Spair Flight 3601
| Company type | Cargo airline service |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aviation |
| Headquarters | Yekaterinburg , Russia |
Area served | Russia, Malta, Yugoslavia |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2009) |
Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence Spair Flight 3601 (PAR-3601) was a cargo service operating between Yekaterinburg, Russia, and Malta International Airport, Malta. On August 19, 1996, the plane crashed into a cornfield located approximately 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) northeast of the runway at Belgrade International Airport in Yugoslavia. All eleven individuals aboard lost their lives.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was an Ilyushin Il-76T model, aged 18 years at the time, bearing the registration RA-76513 and serial number 083414451.[1]
Flight chronology
Flight 3601 took off from Ekaterinburg on August 18, 1996. The Il-76T made a scheduled stop at Belgrade International Airport for refueling and routine maintenance.
Shortly after 23:00 hours, while still at the gate, the flight crew initiated engine start-up procedures but experienced a complete failure of all electrical systems. Although this issue was temporarily resolved, the aircraft departed at 00:10 on August 19 bound for Malta. Despite repairs, incorrect configuration of the electrical system by the crew resulted in power supply relying exclusively on onboard batteries. Approximately fifteen minutes post-departure near Valjevo, Yugoslavia, the batteries depleted entirely. Pilot Vladimir Starikov contacted Belgrade air traffic control reporting renewed electrical difficulties; this was the final communication received from Flight 3601. Attempts to execute an emergency landing at Belgrade were made but thwarted by adverse weather and nighttime conditions. During one such attempt, the aircraft crashed, causing fatalities to all eight crew members and three passengers.[1]
Approximately one hour after takeoff, Flight 3601 was observed flying over Belgrade. Numerous witnesses noted the absence of any illuminated lights on the aircraft during its passage. The weather conditions that night were poor with dense cloud cover, and without electrical power onboard, visual navigation to the runway was severely impaired.
At roughly 01:30, Flight 3601 circled low over central Belgrade; eyewitnesses reported seeing it fly at a dangerously low altitude above New Belgrade. At 03:14, the crew attempted a landing maneuver involving a 180-degree turn followed by alignment with Runway 12 on a heading of 121 degrees.
While trying to perform an emergency landing at Belgrade International Airport, the plane crashed into a cornfield and exploded, resulting in the deaths of all eleven Russian occupants. According to The New York Times, this flight was reportedly transporting arms illegally destined for Libya.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedASN - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hegdes, Chris (November 7, 1996). "Serbs Allegedly Transport Arms to Libya to Circumvent U.N. Sanctions". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 8, 2016.
External links
- Dulovic, Jovan; Vasic, Milos; Vukelic, Ilija; Stosic, Branko; Kuznetsov, Sergei (August 24, 1996). "Final Flight Over Belgrade". Vreme News Digest Agency. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020.
- "Twelve Fatalities in Plane Crash Near Belgrade". CNN. August 19, 1996. Archived from the original on July 12, 2001.
- "IL-76 Aircraft Accident Report". FlightGlobal. Flight International. August 27, 1996. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020.
Template:Aviation incidents and accidents in 1996 Template:Aviation accidents and incidents in Yugoslavia Template:Use mdy dates
- Aviation accidents and incidents in 1996
- Aviation accidents and incidents in Serbia
- Aviation accidents and incidents in Yugoslavia
- Accidents and incidents involving the Ilyushin Il-76
- Spair Airlines accidents and incidents
- 1996 in Serbia
- August 1996 events in Europe
- Accidents and incidents involving cargo planes
- 1996 disasters in Serbia