What happened
During a coordinated night-time flight exercise, two heavy transport aircraft were operating out of Dzhankoy Air Base. One of the aircraft involved in the incident was an II-76 bearing registration CCCP-76679, which was transporting a crew of eight members. The second aircraft, a four-engine transport, was also part of the same training operation.
While performing the maneuvers, the two planes collided in mid-air. Following the impact, both aircraft entered a steep descent and crashed into Lake Sivash, located in Crimea. There were no survivors from either aircraft; the total number of 16 fatalities was recorded across both crews.
Findings
Investigations into the disaster concluded that the primary factor leading to the mid-air impact was pilot error during the execution of the night exercise.