Crash of a PZL-Mielec AN-2 in Mingrelskaya: 2 killed
Date & Time:
Jun 20, 1979 at 1907 LT
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-16021
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Mingrelskaya - Mingrelskaya
MSN:
1G163-25
YOM:
1975
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Aircraft flight hours:
3648
Aircraft flight cycles:
14592
Circumstances:
The crew started at 0440LT in the morning a crop spraying mission on behalf of the kolkhoz of Abinsk. Fifteen rotations were successively completed until the lunchbreak. At 1820LT, the crew took off for a new series of four rotations. While no problems occurred during the first three rotations, the crew started the fourth rotation at an insufficient altitude. The pilot initiated a sharp turn to the right when the airplane banked right to an angle of 45° then nosed down and crashed in a field at a speed of 180 km/h. The copilot was seriously injured while the captain was killed. The copilot died from his injuries four hours later.
Probable cause:
The crew initiated the last rotation in a wrong configuration and it was determined that the distance between the aircraft and the ground during the last turn to the right did not allow the crew to correct the situation and avoid the impact with the ground.
