Country
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Minsk voblast

Crash of a BAe 125-800B in Minsk: 5 killed

Date & Time: Oct 26, 2009 at 2134 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
RA-02807
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Moscow - Minsk
MSN:
258076
YOM:
1986
Flight number:
RLS9607
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Captain / Total flying hours:
11926
Captain / Total hours on type:
811.00
Copilot / Total flying hours:
2356
Copilot / Total hours on type:
811
Aircraft flight hours:
12751
Aircraft flight cycles:
7979
Circumstances:
Following an uneventful flight from Moscow-Vnukovo Airport, the crew started a night approach to Minsk-2 Airport runway 31. On approach, the crew encountered poor visibility due to marginal weather. The 'Pull Up' alarm sounded and the captain initiated a go-around procedure. Few minutes later, the crew attempted a second approach to land. At an altitude of about 550 metres, the crew realized he was on the wrong ILS frequency and corrected it. On final, the EGPWS alarm sounded for 35 seconds but the captain decided to continue the approach until the aircraft impacted trees and crashed in a wooded area located 3 km short of runway, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire and all five occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
The cause of the crash of BAe-125-800B RA-02807 during the ILS approach procedure at night, in weather conditions that met ICAO CAT I, was the failure to take timely action by the crew to carry out a missed approach, or divert to an alternate, when the ground could not be seen while descending below decision height during a transition to visual flight, and the lack of a proper response and action required when the TAWS alarm repeatedly sounded, which led to the collision of the aircraft with obstacles (forest) and land in a controlled flight (CFIT), its destruction and death of people on board.

Contributing factors were:
- Deficiencies in the type of retraining and training of the flight crew, especially in the use of automatic flight modes, and flight director;
- Erroneous actions of the captain, which led to an execution of the approach with the wrong ILS frequency set on the left set;
- Lack of preparation of the commander of the plane for an approach in weather conditions that meet CAT I ICAO.
Values of meteorological conditions in the flight log were in most cases were falsified;
- Poor communication and crew resource management (CRM) of the flightcrew;
- Poor control of the level of training of the crew by the airline's management and lack of organization in the airline's flight operations;
- Psychological characteristics of the pilots, unrecorded in the formation of the crew and, possibly, reduced efficiency of the captain in a stressful situation because of chronic ischemic heart disease with coronary artery problems, which was not detected when passing aviation medical checks.
Final Report:

Crash of a Tupolev TU-134AK in Minsk: 58 killed

Date & Time: Feb 1, 1985 at 0801 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-65910
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Minsk - Leningrad
MSN:
63971
YOM:
1982
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
74
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
58
Aircraft flight hours:
685
Aircraft flight cycles:
448
Circumstances:
Six seconds after takeoff from runway 13 at Minsk-2 Airport, while climbing to a height of 35 meters and a speed of 325 km/h, the left engine lost power and failed. The crew continued to climb to a height of 220 meters, still at a speed of 325 km/h, when the right engine lost power and failed. The pilot-in-command attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft struck trees and crashed in a wooded area located 10,100 meters from the airport, bursting into flames. The wreckage was found 3 hours and 15 minutes later. 22 people were injured while 58 others were killed, among them three crew members.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the aircraft remained parked on the apron at Minsk-2 Airport for about a week prior to the flight and has not been deiced prior to takeoff. During initial climb, some ice detached from both wings and entered both engines, causing them to flame out.

Crash of a Douglas C-47A-25-DL near Maladechna: 1 killed

Date & Time: Nov 11, 1944 at 1730 LT
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L835
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Moscow – Minsk – Lublin
MSN:
9427
YOM:
24
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
10
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
On the leg from Moscow to Minsk of a flight from Moscow to Lublin, the crew encountered below minima weather conditions with low clouds and poor visibility. The captain failed to return, lost his orientation and missed Minsk Airport. So he decided to land at the disused airfield at Buylo located about 19 km east of Maladechna. The aircraft came in too fast, bounced, touched down again after 600 meters and ended up in the trench of an anti-aircraft artillery position. It came to rest on its nose. A passenger was killed while 8 other passengers were slightly injured. All five crew members escaped unhurt.
Probable cause:
Wrong decision on part of the captain who decided to land in a disused airfield in below minima weather conditions.

