Tbilisi - Yerevan

The airplane departed Tbilisi Airport at 1039LT on a cargo flight to Yerevan, carrying five crew members and a load of various goods for a total weight of 2,394 kilos. The assigned altitude of 3,000 meters was reached 17 minutes later and the crew continued to the south under VFR mode. The airplane passed over Idzhevan VOR at 1108LT and six minutes later, the crew was cleared to descent to 1,800 meters by the approach ATC. Between 1116LT and 1119LT, the crew reported twice that the weather conditions deteriorated with low clouds and requested the permission to return to Tbilisi under VFR at 3,000 meters. A minute later, while cruising at the altitude of 2,265 meters, the left wing struck the west slope of Mt Getantag. The airplane continued for 130 meters then crashed in flames. The flight engineer was seriously injured while four other occupants were killed. Few hours later, the only survivor died from his injuries.

Flight / Schedule

Tbilisi - Yerevan

Aircraft

Ilyushin II-14

Registration

CCCP-41840

MSN

1470 015 04

Year of Manufacture

1957

Date

March 9, 1968 at 11:20 AM

Type

CRASH

Flight Type

Cargo

Flight Phase

Flight

Crash Site

Mountains

Crash Location

Mt Getantag Tavush

Region

Asia • Armenia

Crash Cause

Human factor

Narrative Report

On March 9, 1968 at 11:20 AM, Tbilisi - Yerevan experienced a crash involving Ilyushin II-14, operated by Aeroflot - Russian International Airlines, with the event recorded near Mt Getantag Tavush.

The flight was categorized as cargo and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

5 people were known to be on board, 5 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 5, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The airplane departed Tbilisi Airport at 1039LT on a cargo flight to Yerevan, carrying five crew members and a load of various goods for a total weight of 2,394 kilos. The assigned altitude of 3,000 meters was reached 17 minutes later and the crew continued to the south under VFR mode. The airplane passed over Idzhevan VOR at 1108LT and six minutes later, the crew was cleared to descent to 1,800 meters by the approach ATC. Between 1116LT and 1119LT, the crew reported twice that the weather conditions deteriorated with low clouds and requested the permission to return to Tbilisi under VFR at 3,000 meters. A minute later, while cruising at the altitude of 2,265 meters, the left wing struck the west slope of Mt Getantag. The airplane continued for 130 meters then crashed in flames. The flight engineer was seriously injured while four other occupants were killed. Few hours later, the only survivor died from his injuries.

Aircraft reference details include registration CCCP-41840, MSN 1470 015 04, year of manufacture 1957.

Fatalities

Total

5

Crew

5

Passengers

0

Other

0

Crash Summary

The airplane departed Tbilisi Airport at 1039LT on a cargo flight to Yerevan, carrying five crew members and a load of various goods for a total weight of 2,394 kilos. The assigned altitude of 3,000 meters was reached 17 minutes later and the crew continued to the south under VFR mode. The airplane passed over Idzhevan VOR at 1108LT and six minutes later, the crew was cleared to descent to 1,800 meters by the approach ATC. Between 1116LT and 1119LT, the crew reported twice that the weather conditions deteriorated with low clouds and requested the permission to return to Tbilisi under VFR at 3,000 meters. A minute later, while cruising at the altitude of 2,265 meters, the left wing struck the west slope of Mt Getantag. The airplane continued for 130 meters then crashed in flames. The flight engineer was seriously injured while four other occupants were killed. Few hours later, the only survivor died from his injuries.

Cause: Human factor

Occupants & Outcome

Crew On Board

5

Passengers On Board

0

Estimated Survivors

0

Fatality Rate

100.0%

Known people on board: 5

Operational Details

Schedule / Flight

Tbilisi - Yerevan

Flight Type

Cargo

Flight Phase

Flight

Crash Site

Mountains

Region / Country

Asia • Armenia

Aircraft Details

Aircraft

Ilyushin II-14

Registration

CCCP-41840

MSN

1470 015 04

Year of Manufacture

1957