Investigation Summary
The accident occurred during a climb in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) with light snowfall and temperatures around -5°C. During pre-flight preparations, the crew was in a hurry due to the late arrival of the aircraft from a previous flight. They skipped the checklist item to activate the heating for all three pitot tubes. As the aircraft climbed through 1,300 meters, ice began to block the probes, causing the captain's airspeed indicator (ASI) and the standby ASI to diverge. The captain's ASI began to show a rapid decrease in speed while the standby indicator showed an increase. Believing the aircraft was stalling or malfunctioning, the crew disconnected the autopilot and pushed the nose down. The aircraft entered a dive with a pitch angle of -30 to -35 degrees. Despite the standby ASI eventually reaching 800 km/h, the captain's ASI displayed 0 km/h at the moment of impact. The investigation found that the crew had ignored six warning messages on the Integrated System and Alarm Indicator (KISS) before takeoff, three of which specifically warned that the pitot heating was off.
Final Conclusions
The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) released its final report on June 27, 2019. The crash was attributed to the crew's erroneous reactions to unreliable airspeed indications caused by ice blockages of all three pitot probes. Contributing factors included the crew's failure to follow the 'Before Take-off' checklist, a lack of safety culture within Saratov Airlines that tolerated flying with known defects, and systemic weaknesses in the oversight of crew training by Russian aviation authorities. The airline's air operator's certificate was subsequently revoked on June 1, 2018.
Photographic Evidence (1)
Video Analysis
The Crash of Saratov Airlines Flight 703 — A detailed look at the 2018 crash of an Antonov An-148 near Moscow, caused by frozen pitot tubes and pilot error.
If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Captain
Only 58 hours as pilot in command on type.
First Officer
Sergei Gambaryan, age 35.
Systems & Failure Modes
Pitot-Static System
Three independent pitot probes provide airspeed data to the cockpit; all three were blocked by ice because their heaters were not activated.
Integrated System and Alarm Indicator (KISS)
The central warning system that displayed six alerts before takeoff, including the pitot heat status, which the crew ignored.
Autopilot
The autopilot was engaged at 130-150 meters but was manually disconnected by the crew when the airspeed readings became unreliable.
Interesting Facts
- 01The captain had 5,000 total hours, including 2,168 hours on the An-148, but only 58 hours of experience as a pilot in command on the type.
- 02Three separate warning messages regarding the lack of pitot tube heating were displayed on the cockpit monitors before takeoff.
- 03The aircraft's medical certificate for the captain had expired two days prior to the accident.
- 04The wreckage was scattered over a radius of approximately one kilometer.
- 05Saratov Airlines had its operating certificate revoked by Rostransnadzor following the investigation into its safety culture.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Fleet Grounding
Saratov Airlines temporarily suspended all An-148 flights on February 12, 2018, for technical inspections.
Revocation of AOC
Russian authorities revoked Saratov Airlines' air operator's certificate in June 2018 due to systemic safety violations discovered during the crash investigation.
Location
ACCIDENT SITE · Coordinates taken from the official investigation report.