Nikolayevsk-on-Amur | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

The airplane departed Magadan-Sokol Airport on a scientific flight to Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, carrying seven crew members and four scientists who were in charge to proceed with temperature measurements of the water surface in the Okhotsk Sea. En route, weather conditions deteriorated and the decision to return was taken too late. While cruising at an altitude of 140 meters in limited visibility, the crew initiated a right turn in a slight climb when the airplane struck the slope of a hill (152 meters high) located in the southwest part of the Utichiy Island (Shantar Islands), in the west part of the Okhotsk Sea. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all 11 occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the crew did not receive any weather bulletin for the second part of the mission and took the decision to continue without any suitable information in poor weather conditions. The decision to return was taken too late and the pilots were unable to see the ground obstacles due to limited visibility. At the time of the accident, flying conditions were difficult with thunderstorm activity, heavy rain falls and turbulences.

Crash of an Antonov AN-2 in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur: 2 killed

Date & Time: Oct 24, 1964 at 1230 LT

Type of aircraft:

Antonov AN-2

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-01231

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Postal (mail)

Survivors:

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Nikolayevsk-on-Amur - Okha

MSN:

1 69 473 20

YOM:

1956

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

6349

Circumstances:

The crew departed Nikolayevsk-on-Amur on a mail flight to Okha. Few minutes after takeoff, he encountered poor weather conditions and the visibility dropped below minima due to snow falls. In such conditions, the crew decided to return to his departure point but lost orientation and failed to realize his altitude was insufficient. While cruising at an altitude of 190 meters in limited visibility, the single engine struck trees and crashed on the wooded slope of a hill (282 metres high) located 4,1 km from the runway's centerline. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and both pilots were killed.

Probable cause:

Poor flight preparation on part of the crew who decided to takeoff without any information related to the weather conditions enroute. Local meteorologists transmitted information to the crew afterwards but these information were considered as too optimistic and failed to reflect the truth.

Crash of a Lisunov LI-2 near Enken: 5 killed

Date & Time: May 5, 1960 at 1614 LT

Type of aircraft:

Lisunov LI-2

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-84609

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Positioning

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Nikolayevsk-on-Amur – Okhotsk – Magadan

MSN:

60 02

YOM:

1949

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

10291

Circumstances:

The crew was completing a positioning flight from Nikolayevsk-on-Amur to Magadan with an intermediate stop at Okhotsk. En route, pilots encountered poor weather conditions with turbulences and heavy icing conditions. The airplane lost altitude and eventually dove into the ground before crashing in flames at an altitude of 900 meters on the slope of Mt Dzhugdzhur (1,207 meters high) located in the region of Enken. The burned wreckage was found five days later and all five crew members were killed. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were bad with low visibility, snow falls, severe icing conditions, turbulences, wind from 140° at 100 km/h and an OAT of -18°.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the loss of control was caused by an excessive accumulation of ice on wings, stabs and tail combined to the extreme poor weather conditions. It was considered that the informations transmitted to the crew related to weather were incomplete and did not reflect the truth. Also, ATC assistance was considered as inefficient.

Crash of a Douglas C-47A-1-DK in Khabarovsk: 22 killed

Date & Time: May 16, 1947 at 1625 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-L1048

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Nikolayevsk-on-Amur – Khabarovsk

MSN:

11936

YOM:

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

2388

Circumstances:

On final approach, the visibility was poor due to severe weather and as the aircraft was too low, it hit with its right wing a radio antenna located 2,600 meters short of the runway threshold. The aircraft stalled and crashed in a huge explosion, killing all 22 occupants.

Probable cause:

The crew was completing the approach procedure in weather conditions that were considered as below minima. In such situation, the captain should make a go around or divert to the nearest suitable airport. Deficiencies and irregularities were pointed out in flight organisation, operation management and crew training.

