What happened
During a flight originating from Bukhta Somnitelnaya on Wrangel Island toward a drifting ice floe in the central Arctic Basin, an accident occurred during the landing phase. As the aircraft was performing its landing run, the right main landing gear ski made contact with an ice hummock, resulting in the component breaking. This impact caused the nose of the aircraft to strike the ice surface. Upon subsequent contact with the ice, the fuselage split into three distinct sections.
Despite the structural failure of the airframe, all 6 crew and 4 passengers managed to exit the wreckage without sustaining any injuries. The survivors were later rescued by a separate aircraft. Following the incident, the wreckage was ignited and left on the moving ice floe.
On 11DEC1959, an Icelandic Coast Guard plane located the debris field approximately 155 miles northwest of Iceland, near the eastern coast of Greenland close to Scoresby Sound. However, due to heavy fog, search efforts were unable to relocate the site a few days later. The wreckage eventually sank into the ocean.
Findings
- The primary cause of the structural breakup was the impact with an ice hummock during the landing sequence.