An-12 crash near Novosibirsk (1969)

The An-12 crash near Novosibirsk (1969) was an aviation accident that occurred on Wednesday, 13 August 1969. An An-12B military transport aircraft of the airline Aeroflot was operating cargo flight SU-5134 on the Tiksi—Novosibirsk—Moscow route, but on approach to Novosibirsk airport it began having problems with engine No. 4 (already on departure from Tiksi it had not reached takeoff power, but the pilots decided to take off and later during the flight satisfied themselves that it was serviceable), after which the crew set all engines to low power and began an emergency landing, but in the end the aircraft crashed into a forest and broke apart. Of the 6 crew members on board, 2 survived.

Chronology of events

An-12B aircraft USSR-11018 was to operate cargo flight SU-5134 from Tiksi to Moscow with an intermediate landing in Novosibirsk. Before this it had already operated another flight on the Tiksi—Chokurdakh—Mys Shmidta route and then returned to Tiksi. On 12 August 1969 the aircraft (after refuelling with 15,500 kilograms of aviation fuel and a crew change) began operating flight SU-5134 Tiksi—Novosibirsk—Moscow. On board the aircraft were 6 crew members and 9900 kilograms of cargo; the total takeoff weight of the aircraft (including cargo) was 61,447 kilograms.

At 20:45 YAKT flight SU-5134 took off from Tiksi; during the takeoff run along the runway engine No. 4 did not reach takeoff power and operated at rated power, but because the takeoff was on a heading towards the sea, the pilots decided to continue the takeoff. After climbing to 400 metres the crew set all engines to rated power, but the readings of engine No. 4 did not change. Then all engines were set to normal operating mode, but engine No. 4 still operated abnormally. When the UPRT (fuel lever position indicator) was retarded, the power setting of engine No. 4 did not change. Because the aircraft had a high flight weight and the weather in Tiksi was bad (it corresponded to minimum No. 1 — visibility 2200 metres), the commander decided to follow the route to an area of good weather. Having reached an altitude of 7800 metres and having satisfied themselves that engine No. 4 was working correctly, the crew decided to continue the flight to Novosibirsk and, when passing the reporting points, reported the remaining fuel — at Khatanga for 5 hours 40 minutes, at Alykel for 4 hours 30 minutes, at Podkamennaya Tunguska for 3 hours 20 minutes. On arrival at Novosibirsk's Tolmachevo airport the remaining fuel was to be 3 tonnes.

After passing Alykel the aircraft took up flight level 8400 metres, and after Podkamennaya Tunguska — 7800 metres again. At 0:14 the pilots reported entering the Novosibirsk RDS (area control service) and received clearance from the air traffic controller to descend to flight level 4500 metres. At 00:19 the commander reported that engine No. 4 was not responding to controls and would be feathered. At 00:29 the pilots began the descent. At 00:45, at an altitude of 1200 metres and 5 kilometres before the centre of the runway, the crew received clearance to descend to 500 metres and proceed to the area of the third turn for landing on a magnetic heading of 120°. At 00:50:30 the pilots extended the landing gear and began the third turn. At 00:51:40 the air traffic controller instructed the pilots of flight 5134 to perform the fourth turn, which the pilots acknowledged. Between the third and fourth turns the flaps were extended to 15°.

At approximately 00:52:10, during the fourth turn, an emergency situation arose, and at 00:52:33 the commander suddenly reported: Making a forced landing, all four — low power. At 00:52:49 the commander reported: Making a forced landing; and at 00:52:53 one of the pilots said: There's some forest here, yes? uh…? and after this message contact with flight SU-5134 was lost. The aircraft was found in a forest 13 kilometres from the runway, destroyed and partially burned — it had crashed into trees and sustained damage over a distance of 300 metres, and then on a magnetic heading of 284° and with a right bank crashed to the ground. Of the 6 crew members, 4 were killed — the commander, the co-pilot, the flight engineer and the flight attendant; the latter was thrown out of the disintegrating aircraft. The other 2 crew members (the navigator and the radio operator) survived with serious injuries — a few seconds before the crash they had moved into the escort cabin.