Ust-Bolsheretsk

Few minutes after takeoff from Ozernaya while on a cargo flight to Ust-Bolsheretsk, the intoxicated captain deliberately deviated from the prescribed flight path. The aircraft entered clouds and crashed at a height of 350 meters into the snow covered northern slope of Mt Ukho located 9 km north of Ozernaya. A pilot and the passenger were killed while the sole survivor was seriously injured. At the time of the accident, the captain was intoxicated. A blood test revealed an alcohol level of 1.8 ‰.

The aircraft departed Ust-Bolsheretsk Airfield at 1520LT bound for Kikhshik, carrying five passengers, a crew of two, 117 kilos of mail, 176 kilos of various goods, among them 58 bottles of alcool and 300 kilos of luggage. After takeoff, the crew was instructed to return to Ust-Bolsheretsk in case they encounter snow en route. Few minutes into the flight, weather conditions deteriorated with snow falls and clouds down to 300 meters when the captain decided to continue the flight to Kikhshik at an insufficient altitude of 100 meters (minimum safe altitude fixed at 250 meters on this route). Approaching Kikhshik Airfield, the pilot-in-command attempted to land and made a steep turn to the right when control was lost. The airplane struck the ground 570 meters on the left of the airfield, bounced and came to rest 70 meters farther. All seven occupants were injured and the aircraft was destroyed. Two days later, one of the passenger died from his injuries. The captain was seriously injured.

During the day, the pilot already performed twice the flight between Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Ust-Bolsheretsk. After passing over Apacha, weather conditions deteriorated and the visibility dropped to zero due to heavy snow falls. Nevertheless, the pilot attempted to land at Ust-Bolsheretsk and continued the approach when he lost control of the airplane that crashed six km east of the destination airfield. The airplane was destroyed and the pilot was killed.