What happened
On the afternoon of the incident, the aircraft departed from Anapa Airport at 15:05 local time. During the climb to a planned altitude of 11,700 metres, the crew received clearance to alter the flight path to avoid an area of thunderstorms characterized by cumulonimbus clouds extending up to 15 km.
While navigating around the weather, the aircraft encountered extreme turbulence. This atmospheric disturbance caused a rapid vertical ascent from 11,961 metres to 12,794 metres in just 10 seconds. During this event, the aircraft reached a critical angle of attack of 46°, which led to a total loss of airspeed as velocity plummeted from 350 km/h to zero. Consequently, all three engines experienced a flameout.
Following the engine failure, the crew transmitted a short message before the aircraft entered an uncontrolled flat spin. At an altitude of approximately 3,300 metres, the crew notified air traffic control that they had lost all control of the aircraft. The flight ended with a crash in a prairie area near Novgorodskoye, situated roughly 45 km northwest of Donetsk. The impact and subsequent fire resulted in the total destruction of the aircraft and 170 fatalities.