Irkutsk oblast

The airplane departed Yekaterinburg Airport on a regular schedule flight (XF352) to Vladivostok with an intermediate stop at Irkutsk. The flight departed Yekaterinburg at 1947LT and climbed to the assigned cruising altitude of 10,100 metres. Some three hours into the flight, at 0150LT, the crew started the descent to Irkutsk Intl Airport. The copilot was the pilot-in-command. At 0205LT, the crew reported at 2,100 metres with the runway in sight. At this time, the aircraft' speed was 540 km/h. The maximum speed at which the landing gear may be lowered was 400 km/h. At 0206:56 the airplane leveled off at 900 metres with an airspeed still at 420 km/h. The first officer asked for gear down and the speed further decreased to 395 km/h with engines at idle. When the gear was down and locked, the airplane entered a left bank angle of 20-23°. The airspeed continued to drop to 365 km/h while the recommended speed was 370 km/h at this stage of the flight. Power was added slowly. This was only just sufficient for maintaining an altitude of 850 metres at 355-360 km/h. At 0207:46, while still in the left hand turn, the angle of attack increased to 16,5° because the autopilot attempted to maintain altitude with a decreasing speed. An aural warning sounded, informing the crew about a high angle of attack. The first officer attempted to correct this by using the control column and disconnected the autopilot. Because he deflected the control column to the left, the left bank increased to the maximum permissible value of -30° to -44°, and then to -48°. In a nose down attitude, the speed increased to 400 km/h then the aircraft entered clouds. By night, the crew lost visual contact with the ground and was not able to observe the natural horizon. In such conditions, the captain took over controls but alternately deflected the steering wheel to the left and right. An intensive deflection of steering control to the right caused a positive angular acceleration of +4,4° per second. The captain reacted by deflecting the steering wheel to the left again. The first officer now realized that the airplane was in a severe left bank of -45° and indicated that they should be rolling to the right. Because of an increase in vertical descent rate of 20 metres per seconds, one of the crew members pulled the control column. The airplane pitched up rapidly then entered a stall and a subsequent flat spin before crashing in an open field 22 seconds later. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all 145 occupants were killed.

The aircraft departed Tianjin on a cargo flight to Moscow with intermediate stops in Irkutsk and Perm, carrying a load of 49,750 kilos of various goods and seven crew members. At Irkutsk-Intl Airport, 38 tons of fuel were uplifted and the crew calculated 30,040 kilos for the cargo, giving a total weight of 170 tons, about 4 tons below the MTOW. During the takeoff roll, after a course of 2,000 metres, at a speed of 225 km/h, the captain started the rotation. The aircraft lifted up and flew for about 4 seconds when the captain requested gear up. At a speed of 250 km/h, the aircraft passed the runway end and adopted a 16° angle of attack. Then the aircraft' speed decreased when the flight engineer reduced the power on all four engines and activated the thrust reverser systems on both left engines n°1 and 2. The aircraft rolled to the left, collided with a building containing an electrical transformer and came to rest 1,476 metres past the runway end, bursting into flames. All seven occupants were injured, two seriously. The aircraft was destroyed.

The four engine aircraft departed Irkutsk-2 Airport on a cargo flight to Cam Ranh Bay, with an intermediate stop in Vladivostok, carrying 15 passengers, eight crew members and a load consisting of two Sukhoi SU-27UB fighters to be delivered to the Vietnam Air Force. Three seconds after takeoff from runway 14 at Irkutsk-2 Airport, at a height of 5 metres, the engine n°3 failed. Six seconds later, at a height of 22 metres, both left engines n°1 and 2 also failed. The aircraft pitched up and entered a high angle of attack, climbed to a maximum height of about 66 metres then rolled to the left and crashed onto several buildings located 1,600 metres from the runway end. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire as well as several buildings. All 23 occupants and 45 people on the ground were killed. Hundred other people on the ground were injured, some seriously.

The four engine aircraft departed Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport on a cargo flight to Ermolino with two intermediate stops in Ust-Ilimsk and Omsk, carrying 14 passengers, 9 crew members, 8,6 tons of fish, 2 cars and 2 minibuses. The approach to Ust-Ilimsk Airport was completed by night and poor weather conditions (icing conditions) with a visibility below minima due to low clouds. On short final, the aircraft nosed down and crashed on the top of a hill located 2,1 km short of runway. The aircraft was destroyed and all 23 occupants were killed.

During initial climb, the engine failed. The aircraft stalled and crashed, bursting into flames. All eight occupants escaped uninjured (or with minor injuries) while the aircraft was destroyed.

While preparing the flight, the crew encountered technical problems with the engine n°2 and 17 minutes were necessary to start all three engines. A technical issue occurred with the starter of the engine n°2 and a warning light came on in the cockpit. The crew did not find any corrective actions in the operations manual and as he thought the warning was false, decided to take off. Four minutes after the aircraft departed Irkutsk Airport runway 12, while climbing, the starter located in the engine n°2 failed. Debris scattered around and hydraulic and fuel lines were cut. The crew declared an emergency and was cleared for an immediate return after the engine n°2 caught fire. Unfortunately, the crew was unable to extinguish the fire and the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and eventually crashed on farm buildings located about 11 km from the airport. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 124 occupants were killed as well as one farmer. Another farmer was seriously injured.

The four engine aircraft departed Magadan Airport on a cargo flight to Irkutsk, carrying one loadmaster, six crew members and a load of 11 tons of fish. For financial reasons, the crew refused to make a refueling stop at Lensk Airport and decided to continue to Bratsk. Unfortunately, weather conditions worsened at Bratsk and a landing was impossible. In such conditions, the captain decided to continue to Irkutsk and later shut down both engines n°1 and 4 to save fuel. While descending to Irkutsk, both engines n°2 and 3 failed due to fuel exhaustion. The crew reduced his altitude and attempted an emergency landing in an open field located 48 km from Irkutsk Airport. The aircraft belly landed, slid for few dozen metres and eventually came to rest, broken in two. All seven occupants escaped uninjured.

On final approach to Katanga Airport following an uneventful cargo flight, all four engines stopped simultaneously. The aircraft lost height and struck the ground 1,450 metres short of runway. Upon touchdown, it lost its undercarriage, slid for about 640 metres, struck successively the inner marker and a brick house before coming to rest, broken in two. A passenger was killed while 15 other occupants were injured.

Following a wrong approach configuration, the twin engine aircraft passed over the runway threshold at a height of 20 meters. At a distance of 300 meters from the runway end, the flight engineer (who was acting as a copilot on this flight) reduced power on both engines above idle. The captain took over control, increased engine power at maximum and initiated a go-around procedure when the left engine autofeathered. At a speed of 170 km/h, the aircraft banked left to an angle of 70° then stalled and crashed 1,526 meters past the runway end. Seven occupants were injured while two others, including one pilot, were killed.

The aircraft was engaged in a survey flight against potential forest fire, carrying two observers and three crew members. Upon landing on a remote strip in the region of Nerpo, the aircraft encountered strong winds and was unable to stop in time so it collided with trees and came to rest. All five occupants escaped uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.