Date & Time:
Apr 27, 1960 at 2139 LT
Type of aircraft:
Ilyushin II-18
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-75648
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Sverdlovsk - Sverdlovsk
MSN:
188 0004 02
YOM:
2
Country:
Russia
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
1
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
1
Aircraft flight hours:
390
Circumstances:
The crew was completing a local training flight at Sverdlovsk-Koltsovo Airport. Following two landings and two approches, the crew started a new approach by night. During the last segment, at a speed of 260 km/h, the aircraft adopted a nose down attitude and struck the runway with its nose gear first that was sheared off upon impact. The airplane bounced and climbed to a height of about 10 meters before hitting the runway again in a nose down attitude. Upon impact, the airplane went out of control and veered off runway to the right before coming to rest in flames. The flight mechanic was killed while all four other occupants were injured. The aircraft was partially destroyed by fire.
Probable cause:
Wrong approach configuration on part of the instructor who adopted a too high speed on final (260 km/h) and failed to adopt a correct flare configuration, causing the airplane to adopt a nose down attitude and to struck the runway surface nose first, causing the nose gear to fail. It was determined that the rear trunk was loaded with a ballast weighing 600 kg instead of 1,000 kg which contributed to shift the center of gravity forward, causing the airplane to nose down. Analysis were not able to confirm if icing conditions may contribute to the accident or not.
