What happened
During an attempt to navigate around a thunderstorm over mountainous terrain, the three-engine aircraft drifted 67 km away from its designated route. Neither air traffic controllers nor the flight crew were aware of this significant deviation at the time it occurred. The crew's perception of their position was inaccurate; when they reported passing the outer marker, the plane was actually still 43 km from that point.
Several technical and environmental factors complicated the navigation. The proximity of the storm caused interference that rendered the radio compass unreliable, and wind conditions differed from what had been previously forecasted. While descending through clouds, the aircraft struck a mountain slope at an altitude of 2,840 meters. The accident occurred approximately 44 km northwest of Dushanbe Airport, resulting in 29 fatalities.
Findings
Investigations into the accident highlighted several contributing elements. Poor visibility due to adverse weather conditions significantly hindered the pilots' ability to maintain situational awareness and execute necessary maneuvers. Additionally, the information relayed by the crew to air traffic control was inaccurate, which likely misled controllers regarding the aircraft's true location.
Furthermore, the oversight from air traffic control was deemed inadequate. Controllers failed to implement specific waypoint or fix-point monitoring procedures that could have identified the discrepancy in the aircraft's position and alerted the crew to their error.