Kiev-Borispol

On Wednesday, January 08, 2020, at 00:53, the inbound flight No. 751 of Ukraine International, Boeing 737-800, UR-PSR, en route to Tehran Imam Khomeini INTL. Airport from Kyiv Boryspyl INTL. Airport was cleared for landing, and after four minutes landed on the IKA runway. After disembarking 58 passengers and refueling, the flight crew went on to check into the hotel located at IKA. From 01:16 to 01:38, the aircraft was refueled with 9510 kg (11800 liters) of fuel. Once the total weight of the cargo received from passengers (310 packages weighing 6794 kg) was determined, in order to comply with the maximum takeoff weight allowed for aircraft, 82 packages in 2094 kg in weight, were separated by Airport Service Company, that is, they were not loaded. Initially, 78 packages of the passenger's luggage were not loaded first, then due to the large volume of passengers' hand luggage, the flight attendants passed some of them on to the Airport Service Company personnel to be placed in the aircraft cargo. After that, 4 packages belonging to the passengers were removed from the aft cargo door, where the hand luggage was placed. At 04:35, the flight crew embarked on the aircraft. After checking the aircraft and cabin, boarding was announced at 04:45, and passengers started to board the plane. Based on the available documents, 167 passengers proceeded to the Airport Services Co. counter at the airport terminal, all of whom went on board. Only one of the passengers who received the boarding pass online the night before the flight, due to the delay in arriving in Tehran from another city did not go to the airport in person, and therefore had been removed from the list of passengers provided by the UIA. At 05:13, the pilot made his first radio contact with the IKA's control tower ground unit and requested the initial clearance for flying, which was issued by the controller subsequently. At 05:48, all the aircraft documents required to start the flight operations were filled out, and all the doors were then closed at 05:49. The flight was initially scheduled for 05:15, and based on the flight coordinator's report form, the reason given for its delay was the aircraft being overweight and the decision not to load the passengers' lugga for reducing the aircraft weight. At 05:51 the pilot notified his position at the airport parking, declared his readiness to exit the parking and start up the aircraft. The IKA tower asked him to wait for receiving the clearance since they wanted to make the coordination required with other relevant units. At 05:52, the IKA tower made the necessary coordination with the Mehrabad approach unit, who contacted Tehran ACC asking for clearance. Accordingly, the controller in ACC made coordination on Ukrainian flight clearance with the CMOCC. The clearance was issued by the CMOCC. At 05:54, the Mehrabad approach unit, received the FL260 clearance for the flight AUI752 from ACC, and forwarded it to IKA via the telecommunication system. Flight no. 752 was detached from the A1 Jet Bridge and at about 05:55 started to leave its parking position, NO 116 on the right, by a pushback truck. Following that, at 05:55 the ground controller cleared the AUI752 flight for startup and exiting the parking, which was read back by the pilot. At 06:12, the aircraft took off from the Runway 29 Right of IKA and was delivered to the Mehrabad approach unit. The pilot contacted the approach unit, and announced the IKA 1A radar procedure as SID procedure. Next, the Mehrabad approach identified and cleared the flight to climb to FL260. The controller instructed the pilot to turn to the right after 6,000 feet, and continue straight to PAROT. After it was read back by the pilot, the controller again instructed the pilot to continue to PAROT point once passing the 6000-foot altitude, which was read back by the pilot. From 06:17 onwards, upon the disappearance of the PS752 information from the radarscope, the controller called the captain repeatedly, but received no response. According to the data extracted from the surveillance systems and FDR, the aircraft climbed to an altitude of 8,100 feet; thereafter, the label including the call sign and altitude of aircraft disappeared from the radarscope, yet no radio contact indicating unusual conditions was received from the pilot. FDR recording terminated at 06:14:56. This time corresponds to the termination of Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) and ADS-B information. After the mentioned time, the aircraft was still being detected by the Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR), according to which the aircraft veered right and after approximately three minutes of flying, it disappeared from the PSR at 06:18 too. The aircraft was conducting the flight under the Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and the accident occurred around half an hour before the sunset.

After landing at Kiev-Borispol Airport, the aircraft went out of control and veered off runway. The undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft came to rest. All five crew members escaped uninjured.

