Investigation Summary
The crash was rooted in a 'negative transfer of skills' resulting from the crew's simultaneous operation of two different aircraft types, the Yak-40 and the Yak-42. While the two aircraft appear similar, their rudder pedals are designed differently. On the Yak-40, pilots often rest their feet on the pedals in a way that does not engage the brakes, but on the Yak-42, this same foot position can lead to inadvertent brake application. During the accident flight, as the pilots pulled back on the control column to rotate, they instinctively braced their feet against the pedals, unknowingly applying significant braking force. This created a parasitic braking force of up to 8 tons, which countered the nose-up pitch moment. The crew failed to abort the takeoff despite the sluggish acceleration and instead increased thrust to 'takeoff' mode late in the roll. When the aircraft finally left the ground past the runway threshold, the sudden release of the braking force caused the plane to pitch up violently to a supercritical angle of attack. In the confusion, the flight engineer briefly reduced thrust to 'nominal' in an attempt to level the plane, which further depleted the energy needed to maintain flight, leading to an aerodynamic stall.
Final Conclusions
The Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) concluded that the immediate cause was the crew's erroneous actions, specifically the application of braking forces during the takeoff roll due to incorrect foot placement on the pedals. Contributing factors included serious shortcomings in crew retraining, a lack of supervision by Yak-Service, and poor coordination (CRM) between the pilots. Furthermore, the co-pilot was found to have phenobarbital in his system, a sedative that is prohibited for flight crew, and was suffering from a neurological condition (polyneuropathy) that caused decreased sensitivity in his legs, likely preventing him from feeling that he was pressing the brakes.
Photographic Evidence (1)
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
Had significant experience on the Yak-40, contributing to the negative transfer of skills regarding pedal placement.
First Officer
A certified captain on the Yak-40; found with phenobarbital in his system and suffered from polyneuropathy in his legs.
Systems & Failure Modes
Braking System
The Yak-42 uses hydraulic brakes operated by the top portion of the rudder pedals. Inadvertent pressure during rotation created a nose-down moment that countered the elevator.
Trimmable Horizontal Stabilizer
Initially set to 8.7 degrees nose-up. During the struggle to rotate, the crew increased the trim to 9.5 degrees nose-up in an attempt to compensate for the lack of pitch response caused by the parasitic braking force.
Lotarev D-36 Engines
The three engines functioned normally throughout the flight, but the crew delayed selecting full takeoff thrust until late in the takeoff roll.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was carrying 26 players and several staff members of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team.
- 02The co-pilot had phenobarbital, a banned sedative, in his blood at the time of the crash.
- 03The investigation found that the pilots had falsified documents regarding their training on the Yak-42.
- 04Flight mechanic Alexander Sizov was the sole long-term survivor; player Alexander Galimov survived the initial impact but died five days later in the hospital.
- 05The Yak-42 required a different foot position on the pedals compared to the Yak-40, which the pilots had flown more extensively.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Operator License Revocation
Following the crash, Russian aviation authorities revoked the operating license of Yak-Service.
Pilot Training Reform
The MAK recommended stricter controls over 'negative transfer' training when pilots transition between aircraft with similar but distinct cockpit layouts.