Date & Time: Apr 24, 1972 at 1020 LT
Type of aircraft:
PZL-Mielec AN-2
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-49306
Flight Phase:
Flight
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Chernivtsi - Odessa
MSN:
1G11-20
YOM:
1961
Country:
Moldova
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
3
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
1
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Aircraft flight hours:
9044
Aircraft flight cycles:
33871
Circumstances:
On a flight from Chernivtsi to Odessa, the aircraft deviated from the prescribed flight path to the south by 15 km in poor visibility and rain. It entered an area near Glinoye (Grigoriopol district of Moldova) where two radio masts were located (only one of them was indicated on the charts, but with wrong coordinates). The pilot was able to avoid the first mast (350 meters) but not the second. At a height of 200 meters, the single engine airplane collided struck the second one (260 meters high), caught fire and crashed 280 meters further on in a field of the sovkhoz (state farm) Karmanovo. All 3 crew and the sole passenger were killed.
Probable cause:
Weather information transmitted to the crew did not reflect the reality and the pilot encountered low ceiling and low visibility due to rain falls. It was established that the antenna struck by the airplane was not properly marked and its coordinates were wrong as its real position was 35 km to the east.