What happened
Following takeoff from Khabarovsk-Novy Airport, air traffic control instructed the crew to ascend to 4,000 meters. Upon reaching this level, the flight was cleared to proceed to an altitude of 8,000 meters. During the subsequent climb, while passing through approximately 4,500 meters, the co-pilot transmitted a short emergency message indicating that the aircraft was experiencing intense vibrations and that control had been lost.
The aircraft subsequently entered a steep descent. The plane struck the ground roughly 15 km southwest of Kurun, located about 96 km northeast of Khabarovsk, at a nose-down angle between 50 and 60 degrees. The impact caused a massive explosion and the total disintegration of the airframe. There were 86 fatalities among the occupants.
Findings
Official investigations concluded that the aircraft hit the terrain at high speed with a slight left bank. Investigators could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the precise trigger of the accident, partly because certain documents remained classified and inaccessible to civil investigators. While a mechanical failure involving the autopilot or flight control surfaces such as the ailerons or elevators was considered a possibility, authorities also did not rule out the potential for the aircraft to have been struck by a surface-to-air missile during a nearby Soviet military exercise.