What happened
During a nighttime flight at an altitude of 8,400 meters, the crew received clearance to descend to 2,400 meters while approaching Kilpyavr AFB near Murmansk. During this descent, the aircraft maintained a 3° nose-down attitude before impacting a snow-covered hill measuring 240 meters in height. The impact caused the plane to slide for 624 meters, during which time it lost both engines and its wings, eventually breaking into two pieces. The debris field was located approximately 29.5 km from the airfield and 8 km to the right of the extended centerline.
The accident resulted in 11 fatalities, including the three crew members (the captain, navigator, and flight engineer) and eight passengers. Additionally, 27 injuries were reported among the other occupants on board.
Findings
Investigations concluded that the pilot-in-command initiated the descent too early, which led to the aircraft dropping below the required minimum altitude. The crew's ability to identify ground obstacles or determine their precise position was severely hindered by the darkness and a lack of visual landmarks. While air traffic control had permitted a straight-in approach under radar supervision, several contributing elements were identified:
- The absence of a standardized approach procedure
- Periodic loss of VHF radio communications during the descent
- Limited experience of the flight crew, who each had fewer than 500 hours of flight time on this specific aircraft type