2018 Russian Air Force Antonov An-26 crash
Antonov An-26 · Loss of control on final approach
From Rasm Al-Abboud Air Base (OS66) to Khmeimim air base, Syria
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 39 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 39
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Antonov An-26
- Aircraft type
- Antonov AN-26
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- RF-92955
- Operator
- Russian Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 39
- Route
- From Rasm Al-Abboud Air Base (OS66)To Khmeimim air base, Syria
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
On 6 March 2018, an Antonov An-26 transport aircraft crashed on approach to Khmeimim air base in Syria, killing all 39 people on board. All of them were servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces, including Major-General Vladimir Yeremeyev.
Accident
On the day of the accident, the aircraft was alleged to transport Russian military staff established in Syria from Kuweires Military Airbase to Khmeimim air base.
At about 14:00 local time (12:00 UTC), the aircraft crashed in approach to the air base at about 500 m from the runway, killing all 39 occupants (33 passengers and 6 crew members). Based on reports from the location, the Russian Ministry of Defense ruled out the possibility that it was shot down. The preliminary cause was attributed to technical malfunction. The Investigative Committee of Russia and the Russian Military Prosecutor's Office opened criminal cases concerning the crash.
Shootdown claims
The Islamic militant group Jaysh al-Islam later claimed the responsibility for the crash; according to Ad-Diyar, five militants shot at the aircraft with heavy machine guns when it was 100 m from the ground. It was suggested that the claim might be false, as the group has made opportunistic claims in the past, as have some other groups.
Investigation and cause
Cause
The accident was caused by a Wind shear occurred during the final phase of the approach leading to a loss of control and subsequent crash short of the runway.
Text from the Wikipedia article “2018 Russian Air Force Antonov An-26 crash” (revision 1339297677, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2018 Russian Air Force Antonov An-26 crash
- Revision
- 1339297677 · 2026-02-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q50356106
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2018 Russian Air Force Antonov An-26 crash" (page 56766511, revision 1339297677)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- none
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.