What happened
A cargo mission traveling from Sukhumi to Krasnovodsk, with scheduled stops in Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don, ended in a fatal accident during its departure from Rostov-on-Don Airport. The aircraft was transporting one ton of Christmas trees and mandarins, along with 12 passengers consisting of engineers and pilots, and four crew members. At the time of takeoff, environmental conditions were characterized by nighttime darkness and heavy fog, which limited horizontal visibility to 720 meters and vertical visibility to just 60 meters.
During the initial climb, after reaching a height of approximately 170 meters while traveling at 320 km/h, the captain ordered the flaps to be retracted. Following this maneuver, the aircraft experienced a loss of altitude and began a descent at a rate of 5 to 7 meters per second under a load of 1.5 G. The aircraft entered a nose-down attitude, accelerating to 405 km/h before impacting a stand of pine trees in a forested area roughly 5 kilometers from the airfield. The impact caused the plane to burst into flames. The wreckage was located 1,180 meters left of the approach path. There were 16 fatalities and no survivors.
Findings
Investigations into the crash revealed that the aircraft was operating at a weight exceeding its maximum takeoff weight by 943 kilograms, although the center of gravity remained within acceptable parameters. The investigation also identified significant deficiencies regarding flight preparation, organizational oversight, and the level of training provided to the crew members.