What happened
During an en route flight, the crew received notification that weather conditions at Samarkand were unfavorable. They were subsequently authorized to divert directly to Stalinabad. While navigating through cloudy conditions, the pilot in command made a critical navigational error by mistaking the Chakchar Mountain Range for the Kush-Tang Mountain Range. This misidentification led to the initiation of a descent that was premature relative to the actual terrain.
As the aircraft descended, it reached an altitude of 2,600 meters when the right wing struck a rocky peak. The impact caused the aircraft to crash approximately 400 meters lower, coming to rest at an altitude of 2,270 meters. Search and rescue operations were launched immediately but were suspended after several days without any trace of the aircraft or its occupants. On May 8, 1949, the wreckage was finally located on the slope of Mt Bel'-Aut within a mountain range in the Surxondaryo province of eastern Uzbekistan.
Findings
The official investigation determined that the accident resulted from the crew cutting their route and following an incorrect track after confusing two distinct mountain ranges. Because the descent began too early, the aircraft was flying at an insufficient altitude when it encountered terrain. Poor visibility caused by cloud cover was identified as a significant contributory factor. Additional contributing elements included poor decision-making in flight operations, a lack of discipline among the flying crew, inadequate organization and communication between the crew and operations control, and the provision of expired weather forecast information to the flight crew.