Aeroflot Flight 528

Aeroflot Flight N-528 was a regular commercial flight from Odesa to Berdyansk that crashed while attempting to land in poor weather conditions.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was a Yakovlev Yak-40 registered to Aeroflot. The aircraft rolled off the assembly line at Saratov factory on 17 November 1972.

Timeline and summary

At the time of takeoff, cumulonimbus clouds were present at , visibility was limited to ; wind was at 20° with gusts up to . At 11:16:37 weather observers recommended a storm warning to the manager, to which he said: "busy." In violation of the law, the information was not passed along the chain of command. At 11:16:47 the crew asked the controller about the radar visibility. The manager reported visibility at and stated that they were visible on radar. After receiving this information, the crew decided to go through the system. At 11:18:15 at a distance of from the airport, the manager passed the crew go to the dispatcher for landing. At a distance of from the airport at an altitude of , the crew was instructed to take a course of 95° (due to the deviation to the left ) and were warned about the absence of radar monitoring in the area of of the runway. After receiving this information, the crew decided not to do a go-around. On approach to Berdyansk at 11:20:15, the crew reported entering the glide path at , then were instructed to drop . At 11:20:24 they were given permission to land at Berdyansk. At 11:20:25 weather observers at the request of the dispatcher gave weather information about the storm, downpour, windspeed, and visibility. Scud and cumulonimbus clouds were observed at a height of and wind was 280° at with gusts up to . Visibility was reported to be limited to . At 11:21 the pilot, questioning the visibility of 500 meters, attempted to assess visibility using his instruments, but in violation of flight procedures did not disclose this to the controller. The plane landed about down the runway while being too fast on the touchdown, and then hydroplaned. The pilot, not being quite sure about the plane's whereabouts on the runway, then attempted to take off again (while having less than of runway remaining), rolled off the departure end of the runway, and aborted the take-off attempt. The plane hit several trees, broke apart, then caught fire. Five passengers died at the scene, with one more passenger and two flight attendants dying later from their injuries.

Causes

Cited among the multiple causes of the crash was the decision to land at Berdyansk Airport despite the weather conditions and poor visibility. The committee also cited poor human resource management at the control tower and weather station. The lack of accurate weather data given to the crew was cited as a contributing factor.

See also

*Aeroflot accidents and incidents
*Aeroflot accidents and incidents in the 1980s
* China Airlines Flight 140, an Airbus A300 that crashed during an attempted go around due to pilot errors.

References

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Ukraine

N-528
Aviation accidents and incidents in Ukraine
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1987
Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union
1987 in the Soviet Union
June 1987 events in Europe
Accidents and incidents involving the Yakovlev Yak-40
1987 in Ukraine
Berdiansk
1987 disasters in Ukraine