Aviastar Airlines Flight 051

Aviastar Airlines

Industry	Aviation
Founded	1993
Headquarters	Russia
Parent	Aviastar-SP

On 15 November 1993, Aviastar Flight 051, an Antonov An-124-100 returning from a cargo operation earlier that day at Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, crashed into mountainous terrain approximately 35 km east of Kerman, Iran. The aircraft was executing a holding pattern en route to Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani Airport for a scheduled refueling stop before continuing to its final destination at Tashkent International Airport, Uzbekistan. Tragically, all 14 crew members and three passengers aboard lost their lives.

Investigations attributed the accident primarily to crew mistakes, including failure to accurately ascertain their position, deviation from the assigned flight path, and improper use of onboard radar systems. Additionally, the flight crew was not well-acquainted with the destination airport. Contributing factors included adverse weather conditions, errors made by air traffic control, and the challenging mountainous environment surrounding the airport.

Background

The aircraft involved was an Antonov An-124-100 bearing registration RA-82071. Built in 1993, it was operated by the Russian carrier Aviastar Airlines. This airline functioned as part of Aviastar-SP, the parent company responsible for manufacturing the aircraft, and was affiliated with another airline under the same group, Aviastar-TU, which operated from 1993 until 2004.Template:Fix/category

Among those on board were fourteen crew members and three passengers. The flight deck team included Captain Anatoly Lubyanitsky and First Officer Vladimir Lubyanitsky. Navigational duties were handled by Ivakh S.N. and Sysoev A.V. The flight engineers consisted of Tarasenko G.K., Romanenko A.I., Starodubtsev A.I., Gavrilov N.L., Kislyuk V.N., and Chentsov E.M. Additionally, technicians Dubrovsky S.L., Goncharov V.V., Aitov V.P., and Kuznetsov R.V. were part of the crew complement.Template:Fix/category

Accident

The flight departed from Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, with a planned destination of Tashkent International Airport in Uzbekistan. A scheduled refueling stop was arranged at Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani Airport in Iran. As the aircraft neared its layover point at Kerman, air traffic control instructed the pilots to enter a holding pattern. Although the crew complied, they did not maintain the designated flight path. The plane veered northward approximately 47 km from the airport and began descending from flight level FL270 (8200 m) down to FL170 (5200 m).

When the aircraft was 45 km away from Kerman Airport, Flight 051 received clearance to land on runway 34 despite visibility conditions being below the minimum required for a safe approach. Consequently, the pilots initiated a turn and continued descending to flight level FL110 (3300 m). However, the aircraft passed beyond the airport unnoticed by the crew and kept descending further.

At around 7:04 pm local time, traveling at close to 400 km/h, Flight 051 collided with mountainous terrain at an elevation of 3400 m. All 17 occupants on board lost their lives. Following impact, the aircraft caught fire. Early reports mistakenly identified the wreckage as belonging to a Canadian-operated plane managed by Atlantair.

Investigation

The inquiry concluded that pilot error was the primary factor leading to this controlled flight into terrain. The flight crew failed to accurately determine their true position, resulting in an unrecognized deviation from the intended route. Additionally, air traffic control did not alert them to this error, which contributed to the accident. Other factors included improper use of the onboard radar system, insufficient familiarity with Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani Airport and its environment, as well as adverse weather conditions at the airfield.