Shirak | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

On a night approach to Gyumri Airport, the crew encountered below minima weather conditions and eventually decided to initiate a go-around procedure. But this decision was taken too late and the aircraft stalled and crashed in a river bed located about 2,990 metres past the runway threshold. A passenger was seriously injured while 35 other occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

The following factors were reported:
- The visibility (200 metres) was below minimums at the time of the accident,
- The crew's decision to initiate a go-around was taken too late,
- The approach was unstable and the aircraft was not properly aligned with runway centerline,
- The crew failed to follow the approach published procedures,
- The aircraft was overloaded at takeoff and upon landing,
- Two cars stored in the cargo compartment were not properly secured,
- There were 31 passengers on board while only five were mentioned on the manifest.

Crash of an Ilyushin II-76TD in Leninakan: 15 killed

Date & Time: Oct 20, 1989 at 0232 LT

Type of aircraft:

Ilyushin II-76

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-76466

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Ulyanovsk - Leninakan

MSN:

00234 40153

YOM:

1982

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

2053

Aircraft flight cycles:

2193

Circumstances:

The four engine aircraft departed Ulyanovsk on a cargo flight to Leninakan, carrying 5 passengers, 10 crew members and a load of 37,2 tons of construction materials and tools. The crew was cleared to descend to 3,300 meters then ATC transmitted the airport pressure being 637 mm Hg. The crew misunderstood this pressure value and the altimeters were mistakenly set at 736 mm Hg. This caused a gap of 1,100 meters and the aircraft continued the approach with a vertical speed of 10 meters per seconds. After passing below the glide in limited visibility due to the night, while at an altitude of 270 meters, the GPWS alarm sounded. The flight engineer realized the mistake and informed the captain 19 seconds after the first alarm sounded. For unknown reasons, the pilot failed to initiate any corrective action and 10 seconds later, the aircraft struck the mountain at a speed of 440 km/h and disintegrated on impact. All 15 occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

The accident was the consequence of the following factors:
- Wrong altimeter setting on part of the crew with a value of 736 mm Hg pressure instead of the actual 637 mm Hg, causing the aircraft to descend below MDA,
- Failure to use the radio altimeters, which deprived the crew of additional information about their descent below MDA,
- Failure of the crew to respond to the recommendation by the flight engineer to climb and to initiate appropriate corrective actions,
- This was the instructor captain's first flight into Leninakan and the student pilot's (in the right hand seat) first flight on an Il-76,
- Poor crew resource management,
- Lack of crew training regarding the actions to be taken in case of a GPWS warning.

Crash of an Ilyushin II-76M in Leninakan: 78 killed

Date & Time: Dec 11, 1988 at 2000 LT

Type of aircraft:

Ilyushin II-76

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-86732

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Humanitarian

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Nasosny AFB – Leninakan

MSN:

0834 13388

YOM:

1978

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft was on its way to Leninakan to drop soldiers, first aid, medics and goods for the victims of the recent earthquake. On final approach at night, the aircraft disappeared from radar screens after it struck the slope of a mountain located 15 km from the airport. All 9 crew members and 68 of the 69 passengers were killed. A survivor was found among the debris (he was seating on the deck of a truck parked in the cargo compartment) but unfortunately died the following day.

Probable cause:

The accident was caused by an error on part of the crew who set a wrong altimeter pressure prior to descend to Leninakan Airport. The wrong altimeter setting (734 mm instead of 634 mm) caused the aircraft to descent below the minimum prescribed altitude by 1,100 metres.

Crash of a Yakovlev Yak-40 near Leninakan: 21 killed

Date & Time: Apr 19, 1983 at 1809 LT

Type of aircraft:

Yakovlev Yak-40

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-87291

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Volgograd - Nalcik - Leninakan

MSN:

9 32 06 28

YOM:

1973

Flight number:

SU047E

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Following an uneventful flight from Nalcik, the crew started the descent to Leninabad Airport when he encountered limited visibility due to low clouds. At an altitude of 3,300 meters and following several navigational errors, the aircraft deviated from the prescribed flight path by 29 km. On his side, the ATC controller was unable to determine the exact position of the aircraft and cleared the crew to descent to 900 meters. While descending at an altitude of 2,523 meters at a speed of 330 km/h, the three engine airplane struck the slope of Mt Shishtepe (2,836 meters high) located about 40 km from Leninabad Airport. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 21 occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

The airplane deviated from the prescribed flight path following several navigational errors on part of the flying crew. Poor ATC assistance was considered as a contributing factors as he cleared the crew to descent to the altitude of 900 meters despite he was unaware of the exact position of the aircraft. Poor flight preparation, poor approach planning and lack of crew coordination were also considered as contributing factors.

Crash of a PZL-Mielec AN-2 near Leninakan: 13 killed

Date & Time: Jan 31, 1963 at 1006 LT

Type of aircraft:

PZL-Mielec AN-2

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-28900

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Yerevan – Leninakan – Akhalkalaki

MSN:

1G07-14

YOM:

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

1340

Circumstances:

The single engine aircraft departed Leninakan Airport at 0954LT on the second leg of a flight from Yerevan to Akhalkalaki. Eight minutes into the flight, while cruising in good weather conditions, the crew informed ATC about his position about 20 km north of Leninakan. Four minutes later, the airplane lost height and then climbed, banked left and right then nosed down and crashed in flames in a 90° nose down attitude in a mountainous area located near the village of Sesapar, some 30 km north of Leninakan. The airplane was totally destroyed and all 13 occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were good.

Probable cause:

The exact cause of the accident could not be determined with certainty. However, the board retained the following assumptions:
- Moving passengers towards the rear of the cabin, causing the center of gravity to be outside the envelope,
- Failure of the control cables,
- Attack of the crew in flight.