ASN Aircraft accident Antonov An-26B-100 UR-UZB Mykhailivka
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Friday 22 April 2022
Time:07:00 UTC
Type:Silhouette image of generic AN26 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Antonov An-26B-100
Operator:Constanta Airlines
Registration: UR-UZB
MSN: 11305
First flight: 1981
Total airframe hrs:25168
Cycles:14298
Engines: 2 Ivchenko AI-24VT
Crew:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Mykhailivka (   Ukraine)
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:Zaporozhye Airport (OZH/UKDE), Ukraine
Destination airport:Uzhgorod Airport (UDJ/UKLU), Ukraine
Narrative:
An Antonov An-26B-100 transport plane crashed after striking powerlines near Mykhailivka, Ukraine, shortly after takeoff from Zaporozhye Airport (OZH). One of the three crew members suffered fatal injuries.

The aircraft had been stuck at OZH following the Russian invasion of Ukrainen that started on February 24, 2022. Almost two months later, UR-UZB was to be ferried to Uzhgorod Airport (UDJ), away from the OZH due to fighting going on in the vicinity.
In the 90 days prior to the accident, the captain had just flown for 85 minutes while the copilot and flight engineer had not made any flights.

Probable Cause:

Causes:
The cause of the aviation incident (collision of an airworthy aircraft with an obstacle) was the decision of the captain to carry out the flight under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) conditions in foggy weather at a critically low altitude, leading to the loss of visual contact with the ground, uncontrolled increase in speed, and the aircraft colliding with a power transmission line.

Contributing Factors:
1. The flight crew's failure to decide to switch to instrument flight and climb to a safe flight altitude when encountering weather conditions that did not meet the visual meteorological flight conditions.
2. Likely use of altimeters by the flight crew to maintain flight altitude in meters when the altimeter mode was set to indicate altitude in feet.
3. The decision of the flight crew to fly at critically low altitudes with the radio altimeter and GPWS turned off.
4. The flight crew's failure to follow the departure procedure from the aerodrome area under VFR, which was discussed in detail by the flight crew during pre-flight briefings.
5. Deterioration of weather conditions after takeoff.
6. Low crew resource management (CRM) skills.
7. Retraction of flaps in a turn at an altitude lower than recommended and at a speed higher than recommended for the An-26 aircraft.
8. The complex emotional state of the crew during both preparation and execution of the flight due to combat actions conducted by the Russian Federation near the departure aerodrome.
9. Conducting the flight without meteorological support, which contradicts aviation regulations.
10. The absence of procedures for conducting flights under VFR at low and critically low altitudes for An-26 aircraft in the operator's manuals.

Accident investigation:

Investigating agency: NBAAI Ukraine
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 5 months
Accident number: final report
Download report: Final report

Sources:
» Nexta
» NBAAI


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Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Zaporozhye Airport to Uzhgorod Airport as the crow flies is 962 km (601 miles).
Accident location: Exact; as reported in the official accident report.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Antonov An-26

  • 1403 built
  • 178th loss
  • 97th fatal accident
  • 90th worst accident (at the time)
  • 91st worst accident (currently)
» safety profile

 Ukraine
  • 80th worst accident
» safety profile

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