What happened
During a flight traveling from Batumi toward Sukhumi, the flight crew encountered deteriorating weather conditions. To navigate around a low-pressure system located to the north, air traffic control authorized a change in the flight path. Shortly after this rerouting, the crew received clearance to descend to an altitude of 2,400 meters.
While maintaining a cruising speed of 410 km/h under conditions of night and marginal visibility, the aircraft collided with the southern slope of Mount Apshara, which has an elevation of 2,580 meters. The impact occurred approximately 26 km northeast of Gali, Abkhazia. Search efforts located the wreckage a few hours after the event, confirming that there were 38 fatalities and no survivors.
Findings
Investigations into the crash identified several critical errors involving both air traffic control and the flight crew. A primary factor was the decision by controllers to permit a descent to 2,400 meters, an altitude that was below the required minimum safe altitude of 3,600 meters for that specific region.
Furthermore, inaccuracies in tracking occurred after the route modification; at the time of the descent, the aircraft's actual position was approximately 25 km away from its intended flight path. The investigation also noted that the crew did not implement sufficient measures to verify their precise location during the period of degraded weather and rerouting.