Aeroflot Flight E-35D

Aeroflot Flight E-35D was a scheduled passenger flight from Yerevan, Armenia SSR to Stepanakert, Azerbaijan SSR. On 1 August 1990, the Yak-40 crashed into the Karabakh Range while approaching to the Stepanakert Airport, killing all 46 occupants.

As of August 2026, this is the third largest disaster of the Yakovlev Yak-40 (behind Yugavia Flight S-519 and 1993 Tajikistan Airlines Yakovlev Yak-40 crash). The crash was controversial as with conflicting statements and results during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Accident

The flight took off from Erebuni Airport at 09:41 local time and reached to the altitude of 4,500 meters (14,760 feet). At 09:47, the ATC stated that the distance between the aircraft's position and the departure airport was 20 kilometers, but the captain estimated that they were 35 kilometers; even so, they decided to ignore the estimation and relied on the ATC calculations. The crew then made four consecutive turn. Due to the miscalculations, the plane deviated from Andranik by 2 kilometers to the left at 09:49, and Azizbekov by 4 kilometers to the left at 09:55.

At 09:59, 21 km after passing the Azizbekov airfield, the crew transferred control to the Kapan Airport controller. The controller instructed them to maintain an altitude of 4,500 meters (14,760 feet) until the descent point until the Lachin's beam. The controller did not observe the aircraft or inform the crew of the distance to the airport, and the crew, in turn, did not report the estimated time of flight Lachin's beam, nor did they specify their location. The captain began to doubt his estimation for his aircraft's position.

At the altitude of 3,616 meters (11,860 feet), he mistook it for 2,823 meters (9,260 feet) and reported his estimated start of descent. Clearance was given to 3,900 meters (12,800 feet) high of the Lachin's beam. Since the controllers did not observe the flight, the plane descended passed the safe altitude.

The crew switched communications to the Stepanakert controller. The crew misreported to be at 3,900 meters (12,800 feet). For a short approach, the crew changed heading to 75 degrees for the non-directional beacon and requested descent to 2,400 meters (7,875 feet); however, they were only authorized to descent to 3,000 meters (9,840 feet). As they descended, the plane collided with a rocky mountain slope at an altitude of 2,520 meters (8,270 feet) with a speed of 410-415 km/h (221-224 knots). All 46 occupants were killed.

Communications of the aircraft was lost, and the controller tried to re-connect the flight from other flights. Misha Andresyan, a pilot at that time, recollected: "When I was approaching Stepanakert, a controller asked me to try to contact Dallakyan, as their attempts produced no result. I did succeed either. When I landed, we waited for several more hours but to no avail. Then we learned that the plane crashed. We thought it was shot down."

Eyewitness of the crash stated that the plane looked overloaded, as the plane was designed to carry 32 passengers, not over 40.

Misha Andresyan also admitted: "Although Yak-40 was had 36 passenger seats, we were transporting more people, calling them “secondary passengers”. We didn’t count their weight, as well as the amount of the fuel we were short of. We fueled the tank just enough to reach the destination, not more. Upon landing in Stepanakert, we game the remaining fuel to the locals, who needed it badly."