On 5 March 2011, an

Antonov An-148 The Antonov An-148 () is a regional jet designed and built by Antonov of Ukraine. Development of the aircraft was started in the 1990s, and its maiden flight took place on 17 December 2004. The aircraft completed its certification programme o ...

passenger jet broke up in mid-air and crashed on the outskirts of Garbuzovo, a village in the

Belgorod Oblast Belgorod Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Belgorod. , the population is 1,540,486. History During the Princely ...

of Russia. All six crew members, the only people on board, were killed. The aircraft was on a demonstration flight prior to delivery to the

Myanmar Air Force The Myanmar Air Force (, ) is the aerial branch of the Tatmadaw, the armed forces of Myanmar. The primary mission of the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) since its inception has been to provide transport, logistical, and close air support to the Myanm ...

. The subsequent investigation concluded that the aircraft broke up after the crew allowed it to substantially exceed its maximum design speed during a practice emergency descent.

Accident

The An-148 was on a local demonstration flight from Pridacha Airport in

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

, Russia, where it had been built by aircraft manufacturer VASO. The aircraft was being readied for delivery to the

, two representatives of which were on board. The other four crew, all Russians, were two pilots and two engineers. At 10:40 Moscow time, the aircraft crashed at Garbuzovo, a small village in the Alexeevsky Region of the

, some south of Moscow, narrowly missing some houses. The wreckage was found strewn along a track, after witnesses on the ground reported seeing parts of the airframe breaking off before impact. None of the six people on board survived.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a twinjet Antonov An-148-100E, c/n 41-03, carrying test registration 61708. It was operating its 32nd flight, in preparation for delivery to the Myanmar air force. Just days before the accident, the type had been granted extended certification.

Investigation

The Russian

Ministry of Industry A ministry of trade and industry, ministry of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

opened an investigation into the accident. A criminal investigation was launched by the

Investigative Committee of Russia The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF; ) has since January 2011 been the main federal investigating authority in Russia. Its name (''Sledstvennyi komitet'') is usually abbreviated to ''SKR'' (). The agency replaced the Ru ...

to decide whether violation of flight regulations occurred. The

flight recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to colloquially as a "black box", an outdated nam ...

s were recovered, and the whole wreckage was transported to the VASO plant for examination. The investigation was completed in April 2011, and concluded that the crew inadvertently permitted the aircraft to accelerate over above its maximum design speed, or

never exceed speed In aviation, V-speeds are standard terms used to define airspeeds important or useful to the operation of all aircraft. These speeds are derived from data obtained by aircraft designers and manufacturers during flight testing for aircraft typ ...

(V_NE), during an emergency descent. The abnormal aerodynamic stress exceeded the strength of the

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aeros ...

, inducing low-frequency oscillations that eventually resulted in structural failure and in-flight break-up. Contributing factors were lack of proper crew coordination in executing the emergency descent, deviations from recommended procedures and the misleading indications provided by basic flight instruments while outside normal operating conditions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garbuzovo Antonov An-148 crash, 2011 Aviation accidents and incidents in Russia in 2011 2011 disasters in Russia Airliner accidents and incidents caused by in-flight structural failure Accidents and incidents involving the Antonov An-148 March 2011 in Russia