1988 Soviet Air Force Il-76 crash

Leninakan, Armenia (then part of the Soviet Union), killing 77 of the 78 occupants on board. To date, it is the worst aviation disaster in Armenia.^[1]

Aircraft

The aircraft was ten years old at the time of the accident having first flown in 1978.[1] The passengers were personnel of the Soviet Armed Forces—50 Azerbaijani, 13 Lezgin, 11 Russians, 2 Tatars, 1 Armenian and 1 Jew. The nine crew were Russian.^[2] Sixty-nine people on board were young troops assigned to aid in the post-earthquake recovery.^[3]

Accident

The aircraft flew as part of the relief effort following the Spitak earthquake on 7 December. It transported military personnel and equipment to aid in relief efforts following the earthquake. It departed

Baku-Bina International Airport in Azerbaijan for Leninakan Airport in Armenia. The aircraft entered Leninakan Airport airspace at 06:10 Moscow time, 56 minutes into the flight, and began to descend from 5,300 m (17,400 ft), as instructed by air traffic controllers. It struck the side of a mountain during its descent.^[4] All nine crew and 68 of the 69 passengers died.^[1] One passenger survived the crash because he had been sleeping in a Kamaz truck loaded with mattresses at the rear of the aircraft.^[5]

Cause

A day after the crash, an Armenian spokesperson said the aircraft crashed after colliding with a helicopter while approaching the airport but news agencies made no mention of this claim.^[6] Speculations that it was shot down by Armenians also arose.^[7] The crash was eventually attributed to an incorrect altimeter setting by the flight crew which gave an incorrect altitude reading that was 1,100 m (3,600 ft) higher than the actual altitude. The indication on the altimeter at the time of impact was 1,425 m (4,675 ft). Crew fatigue was also cited as a factor in the crash as the flight crew was not given enough rest after carrying out multiple relief flights the previous day.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin Il-76M CCCP-86732 Leninakan". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
^ "Baku – [Leninakan] Gyumri Plane Crush – December 11, 1988". ANI Armenian Research Center. 11 December 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
^ "Plane hits copter in Armenia: 78 killed". The New Paper. 12 December 1988. p. 9. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Катастрофа Ил-76М близ Ленинакана" [Il-76M crash near Leninakan] (in Russian). AirDisaster.ru. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
^ "Прошло 19 лет с момента катастрофы азербайджанского авиалайнера, спешившего на помощь пострадавшим от землетрясения армянам" [19 years have passed since the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner rushing to help Armenians affected by the earthquake] (in Azerbaijani). Day.Az. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
^ Remnick, D. (12 December 1988). "Soviet relief plane crashes, killing 78". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
^ "78 ŞƏHİDƏ BİR ABİDƏNİ ÇOX GÖRÜRLƏR" (in Azerbaijani). Yeni Müsavat. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2023.

