1992 Tbilisi Tupolev Tu-154 crash
Transair Georgia or Tbilisi Aviation Enterprise Tupolev Tu-154B · Crashed during takeoff
From Tbilisi International Airport (TBS) to Mineralnye Vody Airport (MRV)
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
- 28 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 4
- Occupants
- 24
- 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
Tupolev Tu-154B
- Aircraft type
- Tupolev TU-154
- 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
- 85222
- Onboard fatalities
- 24
- Route
- From Tbilisi International Airport (TBS)To Mineralnye Vody Airport (MRV)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Personnel issues › Task performance
- Organizational issues › Support/oversight/monitoring
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Tbilisi International Airport, the airport the Wikipedia article names as the site. Where on or near it is not known.
From the Wikipedia article
On 20 July 1992, a Tupolev Tu-154B cargo plane crashed during takeoff from Tbilisi-Novo Alexeyevka Airport in Georgia. The aircraft failed to become airborne and struck a residential area, killing all 24 on board and four more people on the ground. An investigation revealed that the aircraft's cargo was improperly loaded and partially undocumented, causing it to become overloaded.
Flight
The cargo flight operated either by Transair Georgia or Tbilisi Aviation Enterprise was scheduled from Tbilisi in Georgia to Russia's Mineralnye Vody, carrying tea. The aircraft was carrying eight crew and sixteen passengers; none of the passengers had tickets and did not receive official permission to be on the flight.
The aircraft began its takeoff procedure on runway 31L. While the nose gear lifted off the runway at V1 speed, the main landing gears failed to become airborne. The nose only reached an angle of 6–7°. It rolled past the runway and continued for about 490 m before barrelling into a localizer. The impact caused the aircraft to roll over. After traveling for another 190 m, it impacted homes in the village of Alekseevka and caught fire. Everyone on board died, along with four people on the ground, although Georgian media said there were as many as 30 ground fatalities. Ten people on the ground were also injured.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
Officials began suspecting the crash was due to overloading as the aircraft failed to lift off the ground. The investigation revealed that the flight crew and ground personnel at the cargo warehouse had violated regulations for loading cargo. Twenty tons of cargo was present on board, exceeding the maximum allowed weight. The loading of cargo was also improperly done and not all the cargo was recorded; flight documents only recorded 6.4 tons. The cargo placement also violated the Tu-154B's alignment standards. Three tons of load was added without the crew's knowledge, overloading the aircraft by two tons. This altered the aircraft's center of gravity.
The airport transport management and cargo warehouse was a single corporation before separating into two different entities; the airport management did not oversee cargo flights although this arrangement was not officially removed. The airport loading and balance controllers ceased operations for cargo flights while the warehouse company (Lasare) did not provide such services as they did not have relevant employees. As a result, the loading of cargo went unmonitored.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1992 Tbilisi Tupolev Tu-154 crash” (revision 1359688329, 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: 1992 Tbilisi Tupolev Tu-154 crash
- Revision
- 1359688329 · 2026-06-16 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q16662596
- 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 "1992 Tbilisi Tupolev Tu-154 crash" (page 76883548, revision 1359688329)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- airport the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata code, OurAirports)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A scheduled cargo flight by one of two Georgian air transport companies: an airline cargo flight. The article: "The cargo flight operated either by Transair Georgia or Tbilisi Aviation Enterprise was scheduled from Tbilisi in Georgia to Russia's Mineralnye Vody, carrying tea"
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: ground fatalities
- 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.