Crash of a GVF PS-84 in Yanaul: 10 killed
Date & Time:
Dec 22, 1942 at 1340 LT
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L3903
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Moscow – Kazan – Sverdlovsk
MSN:
5 05
YOM:
1941
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
7
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
10
Aircraft flight hours:
1954
Circumstances:
On the leg from Kazan to Sverdlovsk, while cruising at an altitude of 400 metres in clouds, the crew encountered severe icing conditions and decided to divert to the Yanaul Airport, in the Republic of Bashkortostan. On final approach, the pilot-in-command initiated a go around procedure for unknown reason. While completing a steep turn at low height, he lost control of the airplane that stalled and crashed on a meat processing plant. All five crew members and five passengers were killed while two other passengers were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed.
Probable cause:
The main cause of the accident was severe icing of the aircraft.
The following contributory factors were identified:
- The crew's decision to fly into clouds and to perform low-altitude turns with an iced-up aircraft.
- The meteorologist at Kazan Airport, who issued a weather forecast without indicating the possibility of icing in the clouds on the Kazan-Krasnufimsk route.
- The captain and flight instructor, who performed low-altitude turns with an iced-up airplane and allowed the flight to continue in the clouds with intense icing.
- The Kazan Airport controller, who superficially familiarized himself with the weather conditions. Seeing the unstable weather along the route, he made the ill-advised decision to transfer responsibility for the flight to the captain, writing a note in the weather report about landing in Yanaul in case of bad weather, instead of a specific order to fly above the clouds, because in Sverdlovsk, according to the forecast, there was high cloud cover of 5 to 10 points.
The following contributory factors were identified:
- The crew's decision to fly into clouds and to perform low-altitude turns with an iced-up aircraft.
- The meteorologist at Kazan Airport, who issued a weather forecast without indicating the possibility of icing in the clouds on the Kazan-Krasnufimsk route.
- The captain and flight instructor, who performed low-altitude turns with an iced-up airplane and allowed the flight to continue in the clouds with intense icing.
- The Kazan Airport controller, who superficially familiarized himself with the weather conditions. Seeing the unstable weather along the route, he made the ill-advised decision to transfer responsibility for the flight to the captain, writing a note in the weather report about landing in Yanaul in case of bad weather, instead of a specific order to fly above the clouds, because in Sverdlovsk, according to the forecast, there was high cloud cover of 5 to 10 points.
