What happened
On the night of January 22, an aircraft was performing a descent from 5,700 meters to 4,500 meters under favorable weather conditions. The crew had recently confirmed an estimated arrival time in Perm for approximately 15 minutes later. Shortly after receiving clearance to descend, the aircraft lost stability and entered a high-speed dive, reaching velocities of 1,000 km/h.
As the plane descended to an altitude of 2,700 meters, the pilot briefly regained control, causing the aircraft to loop upward. However, the intense gravitational forces caused structural failure and the loss of various components. The aircraft subsequently fell out of control and impacted a snow-covered field, approximately 90 km north of Perm near Petukhovo, at a speed of 250 km/h.
Search teams located the wreckage at 1400LT on January 22. The accident resulted in 39 fatalities. While it was initially reported that four passengers survived the initial impact, they succumbed to the extreme environmental temperature of -41° C before rescue teams could reach the site.
Findings
Official investigations were unable to establish a definitive cause for the loss of control. Although there were unconfirmed reports regarding the presence of explosive traces on certain debris, Soviet authorities stated that no military operations were occurring in the vicinity at the time of the crash.