Crash of a Polikarpov P-5 in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur

Date & Time: Mar 6, 1936 at 1400 LT

Type of aircraft:

Polikarpov P-5

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-L1744

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Khabarovsk – Komsomolsk-on-Amur – Nijnetambovskoye – Bogorodskoye – Nikolayevsk-on-Amur

MSN:

9464

YOM:

1935

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

175

Circumstances:

The pilot was completing a cargo flight from Khabarovsk to Nikolayevsk-on-Amur with intermediate stops in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Nijnetambovskoye and Bogorodskoye. On final approach to Nikolayevsk-on-Amur Airport, weather conditions deteriorated quickly. The visibility was less than one km due to snow falls. On final, the airplane crash landed in a snow covered field located 4 km short of runway. The pilot was injured.

Probable cause:

The accident was the consequence of an impact with the ground when the pilot was apparently attempting an emergency landing while flying in poor weather conditions (low visibility due to snow falls).
The following contributing factors were identified:
- The weather information transmitted to the crew were inaccurate and did not reflect the actual weather conditions at destination,
- Poor flight organization,
- The pilot's inability to fly in instruments conditions.

Crash of a Polikarpov P-5 near Nikolayevsk-on-Amur: 1 killed

Date & Time: Mar 6, 1936 at 1400 LT

Type of aircraft:

Polikarpov P-5

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-L1617

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Khabarovsk – Komsomolsk-on-Amur – Nijnetambovskoye – Bogorodskoye – Nikolayevsk-on-Amur

MSN:

9426

YOM:

1934

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

717

Circumstances:

The pilot was completing a cargo flight from Khabarovsk to Nikolayevsk-on-Amur with intermediate stops in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Nijnetambovskoye and Bogorodskoye. On the final leg from Bogorodskoye, while approaching Nikolayevsk-on-Amur, weather conditions deteriorated quickly. The visibility was less than one km due to snow falls. Apparently, the pilot attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft impacted the top of a hill and crashed on snowy ground about 12 km northwest of Nikolayevsk-on-Amur Airport. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was killed.

Probable cause:

Crash of a Polikarpov P-5 in Tyr

Date & Time: Mar 6, 1936

Type of aircraft:

Polikarpov P-5

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-L1078

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Khabarovsk – Komsomolsk-on-Amur – Nijnetambovskoye – Bogorodskoye – Nikolayevsk-on-Amur

MSN:

6528

YOM:

1933

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

707

Circumstances:

The pilot was completing a cargo flight from Khabarovsk to Nikolayevsk-on-Amur with intermediate stops in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Nijnetambovskoye and Bogorodskoye. On the leg from Bogorodskoye, weather conditions deteriorated quickly. The visibility was less than one km due to snow falls. The pilot attempted an emergency landing when a wing impacted the ground and the airplane crashed in a snow covered field located 2,5 km east of the village of Tyr, 60 km southwest of Nikolayevsk-on-Amur Airport. The pilot was injured.
Probable cause:

Probable cause:

Crash of a Junkers G.24 in Nijnetambovskoïe: 16 killed

Date & Time: Feb 23, 1932 at 1500 LT

Type of aircraft:

Junkers G.24

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-L718

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Okha – Nikolayevsk-on-Amur – Nijnetambovskoye – Khabarovsk

MSN:

930

YOM:

1925

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

411

Circumstances:

The airplane departed Okha on a flight to Khabarovsk with intermediate stops in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur and Nijnetambovskoye. While descending to Nijnetambovskoye, the pilot encountered marginal weather conditions. Because the visibility was limited, he reduced his altitude to minimum. On final approach, at a height of 50 metres, the right wing failed and detached. The airplane nosed down and crashed in a pasture. All 16 occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

Failure of the right wing on approach because of poor repairs of the four supporting beams.
The following contributing factors were reported:
- Incorrect calculation of the dimensions of the shaped couplings and diameter of the rivets,
- Inaccurate record of the repairs in the aircraft logbook,
- Only spars n°2 and 6 were reported in the logbook, not spars n°4 and 8,
- The aircraft was overloaded by 562 kilos upon takeoff from Nikolayevsk-on-Amur as its total weight was 6,862 kg.

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