The initial STD was 0800LT but as the passengers were late, the departure was postponed. Apparently to avoid to miss the slot, the crew precipitated the departure. After liftoff, the undercarriage were retracted immediately. At a speed of 230 km/h, the aircraft climbed to a height of 15 metres then rolled to the left at an angle of 65° and crashed 1,200 metres from the departure point. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and there was no fire. All nine occupants were killed, among them the Russian journalist Artiom Borovik. At the time of the departure, there were snow falls at Moscow Airport.

After takeoff from Kiev-Borispol Airport, the crew informed ATC about landing gear problems and was cleared to return. On approach, the crew realized that the left main gear got stuck in its wheel well and decided to continue the descent. Upon touchdown, the aircraft fell on its left, slid for few dozen metres and came to rest on the runway. All 147 occupants evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft was engaged in a military/cargo flight from Krasnodar to Kiev, carrying a load of fruits and vegetables. To be able to carry more cargo, the crew decided to embark less fuel. En route, the crew encountered strong headwinds and elected to divert to Dnepropetrovsk Airport. Finally, the captain decided to continue to Kiev. While descending to Borispol Airport, the crew informed ATC he was low of fuel so he was cleared for a straight-in approach to runway 36R. For unknown reasons, the captain preferred an approach to runway 18L. On short final, both engines stopped simultaneously. The aircraft stalled, struck the ground, lost its undercarriage and came to rest 1,500 metres short of runway threshold. Eight occupants were injured and one of the pilots was killed.

During the takeoff roll, at a speed of 255 km/h, the captain initiated the rotation but the aircraft failed to respond. In such conditions, he decided to abandon the takeoff procedure and started an emergency braking maneuver. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the aircraft overran, lost one main gear and came to rest 781 meters further. All 173 occupants were evacuated, among them 11 were injured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair. It appears that aircraft was overloaded and the CofG was out of the envelope. In such conditions, a rotation was impossible.

About 52 minutes after takeoff from Kiev-Borispol Airport, while cruising at an altitude of 5,100 meters, the crew was cleared to start the descent to Odessa Airport when the captain informed ATC about a fire in the cockpit. Fire extinguishers were used but without success and due to thick smoke spreading in the cockpit, the crew was unable to read their instruments. In such situation, the captain decided to reduce his altitude and to attempt an emergency landing. The aircraft belly landed in an open field, slid for few dozen meters and came to rest in flames. All 27 occupants were able to evacuate the cabin and were uninjured. The aircraft was destroyed by fire.

Enroute from Leningrad to Kiev, the crew was cleared to descend from 9,000 to 7,800 meters in order to avoid a thunderstorm area. Few minutes later, the three engine aircraft entered a dive. During an uncontrolled descent, the aircraft lost several elements then partially disintegrated and eventually crashed at a speed of 810 km/h in fields and wooded areas. A huge crater was found at the point of impact, near the village of Verbovichi, and debris scattered all around on an area of 22,7 km2 (6,5 km long and 3,5 km wide). The accident was not survivable.

Brakes and tires overheated during a pre-takeoff inappropriate taxiing manoeuvre at Kiev-Borispol Airport. During the takeoff roll at Borispol Airport, at a speed of 135 km/h, the crew was instructed to abandon the takeoff as he did not receive any clearance. The crew interrupted the procedure and was later cleared for a second departure. During this manoeuvre, brakes and tires overheated again. Upon touchdown at Simferopol Airport, a tire located on the right main gear exploded. Debris struck the lower part of the right wing and punctured a fuel tank. Fuel spilled and a fire erupted. The crew was able to stop the plane on the runway and all 65 occupants were evacuated, among them 29 passengers were injured. The aircraft was partially destroyed by fire.

The airplane departed Kiev-Borispol Airport at 2321LT on the second leg of a flight from Odessa to Kazan. While cruising by night at an altitude of 9,000 meters and a speed of 530 km/h, the flaps extended to an angle of 30°. The airplane entered a spin and partially disintegrated at an altitude of 4,000 meters before crashing in a field located near Kirsanov. The aircraft was totally destroyed and debris were found on a wide area. None of the 63 occupants survived the crash.