Yakovlev · Regional jet
Yakovlev Yak-40
Is the Yakovlev Yak-40 safe? It ranks Shared rankWithin 1 point of other aircraft types: the difference is not meaningful.More in the glossary of 53 airliner families we rate, with 36 fatal accidents counted in about 23 million passenger flights.
How the score is built
- Fatal passenger accidents
- 36 in 22.7 million flights
1.6 fatal passenger accidents per million flights. Counted: passenger flights, accidents and unexplained losses; not counted: sabotage, hijackings, shoot-downs and deliberate crew acts.
- Full-loss equivalents
- 25.2
Each counted accident adds the share of people on board who died (1 = no survivors). This is what the score is based on.
- Flights flown
- 22.7 million
Estimated passenger departures. Passenger departures 1968 to 7 October 2026 from a fleet model: deliveries with a median passenger service life of about 29 years and about 1,366 departures per aircraft per year (average of similar types in OpenSky). OpenSky sees too few of these aircraft. After 1991 capped by departures reported by the former Soviet republics (World Bank). Uncertainty roughly ±50%.
- Technology generation
- Gen 2 jet (integrated autoflight, analogue cockpit)
Small fleets are pulled toward the record of their generation: 0.88 full-loss equivalents per million flights over 236 million flights. Weight of this family's own record: 88%.
- Last fatal passenger accident
- 13 January 2004
Uzbekistan Airways flight HY1154, Tashkent Airport (TAS), Uzbekistan: 37 of 37 people on board died.
- Hull losses
- 111
Civil aircraft destroyed or written off from all causes, including non-fatal accidents, cargo flights and attacks; airframes flown by air forces on military operations are left out (context only, not in the score).
Compared with everyday risks
One flight on the Yakovlev Yak-40 carries about the same risk of death as the activities near it below.
- An hour's walk1 in 14 million
- Driving 100 miles (160 km)1 in 5.9 million
- A day of skiing1 in 1.3 million
- An ordinary day: accidents and violence1 in 1 million
- One flight on the Yakovlev Yak-40This aircraft1 in 920,000
- A scuba dive1 in 500,000
- Cycling 100 miles (160 km)1 in 430,000
- Running a marathon1 in 290,000
- A skydive1 in 250,000
- A general anaesthetic1 in 100,000
- Riding a motorbike 100 miles (160 km)1 in 83,000
Accident history
36 fatal accidents count toward the score, with 704 people on board killed.
| Date | Flight | Killed | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uzbekistan Airways HY1154Yak-40 · Tashkent Airport (TAS), Uzbekistan | 37 / 37 on board | Approaching Tashkent in low cloud, the crew flew an unstable profile, came over the runway too high and tried to land, then added power. The aircraft touched down 260 m beyond the runway end, hit buildings and a wall, and burned.Type: Landed short or longASN record | |
| Faraz Qeshm AirlinesYak-40 · 20 km S of Sari, Iran | 30 / 30 on board | Carrying Iran's transport minister and several lawmakers to open a new airport at Gorgan, the Yak-40 diverted to Sari due to weather and was later found crashed in forest in the Alborz mountains.Type: Unknown causeASN record | |
| Vologda AirYak-40D · Moskva-Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO), Russia | 9 / 9 on board | In snow at Sheremetyevo the crew rushed: snow was brushed off but no de-icing fluid used, and flaps were set at 11 instead of 20 degrees. Just after rotation the Yak-40 stalled at about 10 m, rolled left and crashed.Type: Loss of control in flightASN record | |
| Uzbekistan AirwaysYak-40 · 2 km from Turtkul Airport, Uzbekistan | 2 / 33 on board | On its second missed approach, just after the gear was raised, the aircraft hit power lines about 10 m above ground beyond the runway, then belly-landed and slid into an embankment.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| TyumenaviatransYak-40K · Khanty-Mansiysk Airport (HMA), Russia | 5 / 37 on board | In a snowstorm below minimums the crew took the brightly lit helicopter parking area for the runway lights and, on landing, struck three parked Mi-8 helicopters.Type: Ground collisionASN record | |
| Servicios Aéreos AmazonicosYak-40 · Saposoa Airport (SQU), Peru | 6 / 31 on board | In rain the crew lost sight of the runway, but the captain kept going at very low height and overrode the copilot's go-around. The jet landed halfway down the wet runway, overran and fell into the Saposoa River.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Cheremshanka AirlinesYak-40 · 41 km NNW of Vanavara, Russia | 28 / 28 on board | Unable to land at Tura after three approaches in bad weather, the crew diverted to distant Vanavara and all three engines ran down short of it; the aircraft hit a riverbank in a forced landing. Investigators cited poor fuel planning and choice of alternate.Type: FuelASN record | |
| Expresso AéreoYak-40 · ca 50 km S of Tingo Maria, Peru | 31 / 31 on board | The aircraft crashed about 50 km south of Tingo María on a flight to Lima. No account of the accident is available.Type: Unknown causeASN record | |
