What happened
On a flight departing from Milkovo Airport toward the south, a single-engine airplane encountered deteriorating weather conditions while traveling toward Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky-Galaktyrka Airport. As the aircraft descended through 2,400 meters, it entered a cloud layer positioned over the Sredinny Mountain Range.
While flying at an altitude of 2,200 meters, the aircraft encountered intense atmospheric downdrafts. This loss of altitude led to a collision with the north face of Mt Aag, which stands at an elevation of 2,230 meters, approximately 28 km northeast of Galaktyrka Airport. Search teams discovered the burnt remains of the wreckage in deep snow the following day.
All seven occupants on board were killed in the impact. Shortly after the discovery, an avalanche moved the debris nearly 700 meters down the slope. During subsequent recovery efforts, only the body of the copilot was recovered.
Findings
Investigations concluded that the crew performed a descent into cloud cover without maintaining visual contact with the terrain or knowing their precise geographical position. The presence of strong downdrafts and heavy westerly winds were identified as significant contributing factors to the accident.