Accident Details
The aircraft was completing a positioning flight from Nikolayevsk-on-Amur to Magadan with an intermediate stop at Okhotsk. En route, the pilots encountered poor weather conditions with turbulence and heavy icing. The airplane lost altitude and eventually dove into the ground before crashing in flames at an altitude of 900 meters on the slope of Mt Dzhugdzhur (1,207 meters high) located in the region of Enken.
Weather Conditions
At the time of the accident, weather conditions were bad, with low visibility, snow falls, severe icing conditions, turbulence, wind from 140° at 100 km/h, and an outside air temperature of -18°C.
Wreckage and Crew
The burned wreckage was found five days later. All five crew members were killed.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined that the loss of control was caused by an excessive accumulation of ice on the wings, stabilizers, and tail combined with the extreme poor weather conditions. It was considered that the information transmitted to the crew related to weather was incomplete and did not reflect the truth. Also, ATC assistance was considered as inefficient.