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1988

Jan 2

Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782

Jan 18

Aeroflot Flight 699

Jan 18

China Southwest Airlines Flight 4146

Jan 19

Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286

Feb 3

American Airlines Flight 132

Feb 8

Nürnberger Flugdienst Flight 108

Feb 19

AVAir Flight 3378

Feb 27

Talia Airways Boeing 727 crash

Mar 1

Mar 4

Mar 8

Mar 17

Apr 5

Kuwait Airways Flight 422

Apr 28

Aloha Airlines Flight 243

May 6

Widerøe Flight 710

May 24

TACA Flight 110

Jun 12

Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 046

Jun 23

1988 British Army Lynx shootdown

Jun 26

Air France Flight 296Q

Jul 3

Iran Air Flight 655

Jul 13

BIH Sikorsky S-61N crash

Aug 17

Death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

Aug 28

Ramstein air show disaster

Aug 31

CAAC Flight 301

Aug 31

Delta Air Lines Flight 1141

Sep 9

Vietnam Airlines Flight 831

Sep 15

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 604

Oct 17

Uganda Airlines Flight 775

Oct 19

Indian Airlines Flight 113

Nov 2

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 703

Dec 8

Remscheid A-10 crash

Dec 11

Soviet Air Force Il-76 crash

Dec 21

Pan Am Flight 103

1987 ◄ ► 1989

Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union

1930s	Osoaviakhim-1 SSSR-V6 Osoaviakhim
1940s	1948 Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-12 crash
1950s	1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash LOT Polish Airlines Flight 232 1957 Kiev mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 04 1958 Aeroflot Tu-104 Kanash crash Aeroflot Flight 315 (1959) Aeroflot Flight 120 Aeroflot Flight 200
1960s	Aeroflot Flight 315 (1960) U-2 incident Aeroflot Flight 207 RB-47 shootdown incident Aeroflot Flight 036 Austrian Airlines Flight 901 Aeroflot Flight 068 Aeroflot Flight 245 Aeroflot Flight 902 Aeroflot Flight 415 Aeroflot Flight 213 (1962) Aeroflot Flight 191 Aeroflot Flight 03 Aeroflot Flight 25 Aeroflot Flight 012 Aeroflot Flight 366 Aeroflot Flight 663 Aeroflot Flight 721 Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20 Aeroflot Flight 542 Aeroflot Flight 513 Aeroflot Flight 99 Aeroflot Flight 065 Aeroflot Flight 2723 Aeroflot Flight 5003 (1967) Aeroflot Flight 2230 Aeroflot Flight L-51 Aeroflot Flight 15 Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A 1969 Yukhnov mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight N-826
1970s	Aeroflot Flight U-45 Aeroflot Flight 1661 Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair Aeroflot Flight 3630 Aeroflot Flight 244 22 January 1971 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash 31 January 1971 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash Aeroflot Flight 1969 Aeroflot Flight 1912 Malév Flight 110 Aeroflot Flight 773 Aeroflot Flight N-63 Aeroflot Flight 2174 Aeroflot Flight 1491 Aeroflot Flight 558 Aeroflot Flight 1036 Aeroflot Flight 217 Japan Air Lines Flight 446 Aeroflot Flight 6263 Aeroflot Flight 141 Aeroflot Flight 630 Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307 Aeroflot Flight 6551 Aeroflot Flight 109 Aeroflot Flight A-13 Aeroflot Flight 3932 Aeroflot Flight 964 Aeroflot Flight 19 Aeroflot Flight 2022 Aeroflot Flight 2420 1974 Leningrad Aeroflot Il-18 crash 1974 Surgut mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 2003 Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1976) Aeroflot Flight 909 Aeroflot Flight 1802 Aeroflot Flight A-53 Aeroflot Flight 418 1976 Anapa mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 2415 Aeroflot Flight N-36 Aeroflot Flight 3843 Aeroflot Flight 5003 (1977) 1977 Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134 hijacking Aeroflot Flight B-2 Aeroflot Flight 6709 Korean Air Lines Flight 902 1978 Yegoryevsk Tu-144 crash Iranian Chinook shootdown Aeroflot Flight 1080 Aeroflot Flight 1691 1979 Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 5484
1980s– Dec. 1991	Aeroflot Flight 4225 1981 Pushkin Tu-104 crash Aeroflot Flight 498 1981 Armenia mid-air collision 1981 Zheleznogorsk mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 811 Aeroflot Flight 3603 Aeroflot Flight 8641 Aeroflot Flight 411 Aeroflot Flight 5463 Korean Air Lines Flight 007 Aeroflot Flight 601 Aeroflot Flight 3352 Aeroflot Flight 3519 Aeroflot Flight 7841 1985 Zolochiv mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 5143 Aeroflot Flight 101/435 Aeroflot Flight 2306 Aeroflot Flight 6502 Aeroflot Flight U-505 Aeroflot Flight N-528 Aeroflot Flight 699 Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1988) 1988 Soviet Air Force Il-76 crash An-24 crash in Navoiy Aeroflot Flight 8556

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