What happened
During a scheduled agricultural mission for the 'Rossia' farm, a crew was operating an aircraft at Nekrasovaskaya to perform crop spraying. While the aircraft was flying at an altitude of approximately 5 meters, the co-pilot identified overhead power cables and attempted to increase altitude to prevent a collision. However, the captain assumed control of the aircraft and descended to fly beneath the wires.
As the aircraft passed under the lines, the power cables made contact with the tail section, causing part of the structure to be torn away. Following the impact, the aircraft's nose pitched downward, leading to a crash in an open field. The impact was followed by a post-crash fire that consumed the aircraft. The incident resulted in two serious injuries to the crew members.
Findings
- The aircraft was operating at an extremely low altitude of 5 meters during the mission.
- The captain's decision to descend below the power lines directly led to the collision with the cables.