Georgia

The crew departed Moscow-Vnukovo Airport at 0520LT on a flight to Tbilisi with an intermediate stop scheduled at Rostov-on-Don. Due to the deterioration of the weather conditions and the presence of a storm between Krasnodar and Sukhumi, the crew decided to modify his route and obtained the permission from ATC to divert to Krasnodar. The crew and the passengers waited for few hours at Krasnodar Airport and the aircraft took off at 1507LT bound for Tbilisi. While cruising under VFR at an altitude of 2,400 meters, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with thunderstorm activity, heavy rain falls, turbulence, hail and lightning. Within few minutes, the aircraft was hit by lightning and suffered heavy turbulence so went out of control and entered a dive. At an altitude of 300 meters, the crew elected to regain control but high g forces exceeded the design of the wings that were torn off. Out of control, the airplane crashed in flames in a wooded and hilly terrain located near the village of Grigorishi, about 15 km northeast of Zugdidi. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 18 occupants were killed.

On a circular training flight in Tbilisi-Alekseyevka at night with 6 unauthorized passengers on board when the trainee pilot deviated from the approach pattern and glide path, so the aircraft hit the top of a hill (175 metres but not indicated on the flight map) located some 4.8 km northwest of the airport, broke up, came to rest on the slope of the hill and caught fire. Three crew and a passenger were killed while all six other occupants were slightly injured.

About an hour and 13 minutes after departure from Tbilisi Airport, the crew decided to modify his route to save time. Few minutes later, while cruising vertical of the Caucasus Mountain Range, the crew encountered poor weather conditions when the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain. SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 23 occupants was found. The wreckage was found by walkers in an isolated and mountainous area of north Georgia on June 20, 1947.

At 0800LT, the crew departed Tbilisi Airport on a short flight to the nearest airport of Vaziani where seven skydivers were picked up for a local exercise. During the takeoff roll at Vaziani Airport, the airplane veered to the left and the pilot aborted. A second attempt to takeoff was also abandoned few minutes later for the same reasons. As the crew thought that the mudguard was rubbing the left wheel, they proceeded with a slight modification of the position of the mudguard. On the third attempt to takeoff, the airplane lifted off then climbed to a height of 2-3 metres when it turned 90° to the left, causing the left wheel to touch the ground. The airplane rolled on a distance of 88 metres then the right wheel struck the ground as well. The airplane continued on a distance of nine metres then crashed. The airplane was totally destroyed and two paratroopers were killed. The other occupants were injured.

Following an error on part of the pilot, the airplane crashed upon landing at Mestia Airport. The airplane was damaged beyond repair and the pilot was uninjured.

The Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Georgia and the Director of the Airport of Tbilisi departed Tbilisi that day on a P-5 to proceed to the north to try to locate a Tupolev ANT-40 (PS-40) that was missing since September 23. After takeoff, the airplane entered clouds and after few minutes, the pilot was able to climb and to continue over the cloud layer. Nevertheless, all surrounding mountains were shrouded in clouds so the pilot decided to return to Tbilisi. While descending through clouds, the pilot lost control of the airplane that dove into the ground and crashed in a wooded area near the airport. Both occupants were seriously injured.

The twin engine aircraft departed Tbilisi at 0442LT on a cargo flight to Moscow with an intermediate stop in Rostov with three crew members on board. 33 minutes into the flight, radio contact was lost after the airplane impacted the slope of a mountain located 22 km north-northeast of Napareuli. As the airplane failed to arrive in Rostov, SAR operations were initiated. On 28 October 1938, the wreckage was found by two locals in a ravine. All three crew members were killed.

The airplane departed Mineralnye Vody on a mail flight to Tiflis, Georgia, with two crew members on board. After passing the Krestovy Pass, the crew encountered poor weather conditions. The pilot elected to return to Mineralnye Vody and initiated a turn. Shortly later, he lost his orientation and thinking he already passed the highest mountain, he initiated the descent when the airplane impacted the slope of a mountain part of the Mt Kazbek, about 7 km southeast of the summit (5,047 metres). The wreckage was found at an altitude of 4,000 metres and both crew members were killed.

Last July 14, the aircraft suffered an incident while taking off from Sukhumi Airport after the undercarriage impacted a fence. The airplane was repaired and a series of test was completed before the aircraft would be released for service. At 1337LT, the crew departed Sukhumi Airport on a positioning flight to Kharkiv but encountered engine problems shortly after takeoff. The captain decided to return but on short final, at a height of 80 metres, he initiated a go-around when the aircraft stalled and crashed in a street located about 350 metres from the runway threshold. The aircraft was destroyed and both occupants were killed.

Shortly after takeoff, during initial climb, one of the engine failed. The crew decided to return to Sukhumi and while completing a last turn, he lost control of the airplane that stalled and crashed in the sea. Both crew members were killed.