1997 Irkutsk An-124 crash
| Industry | Aviation, Cargo airline |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Ukraine |
Area served | International cargo transport |
| Products | Cargo air transport services |
Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence
On December 6, 1997, a Russian Air Force Antonov An-124-100 operating from Irkutsk Northwest Airport to Cam Ranh Air Base in Vietnam crashed shortly after takeoff, impacting a residential neighborhood.[1]
The aircraft, leased by Ukrainian Cargo Airways, was transporting two Sukhoi Su-27UBK fighter jets (numbers 8524 and 8525) intended for the Vietnam People's Air Force, with a scheduled layover at Vladivostok.[1]
Approximately three seconds following liftoff from Runway 14 at Irkutsk, the third engine experienced a surge at an altitude near 5 metres (16 ft). Although the plane continued ascending, it did so at an excessive angle of attack which caused disrupted airflow to engines one and two, leading them to surge as well.[1]
The aircraft was unable to maintain altitude and descended until colliding with houses on Mira Street, located about 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) beyond the runway threshold. This tragic event resulted in the deaths of all 23 occupants aboard and 49 individuals on the ground.[1][2][3]
Aircraft
The Antonov An-124-100 involved in the crash was initially leased by Aeroflot in 1985 and had its inaugural flight on 30 October of the same year. On 14 February 1988, the aircraft was transferred to the Soviet Air Forces, specifically assigned to the 566th Military Transport Aviation Regiment within the 12th Military Transport Aviation Division known as "Crazy Russian Girls," stationed at the Seshcha airbase in Bryansk Oblast. It bore the tail number CCCP-82005 (RA-82005). By the time of the accident, this Antonov had completed 576 takeoff and landing cycles for the Russian Air Force and logged over 1,034 flight hours.
Accident
On 6 December 1997, RA-82005 was carrying two Su-27UBK fighter jets with a combined weight of 40 tons en route to Vietnam.
The aircraft departed Irkutsk at 14:42 IKT. Merely three seconds after liftoff, at an altitude of approximately 5 metres (16 ft), engine number 3 experienced a surge that caused an increase in the Antonov’s angular velocity, which subsequently led to engine number 2 shutting down. Eight seconds into the flight, when the plane reached about 66 metres (217 ft), engine number 1 also surged, causing the aircraft to lose altitude.
Despite the pilots’ efforts to control the plane using only one functional engine, it ultimately crashed into apartment building number 45 on Grazhdanskaya Street. The aircraft’s tail struck block number 120 and a nearby orphanage, inflicting severe damage on both structures.
Aftermath
The tragedy claimed the lives of all crew members aboard as well as 49 individuals on the ground, including 12 children residing in the orphanage. Over seventy families were rendered homeless due to extensive destruction sustained by the two residential blocks. The severity of the damage was exacerbated by a fire ignited by large quantities of aviation fuel spilled during the crash.
Investigation
A dedicated commission was formed to determine the underlying causes of this disaster.
Both flight recorders, including the cockpit voice recorder, were engulfed in intense flames and suffered such severe damage that they could not yield usable information. The exact reasons behind the simultaneous failure of three engines remain inconclusive, with no official final report released to the public.
Given that temperatures in Irkutsk were below −20 °C (−4 °F) at the time, one hypothesis suggests that mixing cold-weather jet fuel with standard fuel—still present in the tanks from a prior flight from Vietnam—resulted in ice crystal formation. These crystals likely clogged fuel filters and interrupted fuel supply to the engines.
In an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets, test pilot Alexander Akimenkov proposed that interference caused by a passenger’s use of a Chinese radiotelephone might have disrupted onboard electronics, contributing to the accident.
Major General Boris Tumanov, former head of the Russian Air Force Flight Safety Service (1993–2002) and member of military air accident investigation commissions, informed Moskovsky Komsomolets that engine surges led to failure of all three engines.
In 2009, Fedor Muravchenko, General Designer at Ivchenko-Progress Design Bureau—the organization responsible for developing engines used on the An-124—offered his analysis based on company research and theoretical calculations. He concluded that excessive water content in aviation kerosene caused ice formation within fuel filters, resulting in engine surges and ultimately triggering the catastrophe.
See also
- 2022 Yeysk military aircraft crash – a separate incident involving a Russian military plane that impacted a populated neighborhood.
- List of aircraft accidents and incidents by number of ground fatalities
- Turkish Airlines Flight 6491 – another aviation disaster resulting in significant casualties on the ground.
Bibliography
- Haine, Edgar A. (2000). Disaster in the Air. Associated University Presses. p. 43. ISBN 9780845347775. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
External links
Template:Aviation incidents and accidents in 1997 Template:Aviation accidents and incidents in Russia in the 1990s