Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801

Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801

The wreckage at Operafjellet
Accident summary
Date	29 August 1996
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain
Site	Operafjellet, Svalbard, Norway 78°12.846′N 016°05.719′E / 78.214100°N 16.095317°E / 78.214100; 16.095317Coordinates: 78°12.846′N 016°05.719′E / 78.214100°N 16.095317°E / 78.214100; 16.095317
Passengers	130
Crew	11
Fatalities	141 (all)
Injuries (non-fatal)	0
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Tupolev Tu-154M
Operator	Vnukovo Airlines
Registration	RA-85621
Flight origin	Vnukovo International Airport, Moscow, Russia
Destination	Svalbard Airport, Longyear, Longyearbyen, Norway

Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801 was an international charter flight that, on 29 August 1996 at 10:22:23 Central European Summer Time, crashed in Operafjellet, Svalbard, Norway. All 141 people aboard the Tupolev Tu-154M were killed during the approach to Svalbard Airport, Longyear, making it the deadliest aviation accident ever in Norway. The accident was the result of a series of small navigational errors causing the aircraft to be 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) from the approach centerline at the time of impact. The accident was investigated by the Accident Investigation Board Norway with assistance from the Interstate Aviation Committee and became known as the Operafjell Accident (Norwegian: Operafjell-ulykken).

The Vnukovo Airlines aircraft, registration number RA-85621, was chartered by Arktikugol, a Russian state owned coal mining company, to fly Russian and Ukrainian workers from Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia to Svalbard Airport, Longyear in Longyearbyen, Norway. The passengers all belonged to the Russian communities of Barentsburg and Pyramiden. The fatalities included 11 crew members and 130 passengers, of which 3 were children. The accident was a contributing cause for Arktikugol's closure of Pyramiden two years later. After the accident, there were a series of lawsuits to determine the compensations to the victims' families.

Flight 2801 was a chartered flight flown by Vnukovo Airlines on behalf of Arktikugol, which operated mines at the two company towns of Barentsburg and Pyramiden in Svalbard. The aircraft was a Tupolev Tu-154M, with registration RA-85621, serial number 86A 742 and date of manufacture 14 January 1987. The flight consisted of a crew of eleven, including a cockpit crew of four (two aircraft pilots, one engineer and one navigator), a cabin crew of five and two technicians. The pilot in command (PiC) had previously landed at Svalbard Airport; the first officer had not and was the piloting pilot.