What happened
During a scheduled test flight as part of a certification program, an aircraft departed from Kiev-Gostomel Airport with a crew of nine. While the aircraft was maintaining a cruising altitude of 19,000 feet and a speed of 614 km/h, the radome underwent a structural disintegration. This failure caused the front cargo door to open and subsequently detach from the airframe.
As the door separated, debris impacted the third engine, triggering an automatic shutdown. This sequence of events induced severe oscillations and vibrations throughout the aircraft. Following the impact, the flight management system and the third hydraulic system both failed. These malfunctions prevented the crew from accessing essential flight data, including altitude, airspeed, and the angle of attack.
In an attempt to manage the descent, the crew deployed the flaps to reduce speed. However, an asymmetrical release of the flaps caused the descent rate to accelerate. The aircraft ultimately crashed into a wooded region situated approximately 1.5 km south of Korda and 43 km west of the departure airport. The impact resulted in the destruction of the aircraft and eight fatalities. One engineer survived the accident by bailing out during the descent, though he sustained serious injuries.
Findings
- The disintegration of the radome initiated a chain of mechanical failures.
- Debris from the detached cargo door struck the third engine, leading to its shutdown.
- The loss of the third hydraulic system and the flight management system caused a total loss of critical flight instrumentation.