Crash of a Yakovlev Yak-40 off Anapa: 18 killed
Date & Time:
Sep 9, 1976 at 1351 LT
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-87772
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Rostov-on-Don - Kerch
MSN:
9 03 07 13
YOM:
1970
Flight number:
SU031C
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
14
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
18
Aircraft flight hours:
6842
Aircraft flight cycles:
7174
Circumstances:
The aircraft was completing a flight from Rostov-on-Don to Kerch in limited visibility due to cloudy conditions when, at an altitude of 5,700 metres, it collided with an Aeroflot Antonov AN-24RV. Registered CCCP-46518, the AN-24 was flying from Donetsk to Sochi with 52 people on board. Following the collision, both aircraft entered a dive and crashed into the Black Sea about 37 km south of Anapa. Both aircraft sank by a depth of about 500 metres and none of the 70 occupants survived the crash.
Probable cause:
The in-flight collision was the consequence of mistakes committed by the air traffic controller in charge of the western sector of the Krasnodar area who violated the published procedures and failed to provide the minimum separation of 600 meters required for both aircraft prior to transfer them to the Anapa sector. The lack of visibility due to significant cloud cover was considered as a contributing factor, as well as poor ATC coordination between various sectors.
