Moscow – Norilsk – Bratsk – Taiyuan

On July 14, 2001 at 08:53 AM, Moscow – Norilsk – Bratsk – Taiyuan experienced a crash involving Ilyushin II-76, operated by Russ Air Transport, with the event recorded near Moscow-Chkalovsky Moscow oblast.

The flight was categorized as cargo and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

10 people were known to be on board, 10 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 8, crew fatalities: 8, passengers on board: 2, passenger fatalities: 2, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft was engaged in a cargo flight from Moscow to Taiyuan, China, with intermediate stops in Norilsk and Bratsk, carrying two passengers, eight crew members and a load of 40,2 tons of construction materials. Due to foggy conditions, the horizontal visibility was reduced to 500-900 metres and the vertical visibility was estimated to be 70-80 metres. Following a takeoff roll of about 2,700 metres, the captain started the rotation at a speed of 290 km/h (about 25 km/h above the recommended speed). At a height of about 10 metres, the pilot-in-command started a turn to the right of 7° in order to compensate a deviation to the left during the takeoff roll. At a height of 23-24 metres, the stabilizers' position changed from -5,4° to -3,9° and the aircraft started to lose altitude. One second prior to impact, the elevator were in a 11-12° pitch angle and at a height of 20-21 metres, both right engines n°3 and 4 collided with trees at a distance of 930 metres from the runway end and 47 metres to the right of its extended centerline. Upon impact, both engines were torn off and the aircraft crashed in a wooded area located 1,460 metres past the runway end, bursting into flames. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 10 occupants were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration RA-76588, MSN 00434 51530, year of manufacture 1984.