ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 318975
| Date: | Tuesday 6 July 2021 |
| Time: | 14:50 |
| Type: |  Antonov An-26B-100 |
| Owner/operator: | Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise |
| Registration: | RA-26085 |
| MSN: | 12310 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1982 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 21492 hours |
| Cycles: | 10498 flights |
| Engine model: | Ivchenko AI-24VT |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 28 / Occupants: 28 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 3,8 km NW of Palana Airport -
 Russia
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport (PKC/UHPP) |
| Palana Airport (UHPL) | |
| Investigating agency: | MAK |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
An Antonov An-26, operated by the Kamchatka Aviation Enterprise, struck a cliff while on approach to Palana Airport on the Kamchatka peninsula, Russia.
The aircraft operated on a scheduled service from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana. The departure was postponed about two hours due to low visibility conditions at Palana. The flight took off at 12:57 local time. On board were 22 passengers 6 crew members, 383 kg of luggage, 1 kg of cargo and 486 kg of mail. The flight was conducted at FL130.
At 14:03, the Palana weather for 14:00 was transmitted to the flight. The height of the lower boundary of the overcast cloud was 720 m. The minimum cloud height for VFR landing in Palana was 750 m. Wind was 7 m/s, visibility over 10 km, fog in the surrounding mountains, pressure 757, temperature 10°C.
The flight crew planned a VFR circle-to-land approach. They would first overfly the NDB at the airport and then proceed for a VFR approach to runway 11 and continue for a visual teardrop approach to runway 29.
At 14:40 the Palana Tower controller instructed the flight not to descend over the sea. The crew confirmed: "We are not descending at sea." At 14:42:54 the crew reported selecting the airfield pressure at 757 mm Hg and descending to cross the NDB at an altitude of 1200 m.
At 14:44:30 the aircraft crossed the NDB at 1650 m, but the crew reported being at 1200 m at 14:44:40. The controller then cleared the flight for the approach according to procedure 1A and cleared them to descend to 800 m.
This approach procedure stipulated a further descent to manoeuvre at 600 m for the circle-to-land approach. However, the flight deviated from this procedure and descended over sea, below the minimum altitude of 600 m. In conditions of fog the the flight turned towards the airfield and continued until the aircraft struck the top of a cliff about 250 m above sea level. Debris fell down on the shore and into the sea.
Conclusion
The cause of the An-26B-100 RA-26085 aircraft crash was the crew's violation of the established instrument approach procedure to Palana aerodrome, which was manifested in flying with significant deviation from the set route and descent well below the established minimum descent height (MDH) under weather conditions that excluded stable visual contact with ground landmarks, leading to the collision of the aircraft with a coastal cliff in controlled flight, its destruction, and the death of the crew and passengers.
Contributing factors to the accident may have included:
- The crew's failure to execute a missed approach with the acquisition of the established minimum safety altitude (MSA) when information about the bearing indicated a significant deviation of the aircraft from the established approach procedure;
- The absence in the Palana aerodrome dispatcher's work technology of actions in the presence of information about the bearing indicating a significant deviation of the aircraft from the established approach scheme, as well as the dispatcher's passivity when such information was available;
- The lack of warning signals from the early ground proximity warning system under conditions that should have triggered it. It is not possible to determine the reason for the absence of the warning signals;
- The overestimation of the barometric altimeter readings in the final phase of the flight due to the specific airflow around the steep coastline creating a low-pressure zone and the overestimation of the variometer readings, the cause of which cannot be determined.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
tass.ru
airdisaster.ru
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 20 March 2020 | RA-26085 | Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Enterprise | 0 | Tilichiki Airport (UHPT) | |
non |
Location
Images:
photo (c) Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia; near Palana Airport; 06 July 2021
photo (c) Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia; near Palana Airport; July 2021
photo (c) Miklos Szabo; Nampula Airport (APL/FQNP); 22 November 1994
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Apr-2024 19:39 | ASN | Updated [Narrative, Accident report] |
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