Tajikistan Airlines Flight 3183

Remains of the aircraft

The aircraft departed from Khujand Airport in the afternoon of 15 December 1997. Upon entering the airspace of the Emirate of Sharjah the aircraft began to descend, experiencing turbulence on the way down. Preparing for final approach, the crew did not notice they were too low, and the aircraft crashed into the desert approximately 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) east of Sharjah Airport.[1] All 79 passengers were killed (although one survived the crash, only to later die in hospital) as well as 6 of the 7 crew members. The sole survivor was identified as the flight navigator, 37-year-old Sergei Petrov.[2]

The International Civil Aviation Organization suggested the probable cause was "The pilot descended below the assigned altitude and unintentionally continued a descent into terrain. Contributing factors were self-induced stress, slight turbulence and non-adherence to operating procedures".[1] The president of the Tajikistan State Air Company, who had chartered the flight, claimed that an explosion had taken place on the aircraft prior to the crash, but there was no evidence to support this.[3]

The President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, offered condolences to his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon after the crash.[4] All 85 victims except one[5] (from Kerman, Iran[6]) were from Khujand; the coffins were flown back there for burial.[7] As many as 3,000 people gathered in the main square of Khujand for the mourning, while Tajik Prime Minister, Yahyo Azimov, spoke of "a dreadful tragedy".[8] Nineteen (including 18 Tajiks and one Iranian)[9] of the bodies were severely damaged and could not be identified; they were subsequently buried in a mass grave near Dushanbe International Airport.[8]