Date:	Tuesday 2 August 1988
Time:
Type:	Yakovlev Yak-40
Owner/operator:	Hemus Air
Registration:	LZ-DOK
MSN:	9620247
Year of manufacture:	1976
Engine model:	Ivchenko AI-25
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 29 / Occupants: 37
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	Sofia-Vrazhdebna Airport (SOF) -   Bulgaria
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Sofia-Vrazhdebna Airport (SOF/LBSF)
Destination airport:	Varna Airport (VAR/LBWN)

Narrative:
At Sofia Airport all civil traffic had been halted because of the departure of the Bulgarian "Air Force One" Tupolev 154, carrying Bulgarian leader Todor Zhivkov. Because of a delay of this flight, the air traffic controller cleared The Hemus Air Yak-40 for takeoff, asking the crew to expedite their departure. Trying to leave in a hurry, the crew forgot to set the trim correctly. Consequently, the aircraft failed to become airborne. It overran runway 09 into a ravine of the Iskar River and burst in flames.
It appeared that the stabilizer was set in the full "Down" position, instead it was supposed to be set between 2.5-3 degrees in "the Up" position.

Soviet Transports
NRC Handelsblad 03.08.1988
Captain Nikola H. Kolev (e-mail 10-8-2014)

photo (c) Kjell Nilsson; Varna Airport (VAR/LBWN); 28 August 1987

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