport. While cruising at an altitude of 7,200 meters, the crew received clearance to descend to 1,500 meters. During the descent phase, while maintaining speeds between 400 and 500 km/h and a vertical descent rate of 6 meters per second, the aircraft experienced a catastrophic structural failure.
The separation of both wings caused the plane to enter a steep dive, eventually impacting the ground in a forested region near Rus'ka Lozova, situated approximately 25 km north of its destination. The impact resulted in the total destruction of the Antonov AN-10 and caused 122 fatalities, with no survivors reported.
Findings
Investigations into the accident concluded that the primary cause was a structural failure involving the lower panel of the center section. This failure led to the subsequent loss of both wings. The investigation identified fatigue cracks within the structure as the underlying mechanism for the breakage.
Several contributing factors were noted, including the aircraft's rate of descent and the presence of atmospheric turbulence at the time of the incident. Furthermore, it was discovered that a design flaw prevented maintenance technicians from inspecting this specific section of the airframe during routine service. Because these fatigue fractures remained undetectable due to this faulty conception, they could not be identified before the failure occurred. As a result of these findings, the Antonov AN-10 was withdrawn from all passenger operations.