What happened
A charter flight traveling from Leningrad to Moscow via an intermediate stop in Leningrad was involved in a fatal accident during its final approach. The flight departed Leningrad-Pulkovo Airport at 20:59 local time. While the aircraft was descending from the north at an altitude of approximately 600 meters amidst marginal weather conditions, it experienced an uncontrolled descent.
The aircraft's nose pitched down before it struck trees and crashed in a heavily wooded region situated roughly 5 km north of Moscow-Sheremetyevo Airport. The impact caused a fire that consumed the plane. Debris from the wreckage was distributed across a site measuring approximately 550 meters in length and 80 meters in width. There were no survivors among the 174 people on board, which included passengers from Russia, Chile, Algeria, East Germany, and Australia.
Findings
Investigators were unable to establish a definitive cause for the accident. However, they did not rule out the possibility that the loss of control was triggered by a technical malfunction involving the elevator or longitudinal control systems.