What happened
Approximately thirty minutes after departing from Bukhara Airport, the aircraft experienced a loss of power in its right engine caused by the failure of cylinder number two. Following this malfunction, the crew notified Air Traffic Control and proceeded toward Tashkent while operating on a single engine at an altitude of 2,400 meters.
The flight continued under single-engine conditions for one hour and 39 minutes. During this period, the crew unintentionally reduced power to the left engine. While flying at an altitude of approximately 100 meters, the crew attempted to restart the right engine. However, the propeller moved into a pitch position that generated significant aerodynamic drag. This loss of performance caused the aircraft to descend rapidly, resulting in a crash in a cotton field situated 34 km south of Tashkent-Yuzhny Airport.
The accident resulted in nine fatalities among the passengers, with an additional two deaths occurring the following day due to injuries. A total of 29 people were wounded during the impact.
Findings
Investigations determined that the initial engine failure was the result of a manufacturing defect in the second cylinder of the right engine. The subsequent crash was driven by a series of crew errors and incorrect decisions that rendered the aircraft uncontrollable during the low-altitude emergency.