Aeroflot Flight 6246

Aeroflot

Industry	Airline
Founded	1923
Headquarters	Moscow , Soviet Union (now Russia)
Products	Air transport services

Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence

Aeroflot Flight 6246 was involved in an aviation accident on 13 January 1990, when a Tupolev Tu-134A aircraft operated by Aeroflot was compelled to execute an emergency landing on a snow-covered field about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from Pervouralsk. The flight followed a domestic itinerary from Tyumen to Ufa and onward to Volgograd. Out of the 71 individuals aboard—comprising 65 passengers and six crew members—27 perished.

Aircraft

The Tupolev Tu-134A, bearing registration СССР-65951, was manufactured at the Kharkiv State Aviation Plant in 1972 and initially served Aeroflot on international routes departing from Sheremetyevo International Airport. In 1980, it was reassigned to Volgograd under the North Caucasus Directorate (UGA). The plane was powered by two Soloviev D-30 engines produced by the Perm Engine Plant. By the time of the accident, this aircraft had accumulated 18,102 takeoff and landing cycles and logged a total flight duration of 30,755 hours.

Crew

The flight crew belonged to the 231st flight detachment and included:

• Captain: Vladimir Evgenievich Dunaev
• First Officer: Alexander Viktorovich Sleptsov
• Navigator: Georgy Evgenievich Shilinkov
• Flight Engineer: Alexander Nikolaevich Lukyanov

Cabin service was provided by two flight attendants:

• Lyubov Nikolaevna Motareva
• Natalia Bobrovskikh

Accident

Operating as flight 6246 from Tyumen to Volgograd with an intermediate stop at Ufa, the Tupolev Tu-134A (СССР-65951) departed Roshchino Airport at 12:24 MSK. After ascent, it reached its cruising altitude of FL350 (approximately 10,650 metres (34,940 ft)).

At 12:45:04, the crew confirmed to air traffic control that they had attained their cruising level and were proceeding along their planned route. Almost simultaneously, between 12:45 and 12:46, a cockpit warning indicated "FIRE IN THE REAR CARGO COMPARTMENT." The flight engineer donned a smoke mask and took a fire extinguisher to inspect the rear cargo hold, where he verified the presence of fire but was unable to locate its exact origin or extinguish it. The fire had ignited during climb-out and began damaging electrical wiring; consequently, between 12:43 and 12:44, the radio technical landing system (RTSM) range channel ceased functioning. At 12:43:05, the MS-61B voice recorder powered down; subsequently, at 12:47:20, parametric recorders MSRP-64 and KZ-63 also stopped due to power loss. At this point, flight 6246 maintained FL350 on a heading of 256° with an indicated airspeed of 490 km/h and remained controllable. However, anomalies appeared including a rapid rise in ventilation line pressure differential and multiple false alerts such as "EXCESSIVE BANK," "ENGINE NO. 1 FIRE VALVE CLOSED," "DANGEROUS DESCENT SPEED," and "ENGINE NO. 2 FIRE VALVE CLOSED."

The "APU FIRE" warning activated at 12:48:01. Shortly after, at 12:48:57, pilots informed air traffic control about the onboard fire and requested clearance for an emergency descent and landing at Sverdlovsk's Koltsovo Airport. Clearance was granted at 12:49:09 with instructions to descend to 4,800 metres (15,700 ft) altitude while providing distance and azimuth data relative to the airport. The descent commenced at 12:49:37 on a heading of 258°, opposite the intended landing course of 78°, with landing gear extended. Weather conditions over Sverdlovsk Oblast featured overcast skies, moderate northeast winds, snowfall, and visibility between 4–6 kilometres (2.5–3.7 mi).

At approximately 12:53:56, under cloud cover impairing radar tracking stability—resulting in air traffic control providing only bearing information—the crew initiated a left turn. Shortly thereafter both PO-4500 single-phase AC converters (operating at 115V) failed. This caused the transponder's height converter (SOM-64) to cease functioning by 12:54:40. During the turn at 12:54:52, pilots reported being at an altitude of 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) with fires detected in both engines. To reduce thrust and decrease landing speed for a shorter rollout distance, engine No.2 (right) was shut down at 12:55:09. Eleven seconds later (12:55:20), simultaneous failure of two PT-1000C consumers (36V powered) along with the PT-200C converter caused attitude indicators PP-75 for both pilots and course system KS-8 to freeze. This resulted in loss of situational awareness as navigational instruments failed sequentially. Consequently, an emergency off-airport landing on a field was deemed necessary. Final communication with air traffic control occurred at 12:55:31 when altimeter settings were confirmed before switching to visual flight rules to identify a suitable landing zone approximately 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in length.

At around 12:56:40 (14:56:40), roughly 49 kilometres (30 mi) west (azimuth 285°) of Koltsovo Airport, flight SU-6246 touched down on snow-covered terrain while flying a heading of 150°, with gear extended but flaps retracted. Upon contact with snow, all three landing gear struts began collapsing as the aircraft skidded approximately 148 metres (486 ft) before briefly lifting off again for about 104 metres (341 ft), then touching down on both main gear legs and left wing. After sliding an additional 44 metres (144 ft), it lifted off once more before striking ground for a third time roughly 180 metres (590 ft) later. At this point it collided with a stationary irrigation system which severed the right wing along with its engine nacelle housing the right landing gear. Due to high velocity and lift generated by the left wing during this impact, the airplane flipped upside down. It slid inverted for several hundred meters through forested terrain shedding tail fin and stabilizers before breaking apart approximately 1,028 metres (3,373 ft) from initial touchdown.

At the crash site fatalities included two crew members and twenty-two passengers immediately; subsequently two additional crew members plus one passenger died in hospital care. Overall casualties numbered twenty-seven—four crew (the captain, first officer, navigator, and flight attendant Motareva) alongside twenty-three passengers. Survivors totaled forty-four individuals consisting of two crew members (flight engineer and flight attendant Bobrovskikh) along with forty-two passengers.

Investigation

The inquiry revealed that the fire originated from a short circuit within the electrical wiring, attributed to damaged insulation. This blaze took place near the 48-50 fuselage frames on the left side, specifically within the rear cargo compartment area. No other fire sources were identified, as both engines and the APU remained functional and exhibited no indications of fire. The fire ceased instantly once the aircraft lost all electrical power prior to the crash.