| Vietnam AirlinesYak-40 · near Son Trung, Vietnam | 30 / 31 on board | Descending toward Nha Trang, the aircraft strayed 6 km off the airway and below the minimum safe altitude and hit a ridge top in mountainous terrain. Rescuers took eight days to reach the wreck. One passenger survived.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| YugaviaYak-40 · 23 km WNW of Makhachkala Airport (MCX), Russia | 51 / 51 on board | With visibility falling, the crew lost track of their position and descended over mountains into Kukurtbash Mountain. The aircraft carried 13 undocumented passengers and was over its maximum takeoff weight.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Cubana de AviaciónYak-40S2 · 4 km E of Santiago-Antonio Maceo Airport (SCU), Cuba | 11 / 31 on board | After two abandoned NDB approaches at night, the captain tried to manoeuvre visually to the opposite runway over mountainous terrain and the aircraft hit high ground 4 km short.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Aeroflot / ArmeniaYak-40 · 22 km W of Stepanakert, Azerbaijan | 46 / 46 on board | Carrying 13 unregistered extra passengers, the crew took shortcuts, descended below safe altitude in cloud while misreporting their height, and hit a mountain slope. Controllers at three airports failed to monitor or stop the descent.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Hemus AirYak-40 · Sofia-Vrazhdebna Airport (SOF), Bulgaria | 29 / 37 on board | Told to hurry ahead of a delayed VIP flight carrying Todor Zhivkov, the crew left the stabilizer trimmed fully nose-down. The aircraft would not lift off, overran the runway into a river ravine and burned.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Aeroflot, Privolzhsk Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · near Nizhnevartovsk Airport (NJC), Russia | 27 / 31 on board | During takeoff two of the three engines ran down and shut off; the aircraft lost speed, stalled and broke up against obstacles. Investigators concluded the crew had probably closed the throttles.Type: Engine failureASN record | |
| Aeroflot / UkraineYak-40 · Berdyansk Airport (ERD), Ukraine | 8 / 29 on board | Approaching in heavy rain with a tailwind, the aircraft touched down fast. The crew began a go-around but abandoned it, and the Yak-40 ran off the end of the runway, hit obstacles and caught fire.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Aeroflot / UzbekistanYak-40 · Tashkent-Yuzhny Airport (TAS), Uzbekistan | 9 / 9 on board | Taking off about 76 seconds behind an Il-76, the Yak-40 flew into its wake, rolled sharply left, hit the ground and burned.Type: Loss of control in flightASN record | |
| Aeroflot / GeorgiaYak-40 · 47 km W of Kutaisi, Georgia | 14 / 14 on board | Held at 300 m instead of climbing because of traffic at a nearby airport, the Yak-40 met bad weather while turning over mountains and flew into a slope near Mikha-Tskhakaya.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Aeroflot / ArmeniaYak-40 · 41 km NE of Leninakan Airport (LWN), Armenia | 21 / 21 on board | The Yak-40 strayed off track over mountains and the crew misjudged their position while descending towards Leninakan. It struck a cloud-covered slope of Mount Shishtepe; controllers had not checked its position either.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Aeroflot, East Siberia Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · 11 km E of Zheleznogorsk-Ilimskiy Airport, Russia | 33 / 33 on board | Flying level at 400 m in cloud on approach, the Yak-40 collided with an Aeroflot Mi-8 helicopter that was descending through a turn on a training circuit.Type: Mid-air collisionASN record | |
| Aeroflot, Far East Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · Zeya, Russia | 3 / 34 on board | Approaching Zeya in drizzle and fog, the crew descended below minimums without seeing the ground and kept going despite the ground proximity warning. The Yak-40 hit treetops short of the runway and burned.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Aeroflot / TajikistanYak-40 · 44 km NW of Dushanbe, Tajikistan | 29 / 29 on board | Detouring well off course round thunderstorms, the crew reported beacon passages they had not reached, and were cleared down on that basis. The radio compass was upset by the storm and the wind was not as forecast; the Yak-40 hit a mountain in cloud.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Cubana de AviaciónYak-40 · Baracoa Airport (BCA), Cuba | 1 / 37 on board | The Yak-40 crashed while landing at Baracoa, killing one of the 37 on board. No cause is recorded.Type: Unknown causeASN record | |
| Aeroflot, Kazakstan Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · 7,5 km SW of Sverdlovsk-Koltsovo Airport (SVX), Russia | 38 / 38 on board | Taking off at night slightly overweight and without engine anti-ice selected, the Yak-40 climbed very slowly on weak thrust. At about 100 m the crew reported an engine failure and turned back, but hit trees on a hillside.Type: IcingASN record | |
