What happened
A flight departing from Sverdlovsk Airport for Petropavl, carrying five crew members, four passengers, and a significant load of mail and goods, crashed during a nighttime mission. While en route, the aircraft encountered unexpected high winds and low visibility, which caused the crew to lose their orientation and fail to locate Petropavol.
In an attempt to manage the situation, the captain sought to divert to Kurgan Airport; however, communication difficulties prevented contact with ground control. A decision was made to return to Sverdlovsk, but because fuel levels had become critically low, the crew opted to proceed toward Petropavl despite that airport being closed due to adverse weather. Approximately 215 km from its destination, both engines failed because of fuel exhaustion. The crew attempted an emergency descent into a snow-covered field, but the aircraft type crashed roughly 250 meters from the Omsk-Tyumen railroad. The accident resulted in seven fatalities and two serious injuries.
Findings
Official investigations concluded that the crew lost orientation due to several critical failures. Key contributing factors included a lack of discipline, inadequate flight preparation leading to insufficient fuel reserves, and errors in navigational calculations. It was noted that over two hours of flight time were missing from the navigator's logbook, and the crew failed to utilize the flight direction finder.
Environmental and technical issues also played a role, including heavy snowfall, high winds, and malfunctioning communication equipment. The investigation highlighted poor flight management from regional air traffic services, an inaccurate weather forecast regarding wind conditions, and the unstable operation of the radio compass.