What happened
On the morning of the accident, flight SU116 departed from Khasavyurt Airport at 09:58 local time. The intended route was toward Makhachkala, with a scheduled stop in Botlikh. Approximately ten minutes after takeoff, the single-engine airplane entered cloud cover while maintaining an altitude between 1,300 and 1,500 meters.
Despite the reduction in visibility, the crew elected to proceed with the flight. They climbed to a higher altitude and managed to identify the Ashu River, a tributary of the Sulak River, through the clouds. However, while cruising at an altitude of 2,400 meters and traveling at speeds between 160 and 170 km/h, the aircraft impacted the slope of Mt Salatau, which reaches an elevation of 2,713 meters. The impact occurred roughly 43 km southeast of Khasavyurt.
The accident resulted in eight fatalities and left six passengers injured.