An-12 crash over the Yeysk Estuary (1988)

The An-12 crash over the Yeysk Estuary was an aviation accident involving an An-12 laboratory aircraft of the Soviet Air Force that occurred on Monday, 8 August 1988, over the Sea of Azov off the coast of the town of Yeysk, killing 24 people (according to other data, 32 people).

Crash

At that time, units of the 801st Training Aviation Regiment, at whose airfield this aircraft was based, were operating, in addition to Bataysk, from the Yeysk and Pogorelovo (Kamensk-Shakhtinsky) airfields. Because a party conference was being held, the flight and technical personnel of the 801st UAP had been gathered, under their own arrangements, at the base in Bataysk. After the conference, the personnel had to be taken back to their flying locations as quickly as possible, since flights with cadets were already scheduled for the following day. The Commander of the Air Force of the North Caucasus Military District gave permission to use this aircraft. In total there were 52 people on board. The aircraft commander was Kalinin. The flight as a whole proceeded without deviations, and the weather in Yeysk at that time was clear. The crew began the approach and, while passing abeam the Glafirovskaya Spit, extended the landing gear. The aircraft then turned onto the landing course, descending over the Yeysk Estuary. However, when only 5—6 kilometres remained to the runway, after the fuel supply was switched to draw from the underfloor tanks, all four engines stopped one after another at an altitude of 600 m. Since the aircraft had its landing gear and flaps extended, it began to lose altitude rapidly, and the crew attempted to ditch on the surface of the estuary below them. The falling glide lasted 13 seconds. When the An-12 touched the sea surface in shallow water, its landing gear legs immediately dug into the water, causing the aircraft to pitch sharply “nose-down” and, burying itself in the water, it struck the bottom. The impact split the fuselage, which then quickly filled with water.

The accident took place in full view of the residents of Yeysk, so many small boats immediately rushed to the crash site to help. About 5-7 minutes later, a scheduled L-410 aircraft, which was also on approach to Yeysk, arrived over the crash site. It reported the crash to the command post of the flight school. Quite quickly, an Mi-14 helicopter landed on the water, but it could do little to help. Almost all of those in the cockpit and in the passenger cabin, who climbed out onto the wing, survived the accident. Since the estuary is fairly shallow, the upper part of the fuselage and the wing remained above the water, which helped the survivors avoid drowning. The aircraft commander personally freed some of the passengers from the cargo compartment through the upper hatch. However, the cargo compartment had been destroyed, and kerosene leaking from the damaged tanks mixed with the water that had filled this compartment, creating an aggressive environment that corroded even diving suits. In addition, the cargo compartment contained equipment that was torn loose on impact. As a result, the people who were in the cargo compartment died. In total, 24 people were killed in the crash by impact or drowning.