| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 19, 1996 |
| Type | Electrical failure |
| Site | Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (IATA: BEG; ICAO: LYBE) |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Crew | 12 |
| Fatalities | 12 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | Il-76T |
| Operator | Spair Airlines |
| Tail number | RA-76513 |
| Flight origin | Ekaterinenburg, Russia |
| Destination | Malta International Airport (IATA: LMML; ICAO: MLA) |
Spair Airlines Flight PAR-3601 was a cargo flight between Ekaterinenburg and Malta. The aircraft crashed in a corn field 1,500 meters northeast from the runway of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport in Serbia, Yugoslavia on August 19, 1996.
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The aircraft was a 12 years old Il-76T with a tail number RA-76513
Flight PAR-3601 departed from Ekaterinenburg in Russia on August 18. The Il-76T then had a text-book landing at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport for refueling and a routine check.
Flight PAR-3601 had tried to take off around 23:00 but when the engines were started, all electrical systems failed. The fault was fixed and the pilots were ready to depart. On August 19 at 00:10 Flight Par-3601 took off heading for Malta. About 15 minutes after take off, Flight PAR-3601 reached Valjevo, pilot Vladimir Starikov contacted Belgrade air traffic control and said that the plane was having electrical supply problems; that was the last contact air traffic control had with Flight PAR-3601.
The assumption is that the plane lost all power for navigation and communication systems. Flight PAR-3601 then turned 180 degrees and tried to come back to Belgrade Airport. Many Belgrade residents saw the plane fly over the city and witnessed that there were no lights active on the aircraft. The weather over Belgrade was very bad that night with heavy clouds. Since there were no electricity aboard the aircraft, the only way to find the runway was by sight.
Flight PAR-3601 appeared over Belgrade about one hour after take off. At about 01:30 it circled central Belgrade very low, other witnesses said that the plane was seen flying very low over New Belgrade. At 03:14 the flight crew tried to land; first a 180 degree turn, aimed for the runway 12, from a course of 121 degrees.
The Il-76T hit the ground killing all 12 crew members at 03:16 about 1500 meters to the northeast of the runway. A loud explosion could be heard with parts of the aircraft flying almost to the airport building.
Few moments after the crash Serbian police quickly closed off the area around crash site and immediately stopped traffic along the nearby highway. The police chased off any journalists who tried to get to the site and even stopped anyone from slowing down on parts of the highway where the crash site was visible. Even Russian diplomats were banned from the site which was also a cause for many media questions. Just few hours after the crash a lot of speculations could be heard all over the media. Some of them stated that the plane was chartered by the former Yugoslav company Jugoimport which was a military import-export company set up in the 1950s as part of the defense ministry. Others stated that the cargo was 1,000 aircraft tires, weighing 14 tons, and 744 kg of flares for the Air Cargo House registered in Malta. Spair airlines refused to provide information on the companies it deals with and the cargo the plane was carrying.
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