What happened
On a mission to monitor potential pollution levels within a water protection program, a single-engine aircraft departed from Zhigank at 05:06 local time. The flight was conducting aerial surveys over the Dzhardzhan River, maintaining an altitude between 50 and 100 meters to facilitate the inspection of vessels on the water.
During the mission, the captain requested that the copilot perform calculations to determine a revised flight path toward Sangar. This task diverted the attention of the copilot from monitoring the aircraft's flight parameters. Simultaneously, the captain also became preoccupied with the task, leading to an uncontrolled descent. The single-engine airplane subsequently struck the surface of the river and sank.
While two crew members and one passenger successfully evacuated the cabin following the impact, a second passenger was unable to escape and one fatality was recorded due to drowning.
Findings
Investigations into the accident determined that the primary factor leading to the crash was the distraction of the flight crew from essential flight operations while performing navigational adjustments.