What happened
A cargo operation traveling from Biisk toward Alma-Ata ended in a fatal accident when the aircraft struck a mountain slope. The flight was transporting 3,600 kilograms of various goods along with five crew members and one passenger serving as a loadmaster. While approximately 70 km from the destination airport, air traffic control authorized the crew to descend from 6,000 meters to 3,600 meters.
At the time of the descent, meteorological conditions were poor, characterized by low ceilings and restricted visibility. Although several radio communications occurred between the pilots and air traffic control during this phase, much of the transmission was difficult to hear. Consequently, the crew proceeded with the descent without a precise understanding of their exact position or visual identification of ground obstacles. At 19:08 local time, the aircraft impacted a mountain peak situated at an elevation of 2,370 meters, located 56 km east of Alma-Ata Airport. The impact occurred 22 meters below the summit, and all nine fatalities were recorded.
Findings
The investigation determined that the accident was a result of controlled flight into terrain. Several contributing elements were identified during the inquiry:
- The flight crew did not adhere to instructions provided by air traffic control
- Radio communication quality degraded significantly in the final two minutes of flight, likely due to interference from the mountain range
- There was an insufficient level of assistance provided by air traffic control