On the morning of 1 July 2016, an
Ilyushin Il-76
The Ilyushin Il-76 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-76; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a comm ...
aircraft configured for
aerial firefighting
Aerial may refer to:
Music
* ''Aerial'' (album), by Kate Bush
* ''Aerials'' (song), from the album ''Toxicity'' by System of a Down
Bands
*Aerial (Canadian band)
* Aerial (Scottish band)
* Aerial (Swedish band)
Performance art
* Aerial sil ...
and belonging to the
Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations
The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergency Situations and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (russian: Министерство Российской Федерации по делам гражданской ...
crashed near
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
northeast of
Irkutsk
Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...
in Siberia, Russia. All ten crew members were killed.
Background
Prior to the crash a wildfire had been burning near
Irkutsk
Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...
for several weeks. The day the aircraft was found, the aviation division of the Russian forestry agency stated that an area of more than of forest in Siberia was alight, while Greenpeace's Russian arm stated that, based on its interpretation of satellite data, almost ten times this area was burning just in the Irkutsk region.
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was an
Ilyushin Il-76
The Ilyushin Il-76 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-76; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a comm ...
four-engine freighter fitted out for
aerial firefighting
Aerial may refer to:
Music
* ''Aerial'' (album), by Kate Bush
* ''Aerials'' (song), from the album ''Toxicity'' by System of a Down
Bands
*Aerial (Canadian band)
* Aerial (Scottish band)
* Aerial (Swedish band)
Performance art
* Aerial sil ...
, with manufacturer's serial number 1033417553 and
registration
Register or registration may refer to:
Arts entertainment, and media Music
* Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc.
* ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller
* Registration (organ), th ...
RA-76840; it was almost 22 years old.
Flight
The Ilyushin Il-76 took off from Runway 12 at
Irkutsk International Airport
Irkutsk International Airport (Russian: Международный Аэропорт Иркутск) is an international airport on the outskirts of Irkutsk, Russia, at a distance of 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Lake Baikal.
Operations
The ai ...
not long after sunrise at 06:18 local time, on a mission to fight forest fires. The last communication with the aircraft was sixteen minutes later at 06:34, when it was flying above the
Bayandayevsky District
Bayandayevsky District (russian: Баянда́евский райо́н; bua, Баяндайн аймаг, ''Baiandain aimag'') is an administrative district of Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the thirty-three in the obla ...
in a north-easterly direction at an altitude of .
Recovery and investigation
After contact was lost with the aircraft, it was declared missing, which prompted a search and rescue operation. A hundred rescue workers were parachuted into the area where the aircraft disappeared. The search efforts eventually involved sixteen aircraft and 441 people in total. The search was difficult because of the large territory and the inaccessibility of the area. Ground vehicles were not able to reach the area where the Il-76 disappeared. The high temperatures combined with the low visibility from the thick smoke and trees made the operations difficult, especially for ground units. After two days of searching, the crashed aircraft was finally found.
The aircraft was found near the village of Uyan in the
Kachugsky District, about northeast of where contact with it was lost, burnt out except for the rear fuselage and tail.
There were no survivors among the ten people on board. The wreckage was found by a firefighter.
Investigators interviewed witnesses in the village of Karan who described seeing the aircraft flying above them before hearing a large "clap" after it dropped water, but not being able to hear the engines.
The
flight recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has b ...
s were found to be damaged by heat but their data were extracted and analysed, revealing no technical failures during the flight. There is currently an ongoing investigation by the
Interstate Aviation Committee
The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC; russian: Межгосударственный авиационный комитет, МАК) is an executive body of the Civil Aviation and Airspace Use Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States ( ...
and others. They have found that the crew had chosen to fly at minimum
altitude
Altitude or height (also sometimes known as depth) is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context ...
over the area. In the last few seconds preceding the crash, the crew attempted to gain altitude. The thick smoke may have led to the choice of flight profile. The captain of the aircraft was reported to have more than 12,000 hours' flying experience; the copilot more than 5,500 hours; and the navigator more than 7,000 hours.
Investigators found that the hot air from the wildfires could have caused loss of engine thrust, resulting in loss of altitude. The Il-76's tail may have then clipped a hillock, causing the rest of the aircraft to collide with the hillside. The crew may have lost control of the aircraft after it started hitting trees.
Aftermath
Flags were flown at half-mast and television programmes were cancelled as respect for those who were killed.
The Russian Minister of Emergency Situations
Vladimir Puchkov
Vladimir Andreyevich Puchkov (russian: link=no, Владимир Андреевич Пучков; born January 1, 1959, in Novinka at Volgograd Oblast) is a Russian politician who served as Minister of Emergency Situations from May 2012 to May ...
told the families of the deceased crew that he "expresses his condolences". He stated that "All our Emergencies Ministry team is mourning. These were professional pilots and rescuers. We will never forget them." The pilots were said to be experienced, and had been in the job for decades.
The Chairman of the Interstate Aviation Committee
Sergei Yakimenko
Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honor of Saint Sergius, or in Russia, of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and ...
also commented on the incident, citing that human, equipment, and environmental factors may have all contributed to the crash.
See also
*
2009 Yakutia Ilyushin Il-76 crash
The 2009 Yakutia Ilyushin Il-76 crash occurred on 1 November 2009, when an Ilyushin Il-76 jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Mirny Airport in Yakutia, killing all 11 crew on board.
Chronology of events
The jet, owned by the Russian Ministry ...
References
External links
Report pagefrom the
Interstate Aviation Committee
The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC; russian: Межгосударственный авиационный комитет, МАК) is an executive body of the Civil Aviation and Airspace Use Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States ( ...
Russian version
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Russia
2016 disasters in Russia
Aviation accidents and incidents in 2016
Aviation accidents and incidents in Russia
Accidents and incidents involving the Ilyushin Il-76
Disasters in Siberia
July 2016 events in Russia
Irkutsk