Date & Time:
Feb 6, 1986 at 2323 LT
Type of aircraft:
Antonov AN-26
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-26095
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Cargo
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Nizhnevartovsk – Sverdlovsk – Saransk – Gomel
MSN:
27312302
YOM:
1972
Flight number:
SU14454
Country:
Russia
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
0
Aircraft flight hours:
3088
Aircraft flight cycles:
1301
Circumstances:
The aircraft was completing a cargo flight from Nizhnevartovsk to Gomel with intermediate stops in Sverdlovsk and Saransk, carrying six crew members and a load of 2,100 kilos of various goods. Less than one minute after takeoff from Saransk Airport, while climbing by night at an altitude of 150 meters, the aircraft entered a left turn then lost height and crashed at a speed of 390 km/h (rate of descent of 4,3 meters per second) two km past the runway end. The aircraft was destroyed and all six occupants were injured.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the pilot-in-command misinterpreted red lights on the localizer and inner marker beacon for the anti-collision lights of an approaching aircraft and initiated a left turn to avoid collision when control was lost. No aircraft was approaching Saransk Airport at the time of the accident. It was also determined that the mass and balance was incorrect as the total weight of the cargo was 3,500 kilos instead of 2,100 kilos.
