Date & Time:
May 7, 1977 at 1402 LT
Type of aircraft:
Antonov AN-2
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-15925
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Tyumen - Tavda
MSN:
1148 473 16
YOM:
1960
Flight number:
SU397
Country:
Russia
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
13
Pax fatalities:
13
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
15
Aircraft flight hours:
17513
Aircraft flight cycles:
17391
Circumstances:
The single engine airplane was completing flight SU397 from Tyumen to Tavda with 13 passengers and two pilots on board. While approaching Tavda from the south, the crew encountered marginal weather conditions with rain falls, limited visibility of 2 km and low clouds. At an estimated altitude of 175 meters, the airplane collided with an Aeroflot PZL-Mielec AN-2TP registered CCCP-44992 that was completing a service from Tavda to Tyumen and just departed Tavda Airport few minutes earlier with 14 people on board. Following the collision, both aircraft went out of control, entered a dive and crashed in flames in an open field located 18 km south of Tavda. Both wreckages were found 392 meters from each other and all 29 occupants on both aircraft were killed.
Probable cause:
The in-flight collision was the consequence of a lack of ATC assistance and the fact that both crew were flying under VFR mode in adverse weather conditions.
