Accident Yak-40 near Zhdanov

Yak-40 with tail number 87738 (serial number 9010310, serial number 10-03) was launched by the Saratov Aviation Plant on March 2, 1970 and transferred to the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet , which on March 12 sent it to the Dnepropetrovsk Air Division of the Ukrainian Territorial Administration of the Civil Air Fleet. At the time of the crash, the airliner had 5894 flight hours and 6777 landings ^[1] .

The plane performed a local flight N-925 from Dnepropetrovsk to Zhdanov , and its crew of 327 flight detachments, consisting of a commander (FAC) , pilotedA. M. Pribytka , co-pilot V. A. Perepadenko and the flight engineer E.I. Kurbatova . The stewardess worked in the cabin V.A. Prima . At 07:59, the plane took off from the Dnepropetrovsk airport . On board were 24 passengers, including one unregistered - a flight engineer from 64 separate air squad of the Belarusian UGA ^[2] .

When approaching Zhdanov and after entering the airspace of the Zhdanov airport , the crew, in contact with the dispatcher, did not name the preferred landing scheme. In turn, the dispatcher did not demand this. However, based on the fact that the crew agreed to check the operation of the SP-50 course-glide path system , and then set the hazard warning light to 50 meters, it can be assumed that it was planned to make a trip along it. At this time, the sky above Zhdanov was covered with separate clouds, a weak northeast wind was blowing, there was a haze, and visibility was 2000 meters ^[2] .

The Yak-40 performed a landing approach at a magnetic course of 15 ° (from the north) and was already performing the fourth turn when the IL-18B crew contacted the USSR-75749 Baku squadron, who asked for a landing with a magnetic course of 195 ° (from the south), to the dispatcher . Saying nothing to the crew of the Yak-40, the dispatcher turned off the SP-50 system and the drive radios for approaching with a course of 15 ° and turned on the system for approaching with a course of 195 °. Completed the fourth U-turn and went to the pre-landing direct crew, the Yak-40 requested to turn on the SP-50 system again, which the dispatcher did. But the drive radio stations only get into operation after 25-30 seconds, and the SP-50 system and after 2 minutes 50 seconds - 3 minutes, while the Yak-40 was already less than two and a half minutes from the airport. Thus, the crew in this situation could not use the SP-50 system during the approach, and the OSP system could be used only starting from a distance of 5-6 kilometers to the runway ^[2] .

When the Yak-40 entered the glide path , but the crew did not report this, nor did it report the readiness for landing, it began to decrease at a vertical speed of 4 m / s, which was reduced when approaching the DPRM 5-6 kilometers from the entrance end of the runway up to 2 m / s and was maintained until the DPRM span, which was performed at a set height. Such a slowdown in decline allows us to conclude that the pilots now drove the aircraft through the OSB. Further, the vertical velocity was again increased to 4 m / s. According to the behavior of the aircraft during this period, it was subsequently concluded that the pilots switched to visual flight. But there was fog in the BPRM area, which was not generally provided for by the meteorological forecast for the airport, and the dispatcher and crew did not have information about it from the AMSG . Eyewitness accounts on the ground indicate that visibility in the fog did not exceed 500 meters, and passengers indicate that the ground was clearly visible when flying in it. The fact that the vertical visibility in the fog was at a satisfactory level created the illusion of the crew that in reality it was just a thin film of smoke that did not pose a danger to landing. It is also highly likely that focusing on visual piloting, pilots were distracted from controlling the position of the aircraft on instruments ^[2] .

But between the DPRM and the BPRM, the airliner descended below the glide path and flew into the fog. Realizing that they could crash into the BPRM, the commander tried to get out of the decline and gain altitude, for which he took the helm “on himself” and put the engines into takeoff mode. But it was too late. At 08:39:34 Moscow time, flying over the BPRM 6 meters above the ground, the Yak-40 crashed into a 9-meter reinforced concrete pillar. The impact resulted in the destruction of the power elements of the right wing plane, and the caisson tank also collapsed. Fuel gushing out of the tank ignited, causing a fire. The middle engine immediately turned off, and the airliner began to enter the right bank. Flying after a collision with a column of 420 meters, a plane with a roll of 40-45 ° crashed with the right plane into the ground 610 meters from the end of the runway and 140 meters to the right of its axis. Then, with a roll of 90 °, the fuselage hit the ground with its right side. The airliner turned 135 ° to the right, while the fuselage collapsed and caught fire. 8 people died in the crash: commander, co-pilot, flight engineer and 5 passengers. The stewardess and one passenger were injured. 20 people survived ^[2] .

The cause of the disaster is a flight below the installed glide path and a plane entering the surface fog in the BPRM area is unexpected for the crew.

The incident was facilitated by gross violations of NPP GA-71 and NMO GA-73 by meteorological services (lack of weather monitoring on the BPRM with MK = 15 ° at a visibility of 2000 meters and continuous monitoring of visibility and hazardous weather phenomena) and air traffic control (turning off the radio landing equipment before boarding Aircraft and the lack of information about the crew), as well as the indecisive actions of the ship's commander to go to the second circle in the current conditions.

- ^[2]