Yugavia Flight S-519
Elista Airline, North Caucasus UGA, Aeroflot-Yugavia Yakovlev Yak-40 · Controlled flight into terrain (crashed into a mountain) due to ATC and pilot error
From Elista Airport (ESL) to Makhachkala Uytash International Airport (MCX)
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
- 51 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 51
- 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
- Airline
Yakovlev Yak-40
- Aircraft type
- Yakovlev YAK-40
- 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
- CCCP-87526
- Onboard fatalities
- 51
- Route
- From Elista Airport (ESL)To Makhachkala Uytash International Airport (MCX)
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Operating environment
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
Yugavia Flight S-519 (aka Aeroflot-Yugavia Flight 519) was a Russian domestic flight from Elista to Makhachkala. On the afternoon of November 7, 1991, the plane crashed into the side of Mt. Kukurtbash, 23 km (14 miles) from the Makhachkala Airport, killing all 51 people on board. This flight was the deadliest aviation accident involving a Yakovlev Yak-40 at the time, and remains the second-deadliest Yak-40 accident to this day.
Flight crew
Captain: Alexander Milshin
First officer: Alexander Shulepov
Mechanic: Mir Ochirov
Flight attendant: B. Tsedenova
Investigation and cause
Cause
The disaster was the result of gross violations of flight rules and air traffic control regulations in mountainous terrain by the air traffic control personnel and the crew, which led to descent of the aircraft below a safe altitude off the established approach pattern, resulting in a collision with a mountain and the complete destruction of the aircraft.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Yugavia Flight S-519” (revision 1339317669, 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: Yugavia Flight S-519
- Article
- Yugavia Flight S-519
- Revision
- 1339317669 · 2026-02-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q123038447
- 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 "Yugavia Flight S-519" (page 74941672, revision 1339317669)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- 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 airline 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.