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An-12 crash near Yerevan (1988)

12 Dec 1988 · in the area of the village of Hovtamej, Echmiadzin District (Armenian SSR)

Jat Antonov An-12 · Crew error

From Skopje (SFR Yugoslavia) to Zvartnots, Yerevan (Armenian SSR)

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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
Accident
Event fatalities
7 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
Unknown
Survivors
0
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
Unknown
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
Military

Antonov An-12

Aircraft type
Antonov AN-12
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
YU-AID
Operator
Jat
Onboard fatalities
7
Route
From Skopje (SFR Yugoslavia)To Zvartnots, Yerevan (Armenian SSR)

Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.

From the Wikipedia article

The An-12 crash near Yerevan was an aviation accident of an An-12 aircraft of the Yugoslav Air Force that occurred on 12 December 1988 at 02:23 (UTC) during the approach to land in the area of Zvartnots Airport (Armenia).

Crash

On 12 December 1988 at 02:23 (UTC), an Antonov An-12BP military transport aircraft of the Yugoslav Air Force, YU-AID, operating a flight from Ankara to Yerevan, disappeared from the radar screens of the «Yerevan Approach» air traffic control service and crashed eight miles from runway 09 of Zvartnots Airport.

According to some data, the aircraft had been leased by the airline «Yugoslav Air Transport» (JAT) and was operating a flight with a cargo of humanitarian aid from Skopje to Yerevan with a stop in Ankara.

The investigation of the air crash established: the aircraft's crew deviated from the approach pattern; the aircraft commander incorrectly determined the required flight altitude and speed, «went below the glide path», mistaking a motor road for the runway, and crashed into a road bridge.

All the crew members (7 people) died. The Yugoslav military aircraft was carrying a cargo of medicines for the victims of the earthquake in Spitak. At the crash site, in the vicinity of the village of Hovtamej (now in Armavir Province), a memorial to the dead airmen has been erected.

Translated into English with AI assistance from the Russian Wikipedia article “Катастрофа Ан-12 под Ереваном (1988)” (revision 154269010, 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: Катастрофа Ан-12 под Ереваном (1988)
Article
Катастрофа Ан-12 под Ереваном (1988)
Translation
Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
Revision
154269010 · 2026-08-06 · retrieved 2026-09-19
Wikidata
Q59530889
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 "Катастрофа Ан-12 под Ереваном (1988)" (page 7697379, revision 154269010), translated into English with AI assistance
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
Wikipedia article coordinates
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A Yugoslav Air Force transport with a military crew carrying earthquake aid: a military transport flight. The article: "an Antonov An-12BP military transport aircraft of the Yugoslav Air Force, YU-AID, operating a flight from Ankara to Yerevan"
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.