Aeroflot Flight B-608

The aircraft was performing flight V-608 from Irkutsk to Bratsk, piloted by a crew from the 245th flight squadron, consisting of the commander (PIC) Ivan Andreevich Ivanov, copilot Valery Ivanovich Bulanov, flight engineer Oleg Vasilyevich Stolyarov, and trainee flight engineer Valery Ivanovich Nosarev. At 22:29, the Yak-40 departed from Irkutsk Airport and, after climbing, leveled off at an altitude of 6,000 meters. 14 passengers were aboard.^[1]

Upon approaching Bratsk, the crew contacted the airport dispatcher, and, after receiving permission, began their descent. The dispatcher attempted to relay information about the actual weather, but despite several attempts, could not get a response from the observer at the AMS, so he transmitted the weather data as of 23:15: runway visibility 50 kilometers, with no precipitation. Meanwhile, the weather was rapidly deteriorating, which the dispatcher observed. By the time of the incident, a wet snowstorm had commenced, with winds of 10–14m/), and visibility down to 1,000 meters, below the meteorological minimum for the commander.^[1]

Unaware of the actual weather conditions, the crew lined up for the final approach when they unexpectedly encountered the snowstorm. The Yak-40 encountered a strong downdraft, resulting in a rapid loss of altitude. The airliner clipped the tops of trees, lost speed, and crashed at 11:34pm after flying another 225 meters. The crash occurred 1,250 meters from the end of the runway. All 18 people on board died.^[1]

The sharp descent of the aircraft from a low altitude under the influence of an intense downdraft and subsequent collision with treetops during its recovery in conditions of limited visibility at night. The unexpected encounter with hazardous meteorological phenomena was a result of the rapid deterioration of weather conditions and insufficient promptness in observing and transmitting this information.^{[citation needed]}

Contributing factor: possible inadvertent activation of the thrust reverser by the crew during the descent (the thrust reverser was found to be activated during the inspection of the aircraft at the crash site).^[1]