Ilyushin Il-86 - Accidents and Incidents

Accidents and Incidents

The Il-86 is seen as one of the world's safest airliners; only one accident involving fatalities (a re-positioning flight without passengers) had taken place by 2008. Another Il-86 was written off after being hit by another plane in 1994 and although there were six fatalities in that instance, none of them was on board the Ilyushin. A 2006 ICAO paper stated: "There were no fatal accidents in passenger-carrying operations involving a wide-body IL-86, for all periods of operation." The first deputy minister of transport of Russia and head of the State Civil Aviation Service Aleksandr Nyeradko said in 2003: "the Il-86 was and remains one of the world's most dependable airliners."

The following are all significant recorded safety events involving the Il-86 to date:-

• On an unknown date during the 1980s, an unknown Il-86 on approach to Mineralnye Vody, Russia, suffered a hydraulic failure resulting in asymmetrical deployment of the high-lift devices. The flight crew brought the machine to a safe landing without further incident. No casualties.

• On an unknown date in 1980, the aircraft registered SSSR-86004 (constructor's number 51483200002 ) experienced a fire in engine No 4 on departure from Vnukovo on an acceptance testing flight; the crew initially shut down No 1 in error, then No 4, but landed safely on the reciprocal runway to the one from which they had departed, after performing a 180° turn. No casualties. The investigation into this fire resulted in a modification to the engine.

• In 1984, SSSR-86011 (c/n 009) was found to have suffered a tail strike on landing at Simferopol. No casualties.

• On March 8, 1994, RA-86119 (c/n 087) parked at Delhi airport was struck by a landing Sahara India Boeing 737 (VT-SIA) flown by a trainee; both aircraft were destroyed. All 4 crew on the 737 were killed. Two Aeroflot employees, a Russian ground engineer and an airport worker were killed on the ground.

• In June 1998, RA-86080 (c/n 051) was found to have been overstressed, most likely by a recent heavy landing, and repairs were considered inexpedient in view of coming retirement. No casualties; aircraft stored pending retirement.

• On May 1, 2000, RA-86113 (c/n 081) suffered an apparent engine failure and fire on departure from Sochi. The flight crew brought the machine to a safe overweight landing. The failure and fire indications were found to have been spurious. No casualties.

• On August 26, 2000, RA-86066 (c/n 033) experienced a failure and fire in No 2 engine shortly after take-off from Moscow Sheremetyevo for Barcelona. The crew landed on the reciprocal runway with no further incident. No casualties.

• On September 21, 2001, RA-86074 (c/n 041) belly-landed at Dubai after a flight from Moscow, the flight crew having switched-off the ground proximity warning due to heavy workload on the approach and then neglected to extend the landing gear; no casualties; aircraft written-off.

• On July 28, 2002, RA-86060 (c/n 027) crashed shortly after departure from Moscow on a repositioning flight to Sankt Peterburg. The trim toggle button on the control column caused a spontaneous retrimming of the tailplane, rapid transition to nose-heavy trim and a dive. The four flightdeck crew, two ground support staff and ten cabin crew aboard the aircraft died. The two injured survivors were cabin crew members.

Following the Moscow crash in July 2002, the MAK Interstate Aviation Committee withdrew the Il-86's certificate of airworthiness, temporarily grounding the type. The certificate was rapidly restored in stages by early 2003. The accident prompted the Egyptian civil aviation authorities to attempt to ban Il-86 operations to Egypt. Amid continuing negotiations, by 2007 the intention had lapsed, with intensive Il-86 operations to and from Egypt continuing.