Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217

4K-AZ48, the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
Date	23 December 2005 (2005-12-23)
Summary	Instrument failure followed by controlled flight into water
Site	Caspian Sea, near Nardaran, Azerbaijan 40°35′22.1″N 50°02′03.2″E
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Antonov An-140-100
Aircraft name	Yevlakh
Operator	Azerbaijan Airlines
IATA flight No.	J2217
ICAO flight No.	AHY217
Call sign	AZAL 217
Registration	4K-AZ48
Flight origin	Baku Airport, Azerbaijan
Destination	Aktau Airport, Kazakhstan
Occupants	23
Passengers	18
Crew	5
Fatalities	23
Survivors	0

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 was a scheduled passenger flight between Baku and Aktau, Kazakhstan that crashed into the Caspian Sea at ca. 22:40 on 23 December 2005.[1] The flight was operated by an Antonov An-140.

Accident

Around five minutes after a night-time departure from Baku Airport, the crew reported a systems failure. Heading over the Caspian Sea at night without flight instruments made it difficult for the crew to judge their flight parameters. Whilst attempting to return to Baku, the aircraft crashed shortly afterwards on the shore of the Caspian Sea, killing all passengers and crew.[2][3]

Aftermath

Investigations from the Kharkiv State Aircraft Manufacturing Company have discovered that three independent gyroscopes were not providing stabilised heading and altitude performance information to the crew early in the flight.[4]

References

1. "Azerbaijan plane crash 'kills 23'". BBC News. 23 December 2005. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
2. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Antonov An-140-100 4K-AZ48 Nardaran". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
3. Chivers, C. J. (25 December 2005). "Plane Crashes Into Caspian; 23 Are Killed". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
4. Kaminski-Morrow, David (10 January 2006). "Crashed An-140 had gyro failure". Flight International. Retrieved 14 June 2012.

External links

• Aviation-Safety.net