Yak-40 accident in Aldan
Aeroflot (Yakutsk Civil Aviation Directorate, Aldan Combined Aviation Detachment) Yakovlev Yak-40 · Not determined
From Aldan (Yakut ASSR, RSFSR USSR) to Yakutsk (Yakut ASSR, RSFSR USSR)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Occurrence
- Event fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 17
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 5
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Yakovlev Yak-40
- Aircraft type
- Yakovlev YAK-40
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- CCCP-87911
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From Aldan (Yakut ASSR, RSFSR USSR)To Yakutsk (Yakut ASSR, RSFSR USSR)
Cause areas
- Not determined › Not determined
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Aldan Airport, the airport the Wikipedia article names as the site. Where on or near it is not known.
From the Wikipedia article
The Yak-40 accident in Aldan was an aviation accident that occurred on 8 April 1978 at Aldan Airport. A Yak-40 airliner of Aeroflot was operating scheduled domestic flight SU-401 on the route Aldan — Yakutsk, but during takeoff the aircraft abruptly banked to the right, fell onto a snow-covered field and crashed into a snow embankment. None of the 17 people on board (12 passengers and 5 crew members) was killed; 5 people were injured.
The official cause of the accident was never determined.
Investigation and cause
Causes
According to the commission's conclusion, the accident occurred because of a flow separation on the right wing for a reason that was not precisely determined. No causes of the stall were identified in the crew's actions or in the condition of the aircraft. At the same time, unsatisfactory aerodynamic characteristics of Yak-40 aircraft in terms of stability and controllability at low speeds were noted.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the Russian Wikipedia article “Авария Як-40 в Алдане” (revision 151045650, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
Russian Wikipedia article: Авария Як-40 в Алдане
- Article
- Авария Як-40 в Алдане
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 151045650 · 2026-01-07 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q16487965
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- ru Wikipedia article "Авария Як-40 в Алдане" (page 4512048, revision 151045650), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- airport the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata code, OurAirports)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- "scheduled domestic flight" in the article's opening paragraph
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Russian Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.