What happened
On the day of the accident, a crew departed from Zaporozhie Airport at 12:57 local time to conduct a scheduled training mission. Approximately 11 minutes after takeoff, while the aircraft was cruising at an altitude of 2,100 meters, the flight encountered marginal weather conditions. During this period, the pilot notified air traffic control that the plane was losing altitude.
Following this communication, the aircraft type entered a state of uncontrolled descent. The impact occurred in a field situated roughly 20 km northwest of Zaporozhie Airport and about 1,400 meters from the Novogupalovka Station. At the moment of impact, the plane was positioned in a 6-degree left bank with a nose-down pitch of between 25 and 30 degrees. The crash resulted in the total destruction of the aircraft and five fatalities.
Findings
Investigations into the accident concluded that the crew lost control of the aircraft because they were performing stabilizer trim changes at an insufficient airspeed. This maneuver led to an aerodynamic stall, which was exacerbated by improper piloting techniques and a likely misinterpretation of the airspeed indicator readings.