Uzbekistan

During the takeoff roll at Samarkand Airport, at a speed of 350 km/h, the captain started the rotation when hen realized that the elevators were blocked. He elected to unlock the elevators but the aircraft overran, lost its undercarriage and came to rest in flames. All occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was destroyed by fire.

Following an uneventful flight from Tashkent at an altitude of 5,100 meters, the crew was cleared to descent to 2,700 then 2,400 meters. While approaching Samarkand Airport, the crew encountered poor visibility with low clouds. At an altitude of 1,500 meters, in a nose-down attitude of 16° and at a speed of 380 km/h, the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located 32 km northeast of the airport. The copilot and 13 passengers were rescued while 92 other occupants were killed. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact.

On a flight from Sverdlovsk to Tashkent when the crew committed errors in handling trim tabs and autopilot, the aircraft entered a dive while flying at a height of 8,400 metres. Control was recovered by the crew at a height of some 6,600 metres. The crew managed to land safely, but the aircraft suffered structural damage during the dive with up to 2.7 g forces. Reported at LED 12SEP70 but can this be correct ? SOC 20MAY71 due to its poor technical condition.

During a crop-spraying operation from an airstrip located 12 km southwest of Ursatyevska (Khavast district of the Syrdarya region of Uzbekistan) for the sovkhoz (state farm) "40 let Tadzhikistana" (Zafarabad district of the Leninabad region of Tajikistan), the intoxicated captain set out on an unauthorized flight with an aircraft mechanic and performed unauthorized manoeuvre at low height. The aircraft stalled, crashed in a field and caught fire. Both crew were killed.

The aircraft was completing a military cargo flight from Andijan, carrying a load of ammunitions. On final approach to Chirchik AFB, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and the pilot-in-command failed to realize his altitude was too low. The airplane struck the ground and crashed in flames short of runway threshold. A crew member was seriously injured while six other occupants were killed.

On the leg from the sovkhoz (state farm) "Kommunizm" to Samarkand of a flight from Nurata to Samarkand when encountered below-minima weather conditions (low clouds and heavy rain), the captain failed to return (his children were alone at home while his wife was in hospital), he deviated from the prescribed flight path to the East in the pursuit of better weather, flying along the Nuratau mountain range (1,100 metres). Aircraft lost height due to strong katabatic winds and crashed at a height of 930 metres into the slope of a mountain 3.4 km from Shamurat (Nurata district of the Samarkand region). Both pilots and all 9 passengers killed.

The crew was engaged in a spraying mission on local cultures in Rishtan. Following five uneventful rotations over the fields, the crew was ready for a sixth circuit when technical problems were encountered with the spraying equipment. While cruising at a height of about two meters, the attention of the crew was focused on the technical issue and the pilot-in-command failed to see a tree that the aircraft struck with its left wing. Out of control, it crashed into the ground and was destroyed. The copilot was killed and the captain was seriously injured.

Thirty minutes after its departure from Bukhara Airport, the right engine stopped due to the failure of the cylinder n°2. The crew informed ATC and decided to continue to Tashkent on one engine at the altitude of 2,400 meters. The flight on one engine continued for one hour and 39 minutes when the power on the left engine was inadvertently reduced by the crew. At a height of 100 meters, the crew elected to restart the right engine but the propeller went into pitch position, causing high drag. The airplane lost height and crashed in a cotton field located 34 km south of Tashkent-Yuzhny Airport. 29 people were wounded while nine passengers were killed. A day later, two other passengers died from their injuries.

Landed hard at Yuzhny Airport in Tashkent and was damaged beyond repair. There were no injuries.

At 0927LT, while cruising at an altitude of 3,600 meters, the radio operator informed ATC he was cruising under VFR and spotted Derbent. A minute later, while in clouds, the airplane struck the southeast slope of Mt Kushtang located about 27 km northeast of Boysun. SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 30 occupants was found. All operations were abandoned one month later. The accident was officially announced by the Soviet Authorities on 19JAN1960. On 02JUN1960, alpinists found the wreckage of the airplane in a rocky and craggy area at an altitude of 3,501 meters. Among the passengers were two Chinese and three Germans, the rest of the passengers being Soviet soldiers and members of their families.