| Aeroflot, North Kavkaz Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40K · near Rostov Airport (ROV), Russia | 2 / 22 on board | Soon after take-off, the cargo hatch, which had passenger seats mounted on it, swung fully open. A mother and her young son slipped from their belts and fell to their deaths; a third passenger held on until the emergency landing.Type: System failureASN record | |
| Aeroflot / UkraineYak-40 · 1,5 km from Zhdanov Airport (MPW), Ukraine | 8 / 28 on board | The crew kept flying a visual approach after entering fog and losing all ground reference. Starting a go-around, the Yak-40's right wing hit a pole and caught fire; it rolled further and crashed into a field about 1.5 km from the runway.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Aeroflot, North Kavkaz Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · 37 km S off Anapa [Black Sea], Russia | 18 / 18 on board | Over the Black Sea at 5,700 m, the Yak-40 met an An-24 head-on, both flying the same route at an identical height in opposite directions; both fell into the sea. Separation rules were broken and neither crew kept a good lookout.Type: Mid-air collisionASN record | |
| Aeroflot / LatviaYak-40 · near Novgorod Airport (NVR), Russia | 6 / 6 on board | Unforecast fog covered Novgorod. On a straight-in approach the Yak-40 drifted off course after the outer marker and kept descending until it hit a building, then an apartment block and a car, and caught fire.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Aeroflot / AzerbaijanYak-40 · 4 km S of Krasnovodsk Airport (KRW), Turkmenistan | 23 / 38 on board | About 5-8 km out on a night approach to Krasnovodsk, the Yak-40 flew into a strong downdraught at around 300 m. It lost speed and height, nearly stalled and struck a coastal cliff, then a second one, and burned.Type: Windshear or stormASN record | |
| Aeroflot / ArmeniaYak-40 · 18 km E of Batumi-Chorokh Airport (BUS), Georgia | 40 / 40 on board | The weather at Batumi was worse than the crew had been told, with visibility of 3 km instead of 5 km. During a go-around, the Yak-40 flew into Mount Mtirala.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Aeroflot / TajikistanYak-40 · Bukhara Airport (BHK), Uzbekistan | 7 / 19 on board | The elevator was locked, so the pilot abandoned the take-off. The Yak-40 could not stop on the remaining runway, ran into an earth dyke and was almost completely burned out.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Aeroflot / UkraineYak-40 · 16 km W of Kiev-Zhulhyany Airport (IEV), Ukraine | 29 / 29 on board | The crew were probably impaired by carbon monoxide on the descent into Kiev. They missed checklist steps, including setting the airfield pressure, began the final descent too early and the Yak-40 hit the ground on a tank training range.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Aeroflot, Central Region Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · Rostov Airport (ROV), Russia | 1 / 38 on board | Trying to take off from a wet grass strip of about 1,080 m, the Yak-40 would not lift off. The pilot abandoned the take-off, but the jet ran 185 m past the end, hit a mound and broke up in a ravine.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Aeroflot, Arkhangelsk Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · Arkhangelsk Airport (ARH), Russia | 1 / 31 on board | At 161 km/h on the take-off run, the crew found the elevators jammed by an electrical fault. Instead of stopping, they kept going; the Yak-40 ran off the runway, hit the localiser antenna and a concrete building and burned. The co-pilot died.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Aeroflot, Kazakstan Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · Semipalatinsk Airport (PLX), Kazakhstan | 32 / 32 on board | Soon after a night takeoff the jet sank back and struck a snowy field about 1.5 km past the runway. Investigators could not find out why.Type: Unknown causeASN record | |
| Aeroflot, East Siberia Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · 1,2 km from Bratsk Airport (BTK), Russia | 18 / 18 on board | The controller passed on outdated weather although he knew it had worsened. On final the Yak-40 flew into wet snow and strong gusts, and a powerful downdraft forced it into trees; it crashed and burned.Type: Windshear or stormASN record | |
| Aeroflot / TajikistanYak-40 · 90 km NE of Leninabad, Tajikistan | 21 / 21 on board | Descending in cloud over mountains towards Leninabad without knowing exactly where they were, the crew flew the Yak-40 into Mount Airy-Tash. Both pilots had little instrument-weather experience and weak navigation training.Type: Flight into terrainASN record |
Listed but not counted
These events did not happen on regular passenger flights or were caused by a crime or a deliberate act, which says little about the aircraft design.
