Beechcraft C90A crash at Zhuliany

The Beechcraft B9L crash at Zhuliany was an air crash that occurred on Sunday, 9 December 2007, at 17:04 Kyiv time, between the town of Vyshneve and the grounds of Zhuliany Airport.

The Beechcraft C90A aircraft,

operating a charter flight from the Czech Republic, crashed into a field of the “Sovki” agricultural enterprise 2.5 km from the runway and 300 metres from the Kyiv Ring Road. At a height of approximately 1.5–2 m the aircraft struck a guard hut and exploded; as a result, all the passengers on board were killed, as was a Ukrainian citizen who was in the guard hut at the time of the crash.

Timeline of events

The airliner departed from the airport of the city of Hradec Králové at 12.39 (UTC). At 14:28 the co-pilot contacted the air traffic controller of sector LIV “Kyiv Radar”, reporting that they were flying at flight level 7,000 m. The controller cleared them to follow the standard instrument approach route. At 14:37 the crew received clearance to descend on the localizer-glide slope system to flight level 3,900 m. Having acknowledged the controller's instruction, the crew began the descent. During the approach, at 14:59:22, the airliner deviated from the glide slope 330 m to the left and 20 m upward. At 14:59:26 the controller asked the crew whether they were ready to land and a few seconds later recommended a go-around, but the flight did not respond. The controller's attempts to contact the crew were unsuccessful.

The crash

At 14:59:34 the aircraft, in a slight right bank and descending at a vertical speed of about 18 m/s, crossed the extended centreline of the Zhuliany Airport runway and, at a speed of 407 km/h, collided with a brick structure at a distance of 2,590 m from the runway threshold. A powerful explosion went off at the crash site and a fire broke out. The crash was witnessed by 2 guards, who immediately called the fire brigade. The first to arrive was an emergency fire engine from Zhuliany Airport. According to eyewitnesses, the airliner struck the guard hut and fell from a height of about 2.5 m.

On board were a representative of the Czech company MINIB Ltd — Mr Novák (born 1958), his wife (born 1962), another woman and two pilots. All of them were killed as a result of the aircraft's collision with the structure and the ensuing fire.