1995 Tallinn mid-air collision

The 1995 Tallinn mid-air collision was a collision between Aeroflot Flight 040, a Yakovlev Yak-42 of Aeroflot and an Estonian Air Force Antonov An-2 carrying paratroopers for an exercise due to confusion between the Estonian An-2 tail number and the Yak 42's callsign number.

Aeroflot Flight 040 was a regularly scheduled flight from Volgograd International Airport to Helsinki Airport. The plane was carrying 66 passengers and a team of five crew members.

The Estonian An-2, tail number 40, was carrying 12 paratroopers and two air force pilots.

## 1995 Tallinn mid-air collision

### Summary

Mid-air collision due to ATC error and confusion

## Background

### Aircrafts

The Yakovlev Yak-42 was a 15-year-old Yak-42D. It was delivered to Aeroflot in November 1980, engine model D-36, it was formerly registered CCCP-42341, its registration was changed to RA-42341, having been flown for over 28,500 hours at the time of the crash. The aircraft had just been repaired 2 weeks before the accident. There were 66 passengers and 5 crew members on the plane, consisting of:

• Captain Alexei Robert Stepanovich, he was 44 years old at the time of the crash and was an experienced pilot, with approximately 7,000 hours of flight time with 4,780 of them on the Yakovlev Yak-40 and Yak-42. He also had type ratings on the Ilyushin Il-86.

• First Officer Zinoviy Yozhikov, he was 31 years old at the time and had just reached 3,400 hours of flight time, 1,400 of them on the Yak-42. He was a natural at landing.

## Flight

### Survivors

2 (7, initially)

• Flight Engineer Anatoli Feodosiy Tymofiy Pavlovych, he was 61 years old and had 6,380 hours on the Yak-42.

• Kazakh Flight Attendant Zhuldyz Aisha Omarova and Polish Flight Attendant Ruta Adriana Sadowska, both are 23 years old.

The Antonov An-2 was a TD model, tail number 40 yellow. It was carrying 12 paratroopers for an exercise, there were also two more air force pilots on the plane, they were:

• Pilot Edvin Toomas Jäätma, 27 years old.

• Co-pilot Jaagup Sten Konsa, 28 years old. A fresh recruit in the Estonian Air Force.

## Flight

### Aeroflot Flight 040

Aeroflot Flight 040 departed from Volgograd Airport at 7:12 AM GMT+3 with the Captain at the controls, the flight was headed for Helsinki, Finland at about 9:30.

At approx 7:19 AM GMT+3, After climbing to 10,000 feet, the first officer requested higher, and the air traffic controller responded with "Climb to flight level 240, Aeroflot 040." The flight climbed and took flight level 240 as their cruise altitude.

The flight happened to be uneventful, with the flight attendants serving passengers meals and drinks.

After reaching Estonian airspace at 8:23 AM GMT+3, the flight requested lower, as they met turbulent air, saying "Aeroflot 040, requesting lower, we have turbulence." The air traffic controller, Jüri Peeter Pärn, responded with "Roger, descend to ah.. 160."

### Estonian Air Force Antonov An-2 Registration 40

At 8:14 AM GMT+3, an Antonov An-2 took off from Ämari Lennubaas Military Air Base, heading to a place near Pärnu to drop paratroopers for an exercise. The aircraft later climbed to about 14,000 feet to prepare for a jump.

## Event

### Conflict

At 8:29 AM GMT+3, Jüri ordered the An-2 to descend to 14,000 from 14,500 feet but instead said "40, descend to 140." The Aeroflot pilots thought the air traffic controller ordered them to descend to 14,000 feet. As both planes were at 14,000 feet, 14 seconds before the collision, the air traffic controller realized the collision course in his radar and immediately told Flight 040 to climb to 15,000 feet, but it was too late.

### Collision

At exactly 8:31:22 GMT+3, two planes collided, the Yakovlev Yak-42's right wing collided with the An-2's vertical stabilizer, causing the An-2 to bank right and collide with engine 1 and engine 2 of the Yak-42, critically damaging the engines and causing a fire.

The An-2 spiraled down into a field near the village of Kilksama, near Pärnu. Only two paratroopers managed to jump out of the aircraft and parachute down, the rest were pinned down by the G force and unable to jump.

The Yakovlev Yak-42, under the captain's leadership, managed to regain control and extinguish the engine fires. Losing 2 engines and about 17% of the right-wing, the first officer said "Mayday mayday mayday, Aeroflot 040." The air traffic controller responded with "Aeroflot 040, what is your emergency?!" in a very panicked voice. The plane managed to glide to near Tallinn before slamming down on a field left wing first at a speed of about 180 km/h, or 97 knots.

The aircraft then broke into three pieces, leaving 7 survivors, including the first officer, flight attendant Ruta Adriana Sadowska and 5 passengers, all 5 passengers passed away while in hospital, leaving the first officer and Ruta as the only survivors of the crash. Ruta miraculously survived with only a few bruises despite her sitting in the front and the first officer did not even receive an injury.

## Investigation

The mid-air collision was investigated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission(Estonia) and the Interstate Aviation Committee(Russia).

### Discovery of Flight Recorders

After listening to the flight recorders of both aircraft, both sides concluded the mid-air collision to be caused by "errors made by air traffic controller Jüri and confusion over the registration and flight number of two aircraft." All the survivors were found to be innocent.

## Aftermath

The air traffic controller was sentenced to 12 years in jail, while the first officer continued flying for Aeroflot, and flight attendant Ruta Adriana Sadowska got married and gave birth to 2 kids.

## See also

1990 Miami Mid-Air Collision

2016 East Java mid-air collision