Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

Following an uneventful flight from Khabarovsk, the crew received the permission to descend to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport but was instructed to maintain a minimum altitude of 600 meters. By night, while in a flat attitude but slightly banked to the right, the airplane struck trees, stalled and crashed in a dense wooded area located on Mt Ufa, some 26 km northwest of the airport. Six passengers (three adults and three children) were seriously injured while 87 other occupants, among them all nine crew members, were killed.

Probable cause:

The crew failed to comply with the published procedures and started the descent prematurely, causing the aircraft to approach below the minimum safe altitude. The following factors were considered as contributing:
- Poor flight preparation,
- Lack of visibility,
- Lack of radar availability at destination airport.

Crash of a Lisunov LI-2 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: 26 killed

Date & Time: Aug 26, 1954 at 1050 LT

Type of aircraft:

Lisunov LI-2

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-L4679

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Khabarovsk – Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

MSN:

68 03

YOM:

1949

Flight number:

SU971

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

4219

Circumstances:

The crew started the approach to Yuzhno-Sakhalisnk from the southeast in marginal weather conditions due to low clouds. At an altitude of 400 meters, the aircraft hit tree tops and crashed inverted in a wooded area located on the slope of Mt Komissarskaya (714 meters high) located 13,5 km southeast of the airport. The wreckage was found a day later and a passenger was found alive but seriously injured while all 26 other occupants were killed. The aircraft was totally destroyed upon impact.
Crew:
Vasily Trofimovich Degtyarenko, pilot,
Vladimir Parkhomenko, copilot,
Vyacheslav Fedorovitch Eliseikina, mechanic,
Daniel Epifanovich Raznotsvete, mechanic,
Piotr D. Novikov , radio navigator.

Probable cause:

The radio navigator mistook two outer markers when the crew started the approach to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport, and referred to the outer marker of the Korsakov Airbase (frequency 684 kHz) instead of the outer marker of the civil airport of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk-Bolchaya Yelan (frequency 670 kHz). Investigations reported that these two outer markers were too close from each other (13,5 km) with close frequency as well, which contributed to the mistake. The following factors were also pointed out: lack of visibility caused by low clouds (the crew failed to distinguish the mountain); the crew failed to use the radio altimeter and an abnormal action on part of the crew regarding the direction finder unit.

Crash of a Lisunov LI-2T in Khabarovsk: 1 killed

Date & Time: Apr 23, 1948

Type of aircraft:

Lisunov LI-2

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-L4437

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Khabarovsk – Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

MSN:

33 05

YOM:

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

514

Circumstances:

During the takeoff roll, the aircraft veered off the center line to the right as the rudder trim has not been set to neutral position before takeoff. The crew failed to abort the takeoff procedure and about 30 seconds after liftoff, during initial climb, the right wing hit a telegraph line and collided with the pole of a high voltage power line. Out of control, the aircraft stalled and crashed. The mechanic was killed while 13 other occupants were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

Probable cause:

The crew failed to prepare the flight properly and did not follow the pre departure checklist. In such conditions, they did not realize that the rudder trim was not set in neutral position, causing the aircraft to veer off the runway center line during the takeoff roll.