TANTK - Taganrog ANTK

A testflight for the purpose of vibration measurements on the propellers was to be carried out with the a.m. aircraft. The Beriev BE103 is the prototype of a 6 seater, twin engine amphibious aircraft of russian design. It was powered by two piston engines Teledyne Continental IO-360 E5 which operated hydraulic variable pitch propellers. In the course of the russian type certification the vibration behavior and the stiffness of the propeller blades had to be proven. Therefore a test propeller, fitted with wire strain gauges was attached to the L/H engine at the propeller manufacturer’s facilities in Straubing. The transducers and transmitters were fitted instead of the spinner by means of special brackets. The data recording system was installed in the aircraft’s cabin. As during the testflights a maximum of 105% of the maximum allowable rpm had to be achieved the L/H propeller governor was adjusted to 2940 rpm. Furthermore the R/H propeller and governor were changed from prototypes to the serial components. After these modifications several engine test runs were carried out for calibration of the test equipment and data recording. The testflight was recorded on a camcorder. The film showed that the pilot in command taxied to the far end of the 940 m long pavement runway, adjusted the engines while standing and thereafter commenced his take-off run which should have been approx. 300 m long with view to the aircraft weight according to information gained from the a/c manufacturer. The a/c, however, taxied far beyond the ½ marking of the runway, rotated fairly long and went airborne after approx. 700 m with a high angle of attack. After gaining 10 to 15 m of altitude the pilot in command retracted the landing gear. Right after that the a/c entered a shallow descend in a nose-up attitude and turned to the left before it left the camera view some seconds before the impact. During the entire flight a constant and normal engine noise was audible. Approx. 600 m behind the runway end the aircraft hit the bank of a street and caught fire. The pilot in command was fatally injured, the aircraft was destroyed by the impact and the post impact fire.

The pilot, sole on board, was completing a demonstration flight while taking part to the MAKS-97 Airshow at Moscow-Zhukovsky Airport. On takeoff, he lost control of the airplane that crashed by the runway. The pilot was killed.

On approach to Yuzhno-Kurilsk, the crew realized that the sea was relatively rough with waves of 1,5 meter. Despite the situation, the crew decided to land in the bay. After touchdown, the right float was torn off and the aircraft rolled to the right and came to rest 120 metres offshore, partially submerged. All 20 occupants were rescued while a rescuer died from hypothermia. The aircraft partially sank as the fuselage was cut in several places after suffering chocks with water.

The crew miscalculated speed and propeller pitch on approach to Yuzhno-Kurilsk. The seaplane landed at an excessive speed and while making a right turn in shallow water (1,6 metre deep), the right float struck the water surface and was torn off. In the meantime, the aircraft collided with a sandbank, causing a tear in the fuselage. Water entered the cabin and the aircraft came to rest about 20 metres from the shore. All 38 occupants escaped uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft was engaged in a fire fighting mission and its crew just landed on the Don River to perform a scooping mission when it collided with a flock of birds that struck the right engine. The aircraft veered to the right and came to rest on the shore. All four crew members escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.