Date:
 August 29, 1996
Location:
 Spitsbergen, Norway
Aircraft:
 Tupolev TU-154M
Reg:
 RA-85621
Airline:
 Vnokovo Airlines
Flight No:
 2801
Fatalities:
 141 : 141

The aircraft crashed 7 nm short of the runway into Operafjellet Mountain at an altitude of 2,900 ft. while attempting to land in poor weather. The crew did not use the usual approach which includes a turn over the ocean, but rather took a route that led through a narrow valley. Inadequate planning, unsatisfactory crew resource management and monitoring, not discontinuing the approach when procedural uncertainties existed and limited knowledge of the operating language and the actual airspace. The passengers were mainly Russian coal miners headed for a Russian mine on one of the Norwegian islands.