| Date | Flight | Killed | Why not counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lao AviationYak-40 · near Long Tieng, Xiangkhouang, Laos | 26 / 26 on board | Military operation. Flight carrying a Vietnamese military delegation to Xiangkhouang that came down in jungle during a heavy rainstorm. No cause is given.Type: Unknown causeASN record | |
| Ariana Afghan AirlinesYak-40 · Jalalabad Airport (JAA), Afghanistan | 1 / 24 on board | Not a scheduled passenger flight. Flight that crashed while landing at Jalalabad; one of the 24 people aboard died. No details are available.Type: Unknown causeASN record | |
| Azerbaijan AirlinesYak-40 · 5,2 km from Gyandzha Airport (KVD), Azerbaijan | 6 / 6 on board | Training flight. Training flight returning to Gyandzha that was hit by stray rounds from soldiers firing at a road sign after shooting practice. A bullet struck an oxygen bottle, fire broke out and the crew lost control about 5 km short of the runway.Type: FireASN record | |
| DonaviaYak-40 · Makhachkala Airport (MCX), Russia | 1 / 1 on board | Unlawful interference (sabotage, hijacking or shoot-down). Hijacking. A passenger claiming to carry a bomb forced the jet back to Makhachkala and demanded money and passage to Iran. After all hostages were freed, he set off a home-made device as police prepared to storm it, killing himself.Type: SecurityASN record | |
| Sankuru Air Service, lsf Impulse-AeroYak-40D · Boma Airport (BOA), Congo (Democratic Republic) | 5 / 9 on board | Training flight. Training flight that touched down far along Boma's short runway, overran and fell into a ravine. The pilots applied the normal and emergency brakes together, which the manual forbids, and lost braking entirely.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Tajikistan AirlinesYak-40 · near Khorog, Tajikistan | 82 / 86 on board | Unlawful interference (sabotage, hijacking or shoot-down). Charter evacuating women, children and fighters during Tajikistan's civil war. The crew were made to take far more people than the 28 seats allowed; the overweight jet overran the runway at speed, hit obstacles and fell into the Pyanj river.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Aeroflot, Tyumen Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · 19 km NW of Khanty-Mansiysk Airport (HMA), Russia | 5 / 5 on board | Test flight. On a local check flight after nose gear repairs, the pilot flew a barrel roll and the Yak-40 went into a steep dive. Pulling out at over 5 g, the left wing broke off and struck the tail, which also separated.Type: Loss of control in flightASN record | |
| MAP Kazan MSZYak-40 · near Bazarnyye Mataki, Russia | 4 / 4 on board | Cargo flight. On a cargo flight, leaking fuel ignited in the centre wing section. During the emergency descent the Yak-40 went past its design speed and broke up in the air.Type: FireASN record | |
| TAAG Angola AirlinesYak-40K · near Matala, Angola | 19 / 19 on board | Unlawful interference (sabotage, hijacking or shoot-down). The domestic Yak-40 came down near Matala after, according to Angola's report to ICAO, being hit by a foreign aircraft. Unconfirmed reports name a Zambian fighter.Type: SecurityASN record | |
| Aeroflot, Leningrad Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · Vologda Airport (VGD), Russia | 3 / 5 on board | Ferry flight without passengers. On a positioning flight into Vologda in fog, the real visibility was below minimums though a better figure was reported, reportedly on purpose to let three Yak-40s land. The crew went below decision height without seeing the ground and hit trees.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Aeroflot, East Siberia Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · 1,5 km NW of Ust-Kut Airport, Russia | 7 / 7 on board | Cargo flight. The crew rushed a night cargo departure with an altimeter mis-set and the stabiliser wrongly trimmed. The Yak-40 lifted off early, the flaps came up too slow and low, and with the altimeter reading 100 m high nobody saw how close the trees were.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| Aeroflot / UkraineYak-40 · near Kazakovskoye, Ukraine | 5 / 5 on board | Training flight. On a training flight, the crew was practising recovery from a simulated runaway stabiliser trim when the Yak-40 lost speed, stalled and spun in. A handling error or an over-reading airspeed indicator may explain the speed loss.Type: Loss of control in flightASN record | |
| Aeroflot, Central Region Civil Aviation DirectorateYak-40 · Moscow, Russia | 2 / 24 on board | Unlawful interference (sabotage, hijacking or shoot-down). Four teenagers hijacked the domestic flight demanding money and a flight to Sweden. Security forces stormed the Yak-40 and two of them were killed.Type: SecurityASN record |
The Yak-40 has a weak record by modern standards, but most of it is old. Up to 7 October 2026 it has had 49 fatal events, 36 of which count as passenger accidents in about 22.7 million passenger flights. Twenty-seven of those 36 happened before 1992, and the last was in 2004. Only about 20 Yak-40s remain in service, so very few travellers will ever see one.
