Stavropolskaya Aktsionernaya Avia Flight 1023

Stavropolskaya Aktsionernaya Avia Flight 1023
Accident
Date 18 March 1997
Summary structural failure of tail
Site Cherkessk, Russia
Aircraft
Aircraft type Antonov An-24
Operator Stavropolskaya Aktsionernaya Avia
Registration RA-46516
Flight origin Stavropol Shpakovskoye Airport, Russia
Destination Trabzon Airport, Turkey
Passengers 44
Crew 6
Fatalities 50
Survivors 0

Stavropolskaya Aktsionernaya Avia Flight 1023 was a charter flight between Stavropol in southern Russia and Trabzon in Turkey operated by the Russian airline Stavropolskaya Aktsionernaya Avia. On 18 March 1997 the Antonov An-24 operating the flight suffered a structural failure and crashed into a forest, killing all 50 passengers and crew on board.

Accident

The flight, which was a frequently operated charter between Stavropol and Trabzon on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, took off from Stavropol Shpakovskoye Airport, carrying 8 crew members, 41 passengers, mainly traders who planned to purchase cheap consumer goods in Turkey and one of the directors of the airline.[1][2]

The flight was at a height of 17,700 ft (5,400 m) 37 minutes after take off,[2][3] when air traffic control lost contact with it.[1][2]

Wreckage of the Antonov An-24 was found scattered over a wide area in a forest near the village of Prigorodny, east of Cherkessk, northern Caucasus. The aircraft's tail was found at 1.5 km from the rest of the wreckage, indicating that the aircraft may have broken up in mid-air. All 50 people aboard were killed.[1][2]

Cause

The accident investigation found that the aircraft, which had recently returned from an extended period of service in the Congo, suffered massive corrosion which had caused the aircraft's tail to break off in flight.[3][4]

The accident was blamed on a failure to detect corrosion during inspection, with the allowable time between inspections and maintenance being exceeded.[3]

See also

United Arab Airlines Flight 749, another aviation disaster involving an Antonov An-24, which took place exactly 31 years prior to Flight 1023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Flight International 26 March – 1 April 1997, p. 5.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Air International May 1997, p. 266.
  3. 1 2 3 "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. 30 October 2005. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  4. ↑ Air International August 1997, p. 72.

Coordinates: 44°13′N 42°03′E / 44.217°N 42.050°E / 44.217; 42.050

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