An-12 crash near Kabul (1980)

The An-12 crash near Kabul was an aviation accident that occurred on Tuesday, 28 October 1980. An An-12BK military transport aircraft of the airline Aeroflot (it belonged to the Moscow Transport Aviation Directorate (of the Moscow Transport Civil Aviation Directorate) was operating intercontinental cargo flight SU-1531 on the Sofia — Tashkent — Kabul route, but during the approach at the destination the crew was given weather information that did not meet the minimum for cloud height. Instead of diverting to the alternate airport, the pilots continued the approach to Kabul airport, descending below the safe altitude established by the requirements, and during the descent it crashed into the slope of Mount Vaysi-Karnibaba and broke apart. All 6 crew members on board were killed, but according to other data (in Mikhail Zhirokhov's book "The Dangerous Sky of Afghanistan") there were another 39 passengers on board the aircraft and they were also killed.

Chronology of events

On 28 October 1980, the crew of commander Ivanov, who had taken over An-12BK aircraft USSR-11104 in Tashkent, was to continue cargo flight SU-1531, which ran on the Sofia—Tashkent—Kabul route, and (as part of this flight) fly the second leg of the route (Tashkent—Kabul). As stated in Mikhail Zhirokhov's book "The Dangerous Sky of Afghanistan", in addition to the 6 crew members, there were another 39 passengers on board the aircraft.

Flight SU-1531 took off from Tashkent at 09:34 (local time, corresponding to UTC+6). The weather forecast at Kabul airport from 01:30 to 10:30 predicted cloud cover of 3 oktas, stratocumulus, cumulus clouds at a height of 900 metres, 3 oktas of mid-level cloud at 3000 metres and wind 360° 3-5 m/s. Gradually the weather forecast changed — cloud cover 4 oktas stratocumulus at 900 metres, 5 oktas at 3000 metres, 6 oktas at 6000 metres, visibility 9000 metres. The en-route weather forecast at flight level FL230 (7000 metres) predicted wind of 24-40 km/h, without any hazardous phenomena.

At 09:44 the crew reached the KB non-directional beacon at an altitude of 7220 metres. The MSRP-12-96 flight recorder recorded that the descent from an altitude of 7250 metres was begun 15 minutes and 5 seconds before the end of the recording and was characterised by a variable vertical speed of 0 to 8 m/s. The air traffic controller instructed the pilots of flight 1531 to fly in the holding area over the KB beacon. Subsequently the crew was cleared to flight levels FL200 (6100 metres) and FL180 (5500 metres), followed by a descent to flight level FL95 (2900 metres). At 09:55 the air traffic controller passed the crew information that the weather did not meet the minimum for cloud height, but the pilots of flight 1531, instead of stopping the descent, climbing to a safe altitude and proceeding to the alternate airport, continued descending below the safe altitude established by the requirements. At 10:00 the crew reported that they were flying at 9500 feet and continuing to descend, while not seeing the airport. The air traffic controller said: Maintain 9500 feet, report when you see the aerodrome. The pilots acknowledged the information received.

At 10:02, while descending below the safe altitude, in the area of the third turn, flight SU-1531 crashed into Mount Vaysi-Karnibaba. The actual weather at the time of the crash was as follows — rain, cloud cover 6 oktas stratocumulus at a height of 1050 metres, 10 oktas; altostratus clouds at a height of 3000 metres; wind 80° 3 m/s; visibility more than 9 kilometres. At the moment of the crash the aircraft struck head-on into a wide crevice at the foot of cliffs 100—150 metres high on an azimuth of 123° at a height of 1010 metres above airport level (2800 metres above sea level) and exploded, was completely destroyed and burned, and its wreckage rolled down the slope (it was scattered over 250x80 metres). No data on the cargo carried on board flight SU-1531 were presented to the commission, but the commission itself found burnt scraps of uniform clothing at the crash site. The MSRP-12-96 flight recorder recorded that on the last segment of the flight (25-30 seconds before the crash) the vertical rate of descent was 0.5 m/s and the aircraft was in a left turn. The crash site was located from the air 7 days after the crash (4 November) at 11:30; the remains of the crew members were never found due to the complete destruction of the aircraft and the rocky terrain with sheer slopes. All 6 crew members were killed in the crash, but according to other data (in Mikhail Zhirokhov's book "The Dangerous Sky of Afghanistan") 45 people were killed — 6 crew members and 39 passengers.