Rus Flight 9633

Rus Flight 9633 was a cargo flight operated by an IL-76TD aircraft of Rus Airlines from Chkalovsky Airport (Moscow) to Taiyuan Wusu Airport (Taiyuan) with intermediate stops at Alykel Airport (Norilsk) and Bratsk Airport (Bratsk). On July 14, 2001, the plane operating this flight crashed a few seconds after takeoff from Chkalovsky Airport. All 10 people on board were killed.

Rus Flight 9633

RA-76588, the aircraft involved in the accident, pictured in March 2001
Accident
Date	14 July 2001
Summary	Crashed after takeoff
Site	Moscow, Moscow Oblast, 1.5 km from Chkalovsky Airport
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Ilyushin Il-76TD
Operator	Rus
ICAO flight No.	RUR9633
Registration	RA-76588
Flight origin	Chkalovsky Airport, Moscow, Russia
1st stopover	Alykel Airport, Norilsk, Russia
Last stopover	Bratsk Airport, Bratsk, Russia
Destination	Taiyuan Wusu Airport, Taiyuan, China
Occupants	10
Passengers	2
Crew	8
Fatalities	10
Survivors	0

Aircraft

Ilyushin Il-76TD (registration number RA-76588, factory 0043451530, serial 39-03) was released by the Tashkent Aviation Production Association, named after V. P. Chkalov in April 1984. In the same month, it was transferred to the USSR Air Force as CCCP-76588. In December 1991, it was transferred to the Russian Air Force and re-registered as RA-76588 to reflect the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In 1992, it was transferred to the Ukraine Air Force, from which it was leased to the Russian airlines Atruvera (from October 1994 to November 15, 1995) and Aviacon Zitotrans (from November 15, 1995 to November 4, 1999). On November 4, 1999, it was put into storage. On July 17, 2000, it was purchased by Rus airlines.

It was equipped with four D-30KP-2 turbojet engines from the Rybinsk Engine-Building Plant. On the day of the disaster, the aircraft had made 1831 take-off-landing cycles and had flown 3523 hours.

Crew

The crew of the RUR9633 flight was as follows:

• The commander of the aircraft was Vyacheslav S. Boyko, who had flown 12,850 hours, with over 5,000 of them on the IL-76.
• The first officer was Gennady A. Butenko, who had flown 230 hours on the IL-76.
• The navigator was V. N. Tutaev.
• The flight engineer was V. P. Geraskin.
• The radio operator was A. B. Rubtsov.
• The on-board operators were K. F. Pavlov and S. S. Zavyalov.
• The inspector was Vyacheslav V. Kuskov, head of the Certification Department of operators for the OMTU of the Central Regions of Air Transport for the Ministry of Transport of Russia.

Chronology of events

Before takeoff

Ilyushin Il-76TD registration RA-76588 performed cargo flight RUR9633 from Moscow to Taiyuan with intermediate landings in Norilsk and Bratsk. The weather at Chkalovsky airfield consisted of fog with a visibility of 500–900 meters, a vertical visibility of 70–80 meters, and a temperature of +8°C.

The plane was prepared for departure, and according to the loading documents, there were 40.2 tons of cargo on board. The total take-off weight of the aircraft was 191.9 tons, but the cargo was not weighed properly, so the actual take-off weight was approximately 204 tons, 14 tons higher than the maximum permissible weight. The crew knew the aircraft was overloaded but decided to take off anyway; additionally, the pilots did not perform center-of-gravity calculations or prepare a plan for the proper placement of cargo.

This incorrect loading would cause problems with the control of the aircraft on takeoff.

Takeoff and crash

The flaps were set down at 20° and the stabilizers were nose-up at 8.7° for takeoff. The plane began to accelerate along the runway, and after a run-up of 1350 meters at 185 km/h, the landing gear was raised, and flight 9633 broke away from the runway. Immediately after takeoff, the plane began to list to the left, and to compensate, the FAC attempted to steer the aircraft to the right, achieving a 7° right bank. At an altitude of 23 meters, the pilots shifted the stabilizer from -5.4° to -3.9° to dive without using the elevator, although moving the stabilizers was forbidden on takeoff. After the stabilizer was shifted, the aircraft stopped gaining altitude and began to descend. The commander pulled the yoke back, but was unable to save the aircraft.

At 08:53 MSK, flight RUR9633 crashed into trees at 930 meters from the end of the runway before impacting the terrain 530 meters later. The aircraft crashed into a forest and broke apart, killing all 10 people on board the plane. A memorial was erected at the crash site.