What happened
On the morning of the accident, a single-engine aircraft departed from Semipalatinsk Airport at 09:17 local time, bound for Abay. The flight was carrying two pilots and ten passengers. Shortly after departure, the aircraft encountered deteriorating weather, characterized by snow, winds reaching 45 km/h, and broken cloud layers between 600 and 1,000 meters, which reduced visibility to between 4 and 6 km.
In response to these conditions, air traffic control directed the crew to return to the departure airport. Although the crew acknowledged this instruction, communication was lost at 09:36 local time. Following the commencement of search and rescue operations, the wreckage was located in a snow-covered field situated 35 km south of Semipalatinsk. The impact resulted in the total destruction of the aircraft and 12 fatalities.
Findings
Official investigations concluded that the primary cause of the accident was an aerodynamic stall triggered by a loss of airspeed. This occurred because the aircraft lost longitudinal controllability when the center of gravity shifted outside the permitted 40-42% range. The shift in weight was caused by several passengers moving from the rear lavatory area toward the front of the cabin.
Additional contributing factors included inadequate weather assessment by the crew during flight preparation and the challenging visibility conditions present during the flight.