What happened
A flight departing from Barnaul Airport for Altayskoye, via an intended stop in Biisk, failed to reach its intermediate destination. Instead of landing in Biisk as planned, the crew proceeded directly toward Altayskoye. During the approach, the aircraft encountered challenging weather characterized by low cloud cover and light snowfall, which reduced visibility to between 1,500 and 2,500 meters.
While maintaining an altitude of approximately 820 meters, the left wing of the aircraft type made contact with treetops. In an attempt to maintain flight, the pilot increased engine power; however, the plane only remained airborne for roughly six seconds and traveled about 200 meters before reaching a critical angle of attack. This led to a stall and subsequent impact on the southern slope of Mt Vereskovaya, located approximately 12.5 km from Altayskoye.
Search and rescue operations were initiated after the flight failed to arrive at its destination. The wreckage was discovered the following morning, March 8, at an altitude of 890 meters in a rocky region. The accident resulted in 10 fatalities and several serious injuries. Among the survivors, the copilot and one passenger later succumbed to their injuries on March 9.
Findings
The investigation concluded that the crash was caused by controlled flight into terrain. The crew lost situational awareness while operating in low visibility and below the minimum safe altitude. Contributing elements included a lack of air traffic control assistance and an inaccurate weather bulletin from the Barnaul bureau that did not accurately represent the actual conditions present at the time of the flight.