Flight Details
On the final leg of a journey from Tashkent to Minsk, an aircraft (registration CCCP-65735) departed Donetsk Airport at 1311LT carrying 77 passengers and seven crew members, including the entire Pakhtakor Tashkent Football Team bound for a match against Dynamo Minsk. At 1317LT, a second Tu-134 (registration CCCP-65816) entered the Kharkiv ARTCC at an altitude of 8,400 meters while operating flight SU7628 from Chelyabinsk to Kishinev via Voronezh with 88 passengers and six crew members.
Air Traffic Control Actions
The crew of CCCP-65816 repeatedly requested clearance to climb to 9,600 meters but was denied due to heavy traffic. Eight minutes later, CCCP-65735 entered the same ARTCC at 5,700 meters and was cleared first to 7,200 meters and then to 8,400 meters. The air traffic controller miscalculated the distance and timing between the two aircraft.
Collision and Crash
Approximately 90 seconds later, at 8,400 meters on crossing airways, the two airplanes collided at an angle of 95° relative to each other. The right wing of CCCP-65735 struck the cockpit of CCCP-65816. Both aircraft partially disintegrated in midair and spiraled to the ground, crashing in fields near the villages of Kurilovka, Nikolaevka, and Elizavetovka, about 35 km northwest of Dnipropetrovsk. Debris scattered over a large area. None of the 178 occupants survived.
Probable Cause
The official findings stated that the in-flight collision resulted from multiple errors by the air traffic controller and his instructor in charge of the Kharkiv Southwest Sector. Reported factors included violations of published procedures, poor assistance and negligence in level assignment, noncompliance with requirements and regulations, noncompliance with standard radio phraseology, lack of coordination, intense traffic, and stress.