Investigation Summary
The flight was operating the second leg of a Tashkent to Mineralnye Vody route with a stopover in Nukus. Upon arrival at Mineralnye Vody, the crew encountered adverse weather including low-level clouds, fog with visibility around 1,000 meters, and icing conditions. During the initial approach, the crew failed to maintain the correct course due to distraction. Realizing they were misaligned at just 1.5 kilometers from the runway, the Captain initiated a go-around. However, the maneuver was executed improperly: instead of a straight climb, the aircraft began a right turn at low altitude. The situation became critical when the crew retracted the flaps too quickly while the Captain pitched the nose up to 11 degrees. This resulted in a load factor of 1.64g, which exceeded the structural integrity of the control surface linkages. The aircraft entered an uncontrollable right bank and lost altitude until impact.
Final Conclusions
The investigation concluded that the primary cause was crew error during the missed approach procedure. Specifically, the pilots failed to maintain situational awareness during the initial approach and subsequently mismanaged the aircraft configuration during the go-around. The premature retraction of flaps at a high angle of attack led to a stall and structural damage to the flight control systems (ailerons and rudder), rendering the aircraft unrecoverable at low altitude.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Pilot in Command
N. A. Konovalenko
First Officer
B.V. Polyakov
Flight Engineer
N.I. Sorokin
Navigator
A.P. Vishnevetsky
Systems & Failure Modes
Flaps
Retracted too quickly during the go-around, reducing lift at a critical moment when the aircraft was at a high angle of attack.
Flight Control Surfaces
The ailerons and rudder were damaged by a 1.64g load factor, preventing the crew from correcting the aircraft's roll.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was carrying 92 passengers and 6 crew members, totaling 98 souls on board; the 92 passengers occupied all 89 standard seats plus 3 additional permitted spots.
- 02Weather at the time included fog with a ceiling of less than 100 meters and ice on the ground.
- 03The aircraft experienced a structural failure of control surface components due to excessive g-forces during the stall recovery attempt.
- 04There were 21 survivors among the 98 occupants, 18 of whom sustained injuries.
- 05The aircraft had accumulated over 29,000 flight hours prior to the accident.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Go-around Procedure Standardization
The accident highlighted the dangers of improper flap management and steep pitch angles during low-altitude missed approaches, leading to reinforced training on Il-18 go-around profiles.