The aircraft involved in the accident was a Tupolev Tu-104B with two Mikulin AM-3M-500 engines, registered СССР-42506, originally to the Uzbekistan division of the state airline, Aeroflot. At the time of the accident, the aircraft sustained had 20,582 flight hours and 9412 pressurization cycles. The aircraft had 100 passenger seats, hence it was at full capacity when it crashed.[1][3]
Crew
Eight crew members were aboard Flight 3932. The cockpit crew consisted of:[3]
Weather conditions at Sverdlovsk (now known as Yekaterinburg) were reported to be mild; visibility was over 6 kilometers, and light northwest winds.[1]
Flight 3932 was on the Sverdlovsk-Vladivostok route with stopovers at Omsk, Novosibirsk (Tolmachevo), Chita (Kadala), and Khabarovsk airports. The flight crashed shortly after takeoff on the Sverdlovsk-Omsk part of the route.[1][2]
The flight took off from Sverdlovsk - Koltsovo Airport at 18:33 MSK (Moscow time) and at 18:34:21 headed on a bearing of 256° for the route to Omsk. As a routine procedure, air traffic control instructed the crew to make a left turn and climb to an altitude of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) after takeoff; the crew responded that they would report when they reached the altitude.[2]
At 18:35:25 MSK, 5–6 seconds after setting the engines to standard power, with an altitude of 350–400 metres (1,150–1,310 ft) and a speed of 480 km/h (260 kn; 300 mph) the crew began the left turn while in the clouds, with a bank angle between 35-40°. At 20:37 local time (18:37 Moscow time), when the flight was at an altitude of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft), the bank angle reached 75-80°, after which the crew completely lost control of the aircraft. The plane crashed into a nearby forest at a speed of 270 km/h (150 kn; 170 mph).[1][2]
Cause
The aircraft crashed due to incorrect indications by the main artificial horizon and the compass system, caused by a failure of the electrical supply, resulting in spatial disorientation of the pilots. The aircraft crashed approximately five miles from Koltsovo Airport.[1][4]
