Aeroflot Antonov An-2 CCCP-79816 accident

The Antonov An-2 aircraft CCCP-79816 of the Russian Aeroflot crashed on 7 September 1966. During a research flight in the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic from Dushanbe to Murghob, it was in a mountain valley when a fire broke out on board. As a result, it collided with a mountain, after which it crashed and all six occupants were killed.

Accident sequence

At 11:30 the crew reported that it was overflying Rushan at an altitude of 4,000 metres. The air traffic controller issued clearance to continue to Murghob, since it had been agreed before departure that, in clear weather, the captain would overfly Lake Sarez on the route from Rushan to Murghob. When the controller warned the aircraft's crew at 12 o'clock of an oncoming Mil Mi-4 helicopter, the captain of the Antonov informed him that he was between Rushan and Murghob.

At 12:16 the captain of the Antonov An-2, Oslov, reported to air traffic control in Khorugh that he had overflown Lake Sarez at 12:15. At 12:21 he reported to air traffic control in Dushanbe that he was flying at an altitude of 4,000 metres. After the confluence of the Murgab and the Zapadny Pshart (“West Pshart”), where there was a place at which a landing of the aircraft would have been possible, the Antonov flew through a gorge bounded on both sides by steep mountain ridges. The next moment a situation arose on board that required an immediate emergency landing. The captain tried to manoeuvre the aircraft out of this predicament by turning it away to the left with the intention of attempting a landing on the riverbank. The manoeuvre failed, however; the aircraft collided with the northern ridge of the gorge and fell down it into the valley. All occupants were killed.

Discovery of the wreck and accident investigation

After the aircraft had not arrived at its destination, it was reported missing. Two days later, on 9 September 1966, the captain of a Mil Mi-4 helicopter discovered the burnt-out remains of the missing Antonov on the bank of the Murgab, at the confluence with the Zapadny Pshart. The time displayed on the cockpit instruments examined as part of the accident investigation was 12:35 (local time). The investigators assumed that this was the time of the accident. While flying a sharp left turn with a bank angle of 70 to 80 degrees and engine power throttled back to 1,500 revolutions per minute, the aircraft was said to have first struck the northern ridge of the canyon with its left wings and immediately afterwards with the propeller and the left landing gear. When these assemblies made contact with a rock, the lower left wing and the left landing gear were torn off, and the propeller blades also broke off. When the fuselage also struck the rock, it deformed and broke apart along frame 13. The next moment the engine struck the rock, whereupon the tail of the aircraft turned through 180 degrees. The aircraft broke apart completely and burned down along 13 frames. Since in the accident the bottoms of two barrels in which petrol was being transported were also burst open and the bottom of a third was torn, the petrol also burned after the impact.