Investigation Summary
The flight was a routine passenger service within the Tajikistan division of Aeroflot. While en route to Dushanbe, the crew encountered a thunderstorm cell. Without obtaining authorization from air traffic control, the crew attempted to bypass the weather by deviating from the established airway. During this maneuver, the crew lost their orientation in the mountainous terrain. Navigational errors, compounded by the unauthorized deviation, placed the aircraft in a region of high terrain without sufficient altitude to clear the peaks. The Yak-40 struck the slope of a mountain at an altitude of approximately 2,840 meters, resulting in its total destruction. The accident occurred during a period of high accident rates for the Soviet flag carrier, which saw numerous CFIT events involving regional jets like the Yak-40 and Tu-134.
Final Conclusions
The investigation concluded that the aircraft went off course and crashed into a mountain slope. The primary cause was the crew's failure to maintain the assigned flight path, resulting in controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) in the mountainous region northwest of Dushanbe.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Systems & Failure Modes
Navigation Equipment
The aircraft's navigation systems were responsible for keeping the flight on the designated airway; failure to properly utilize or monitor these systems led to the course deviation.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was a Yakovlev Yak-40, a three-engine regional jet widely used by Aeroflot.
- 02The crash site was located 44 kilometres (27 miles) northwest of the destination airport in Dushanbe.
- 03There were no survivors among the 29 passengers and crew.
- 04The aircraft was operated by the Tajikistan division of Aeroflot.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Navigational Discipline
Following several CFIT accidents in the 1980s, Aeroflot emphasized stricter adherence to established flight paths and improved crew monitoring of navigational instruments in mountainous regions.
Location
APPROXIMATE POSITION · Position recorded by the wikidata coordinate without a stated precision, so the ring shows roughly where the event occurred rather than an exact point. The ring shows the accuracy the record supports, not the point of impact.