Status: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Date: | Thursday 29 August 2002 |
Time: | 18:56 |
Type: | Antonov An-28 |
Operator: | Vostok Aviakompania |
Registration: | RA-28932 |
MSN: | 1AJ008-19 |
First flight: | 1990 |
Engines: | 2 Glushenkov TVD-10B |
Crew: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
Passengers: | Fatalities: 14 / Occupants: 14 |
Total: | Fatalities: 16 / Occupants: 16 |
Aircraft damage: | Damaged beyond repair |
Location: | 4,8 km (3 mls) SW of Ayan ( Russia)
|
Phase: | Approach (APR) |
Nature: | Domestic Scheduled Passenger |
Departure airport: | Poliny Osipenko, Russia |
Destination airport: | Ayan Airport, Russia |
Flightnumber: | 359 |
Narrative:Flight 359 departed Khabarovsk on a passenger flight to Ayan with an intermediate stop at Polina Osipenko. Weather at the destination was reported fine as the crew decided to takeoff from Polina Osipenko. However, weather quickly worsened. The controllers which were in contact with the flight did not have this information, so the crew were unaware of inclement weather in the Ayan area. After contacting the Ayan approach controller the crew were told that the visibility was 5000 metres but that the fog was closing in rapidly. Important meteorological information (cloud base, visibility, RVR) was not available at that moment and thus not relayed to the crew as they were conducting their initial approach. The Antonov descended at an average vertical rate of descent of about 7 m/s. It reached an altitude of 800 metres at a point were it should have been at 950 metres. The crew then made a premature turn to finals. Starting at an altitude of 660 metres (instead of 950) the aircraft during the turn entered into stratus clouds, passing into the fog with the horizontal visibility approximately 50 m. It descended to 320 metres on completion of the turn, having deviated 2,3 km to the right of the extended runway centreline. Instead of aborting the approach, the captain decided to continue. At a height of 188 metres the aircraft collided with the slope of a mountain with a height of 226,4 m.
The aircraft was attempting its second approach in fog when it struck a cliff 10 meters below the top at a distance of 4.8 km from the runway, ripping off one wing and the undercarriage. The fuselage and the other wing continued for about 100 meters and crashed in the valley 85 meters below.
Probable Cause:
The accident was caused by a combination of a.o. the following factors:
- failure of the crew to get a current weather report for Ayan (theirs was one hour old) and a current weather report for the alternate airport;
- failure of the crew to keep the established approach pattern and failure to abort the approach after failing to establish visiual contact with the runway below decision height;
- failure by the meteorological observer to issue sequential present weather information;
- absence of radion navigational aids at Ayan;
- absence of interaction between the air traffic controller and meteorological observer at Ayan a times when aircraft are approaching in the adverse weather conditions
Classification:
Premature descent
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain
Sources:
» On the aviation incident with the aircraft An-28 Ra -28932 / Ministry of transportation order No. PR-32, 17.12.2002
Photos
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.