Belavia Flight 1834

Belavia Flight 1834 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Yerevan, Armenia, to Minsk, Belarus, operated by Belavia. On the morning of February 14, 2008, the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet carrying 18 passengers and three crew crashed and burst into flames shortly after take off from Zvartnots International Airport near Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.



The captain was 50-year-old Viktor Shishlo, who had logged 9,215 flight hours, including 461 hours on the CRJ100. The first officer was 44-year-old Alexander Mukhin, who had 9,454 flight hours with 405 of them on the CRJ100.

Fire and rescue crews were reportedly on site within 50 seconds after the crash. The passengers also helped the crew members out of the cockpit.

None of the 21 occupants were killed, although seven passengers received serious injuries.

Investigation
Initial speculation pointed to icing on the wings which caused the left wing to stall upon lift-off. Icing conditions were reported at the airport during the crash, and the CRJs are very prone to wing contamination and icing since they do not have any leading edge devices.

Investigation teams from the General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia, from Belarus, and from Bombardier participated in the investigation to determine the probable cause of the accident.