What happened
On October 10, 2016, a crew from Polar Airlines was assigned to operate flight YP20 3, a scheduled passenger service intended for October 11, 2016. The planned route included stops at Yakutsk, Momа, and Belaya Gora. The crew consisted of a flight inspector, the pilot in command, a navigator, a flight engineer, a flight operator, and a flight attendant.
During the flight, the mission was being conducted under flight assignment No. 4482. While the flight was officially part of a training program, the documentation regarding the specific training objective contained inaccuracies. The flight was actually being used to train the pilot in command to operate the aircraft from the right-hand seat, a procedure involving the pilot performing the duties of a co-pilot.
The investigation
An investigation into the flight documentation was conducted following the identification of errors in the flight assignment. The investigation examined the flight assignment No. 4482, which had originally listed the flight purpose as part of Program 7, Task 2 of the airline's flight training manual.
According to statements provided by the deputy flight director of Polar Airlines, the entry in the flight assignment was recorded incorrectly. The investigation confirmed that the actual purpose of the flight was to satisfy requirements under Program 2, Section 4, Exercise 2a of the airline's training manual, specifically focusing on preparing the pilot in command for operations from the right-hand seat on An-26(100) and An-24 aircraft.