Crash of a Douglas C-47A-5-DK in Avgustova: 6 killed

Date & Time: Jul 13, 1944
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L876
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Yankovtsy - Kutski
MSN:
12224
YOM:
4
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
On a supply flight from Yankovtsy (50 km southeast of Vitebsk) to Kutski (65 km southwest of Molodechno), the crew encountered below minima weather conditions (poor visibility and low clouds) and was unable to locate the airstrip at Kutski. The captain failed to return and the aircraft hit trees 1.5 km north of Avgustova (25 km south-west of Maladechna) and crashed nose-down in a forest. The wreckage was found three days later, on July 16. All six crew members were killed.

Crash of a Douglas C-47A-20-DK near Palik Lake: 2 killed

Date & Time: Jun 27, 1944 at 0015 LT
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L882
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Smolensk - Smolensk
MSN:
12884
YOM:
30
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
On a supply flight from Smolensk for partisans in the area of Lake Palik (Borisov district of the Minsk region) when the suspension lines of a parachute got entangled in the empennage. The aircraft could be recovered from the ensuing dive but the cargo of the parachute got entangled in trees and the aircraft crashed in a swamp. The copilot was killed while four other crew members were killed. The captain died from his injuries 16 hours later.

Crash of a Douglas C-47-DL in Korzh: 8 killed

Date & Time: May 30, 1944
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L843
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Pribytki-Zyabrovka - Pribytki-Zyabrovka
MSN:
9119
YOM:
25
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
3
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
8
Circumstances:
The crew left the Pribytki-Zyabrovka AFB located 16 km south of Gomel on a supply mission to the improvised field of Korzh located in the district of Starobin. The approach was completed by night and heavy rain falls. With a tail wind, the aircraft landed long and after touchdown, the captain decided to go around. Shortly after liftoff, the aircraft hit trees and crashed in flames in a wooded area. The aircraft was destroyed by fire and several explosions due to the load of ammunition and all eight occupants were killed. They were engaged in a supply mission with ammunition and also stuff dedicated to wounded soldiers.
Probable cause:
The captain elected to land below weather minima and failed to return to his base despite he was instructed to do so.

Crash of a GVF PS-84 in Yanovshchina: 7 killed

Date & Time: Mar 20, 1944
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L3990
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Staraya Toropa - Staraya Toropa
MSN:
184 21 09
YOM:
1941
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The aircraft left Staraya Toropa Airfield located near Tver on a supply mission to the partisans behind the German lines, in Belarus. While approaching the target by night and while cruising at a height of 700 meters, the aircraft was shot down by the pilot of a German fighter, exploded and crashed in Yanovshchina, near Krupki. A passenger survived while all seven other occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.

Crash of a GVF PS-84 in Gryadki: 2 killed

Date & Time: Mar 4, 1942
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L3996
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
While taking off from the Gryadki Airstrip, the airplane collided with a second GVF PS-84 registered CCCP-L3497 and crashed. Two crew members were killed, a third was injured and three others escaped unhurt. The airplane was damaged beyond repair while the second was repaired.

Crash of a Lockheed 5 Vega in Borisov

Date & Time: Jul 6, 1932
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
NR869E
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
69
YOM:
1929
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew was attempting a world tour from the US via Russia. While overflying Belarus, the crew encountered unknown technical problems and attempted an emergency landing. The airplane landed hard, causing a part from the cockpit panel to separate. Control was lost and the airplane crashed. Both occupants evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. Some parts were used to built another Lockheed Vega with MSN 118.