32 passengers and 5 crew died when an Uzbekistan Airways YAK-40 from Termez hit a stanchion of approach lights, flipped, and crashed into a wall at the Tashkent airport. Among the dead are a Canadian aid worker and the highest ranking UN official in Uzbekistan, Richard Conroy of the UNDP. The plane crashed after two landing attempts in heavy fog. The plane was also nearing the end of its operational lifespan.
Uzbekistan Airways is one of the better airlines of the developing world, and not a bad way to get to Tashkent. They use Boeings and Airbuses on their longer international flights and have well-trained maintenace crews and great staff. It’s a different story on regional flights, where Soviet aircraft are used and you can really tell you are going on a wing and a prayer (with a splash of vodka). The YAK-40 is the second most frightening plane I’ve ever been in, only topped by some kind of prop-driven Soviet aircraft I took from Bishkek to Tashkent.
Here’s more on the YAK-40’s crash history
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