What happened
A ferry flight, returning to its home country following maintenance in Minsk, was en route from Belarus to Mali with several scheduled stops. While flying at night through severe weather, the crew of the TZ-ABH, an unspecified aircraft type, deviated from its intended flight path. During the flight, air traffic control issued an instruction for a 360-degree right turn to avoid conflicting traffic; however, this command was misinterpreted by the crew.
While operating at approximately 10,000 feet near Estenc in the Alpes-Maritimes region, the aircraft struck the slope of Mt L'Avalanche. The impact resulted in the death of all seven occupants, consisting of five crew members and two passengers. The wreckage was located several hours after the collision.
Findings
The investigation identified that significant wind drift caused by strong southern winds pushed the aircraft northward, away from the G7 Airway. This drift went uncorrected by the crew, who were unaware of its magnitude. Furthermore, a critical breakdown in communication occurred because the pilot-in-command did not speak English or French, while the co-pilot spoke French but not Russian. This necessitated using radio translations, which introduced delays and potential errors in understanding instructions.
The misinterpretation of a 360-degree turn instruction as a command to fly heading 360 led the aircraft onto a path toward the terrain. These issues were further complicated by heavy storms and turbulence, which made precise navigation difficult using the available radiocompass equipment. The investigation also noted that the aircraft was flying at an altitude lower than required for its actual position relative to the mountains.