Fatalities 6 Aircraft type Antonov An-148-100E Number of deaths 6 Crew count 6 | Survivors 0 Date 5 March 2011 Survivor 0 | |
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Summary Structural failure of wing in flight Site Garbuzovo, Alexeyevsky Region, Belgorod Oblast, Russia Operator Antonov / Voronezh Aircraft Joint Stock Company Flight origins Pridacha Airport, Voronezh Similar 2011 Pointe‑Noire Trans Air, 2011 United Nations B, Hewa Bora Airways Flight 952, Noar Linhas Aéreas Fl, Airlines PNG Flight 1600 | ||
On 5 March 2011, an Antonov An-148 crashed at Garbuzovo, Alexeyevsky Region, Belgorod Oblast, Russia, killing all six crew members. The aircraft was operating a test flight prior to delivery to the Myanmar Air Force. Witnesses reported that a wing had detached from the aircraft while in flight.
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Aircraft
The aircraft was an Antonov An-148-100E, c/n 41-03, carrying test registration 61708. The aircraft was operating its 32nd flight.
Accident
The aircraft was operating a test flight from Pridacha Airport, Voronezh, Russia, when it crashed at Garbuzovo, Alexeevsky Region, Belgorod Oblast, some 560 kilometres (350 mi) south of Moscow, and 160 kilometres (100 mi) east of Belgorod. The accident occurred at 11:05 local time (08:05 UTC) and the aircraft was destroyed in the subsequent fire. Witnesses stated that a wing had separated from the aircraft while in flight. Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations (Russian: Министерство по чрезвычайным ситуациям) confirmed that there was wreckage in two separate locations, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) apart. Further wreckage was found between the two sites. This included material identified as coming from the cabin of the aircraft. A photograph of the wreckage away from the main crash site apparently shows a horizontal stabiliser. The Antonov An-148 had only just been granted extended certification. The accident has been compared to the December 2002 crash of an Antonov An-140 in Iran. The six people killed were four Russian and two Burmese citizens.
Investigation
Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation (Ministry of Industry of Russia) (Russian: Министерство промышленности и торговли Российской Федерации (Минпромторг России)) have opened an investigation into the accident. A criminal investigation was launched by Russia's Investigative Committee (Russian: Следственный комитет Российской Федерации) to decide whether violation of flight regulations occurred, leading to charges of negligent homicide. The first meeting took place on 6 March. The flight recorders were recovered from the wreckage. The wreckage of the aircraft is to be transported to VACO (Russian: ВАСО) in Voronezh for examination. Information from the recorders should be available to the investigation by 12 March.
Preliminary examination of data from the Flight Data Recorder shows that the airspeed indicator failed, showing too low an airspeed. In response to this, the pilots increased the speed of the aircraft past VNE, the never exceed speed, and the aircraft then broke up in flight. Amongst the areas being covered by the investigation are pilot error and fuel quality. There was no call to ground from the An-148 following the accident.