Il-14 crash near Nukha

The Il-14 (Avia 14) crash near Nukha was an aviation accident of an Avia-14P (Il-14P) passenger aircraft of the company Aeroflot that occurred on Saturday 13 February 1965 in Nukha District, in which 23 people died.

Crash

The airliner was to operate scheduled passenger flight A-3 on the route Baku—Nukha—Zakataly—Belokany; however, the weather conditions on the first leg of the flight were difficult, so permission was given to proceed only as far as Yevlakh, where aircraft 52003 landed at 09:16. At Yevlakh Airport the crew received data on the actual weather, as well as clearance from the controller at Nukha Airport that they agreed to receive the aircraft there. Then at 10:08, with 19 passengers and 4 crew members on board, flight 3 departed for Nukha, which is located 70 kilometres north of Yevlakh. Soon the aircraft reported reaching flight level 1100 metres and proceeding under visual flight rules. Then contact was established with the airport in Nukha and weather information was requested. The controller reported that the sky was overcast with a cloud base of 500—600 metres, below which there was a band of broken cloud with a base of 400 metres. The controller then asked the crew whether it could fly visually, to which an affirmative answer was given. At 10:20, when 12 minutes had passed since departure, the controller called the aircraft again, but this time there was no answer. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact aircraft 52003, a search for it was begun. Soon the completely destroyed airliner was found on a slope in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus Range at a height of 680 metres above sea level and a couple of kilometres north-north-west of the village of Shirinbulak (Nukha District). The crash site was 42 kilometres north of Yevlakh Airport, approximately 24 kilometres south-east of Nukha and 5 kilometres to the right of the flight route. All 23 people on board died.