What the Yak-40 is
The Yak-40 is a small three-engine jet of about 32 seats, built in Saratov from the late 1960s until 1981. It first flew in 1966 and entered service with Aeroflot in 1968. Yakovlev designed it to replace piston airliners on short, unpaved runways, so it has a straight wing, a high T-tail, three small Ivchenko AI-25 engines at the back and an airstair under the tail. About 1,011 were built, many for Aeroflot's regional divisions and for airlines in Eastern Europe, Cuba, Vietnam and Africa.
Today the few left fly mostly with small charter operators and corporate or government fleets in Russia and other former Soviet states. Their cockpits are analogue and their airframes are 45 years old or more.
The fatal record
Of the 36 counted accidents, 23 were with the Soviet Aeroflot, which then ran almost all civil flying in the USSR. The pattern was approaches into terrain or below minimums, often in mountains or bad weather. Several of the worst were in the Caucasus and Central Asia: 40 died near Batumi in 1975, 46 near Stepanakert in 1990 and 51 near Makhachkala with Yugavia in November 1991.
After 1991 the type spread to new airlines, and crashes continued for another decade:
- 14 November 1992, Vietnam Airlines: crashed in Vietnam, 30 of 31 died. Vietnam Airlines has had no fatal crash since its Soviet-built era.
- 25 February 1994, Expresso Aéreo: crashed in Peru south of Tingo María. All 31 died.
- 9 March 2000, Vologda Air: a charter took off from Moscow Sheremetyevo in snow without de-icing fluid and with the flaps set wrong. It stalled just after take-off and all 9 died.
- 17 May 2001, Faraz Qeshm Airlines: crashed in the Alborz mountains near Sari in Iran, carrying Iran's transport minister and members of parliament. All 30 died.
- 13 January 2004, Uzbekistan Airways HY1154: came in too high in poor visibility at Tashkent and touched down beyond the end of the runway, then hit a building and broke up. All 37 died.
The 13 other fatal events do not count: training, test, cargo, ferry and military flights, and four acts of unlawful interference. The deadliest of these was a Tajikistan Airlines Yak-40 near Khorog in August 1993, in which 82 of 86 people died, far more than the aircraft was built to carry. Our methodology explains why these are left out.
The aircraft or the operating environment?
Mostly the environment. Few Yak-40 crashes trace back to a design fault; most involve crews, weather, short regional airports with poor approach aids, and in the 1990s, overloading and weak oversight at new airlines. But the Yak-40 also lacks the terrain warning, automation and flight data that later jets carry. There is one more caveat: we have no Soviet traffic data, so for the years before 1992 we assume Western levels of use, which probably flatters the type's rate.
How to tell if you are on one
Flight trackers show the ICAO code YK40. You board by the stairs under the tail, and you will see three engines grouped at the back. If one is offered on a regional route, a newer aircraft on the same route is the better choice; compare the larger Yak-42.
Questions people ask
Is the Yak-40 still flying?
A few are. About 1,011 were built between the late 1960s and 1981, and roughly 20 remain in service, mostly with small operators, corporate and government users in Russia and other former Soviet states. Scheduled passenger flights on one are now rare.
When was the last fatal Yak-40 crash?
Up to 7 October 2026, the last fatal accident was on 13 January 2004, when Uzbekistan Airways flight HY1154 from Termez came in too high in poor visibility at Tashkent, touched down beyond the end of the runway, hit a building and broke up. All 37 people on board died.
Why does the Yak-40 have three engines?
It was built to replace piston airliners on short, often unpaved runways in the Soviet regions. Three small engines gave it enough power to climb away if one failed on take-off from a short strip.
How is the Yak-40 different from the Yak-42?
The Yak-42 is a larger, later Yakovlev jet with about 120 seats. It also has three engines at the back but a different wing and systems. It is a separate type in our data with its own record.
Sources
- 1.ASN record: Uzbekistan Airways flight HY1154, Tashkent, 13 January 2004 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 2.ASN record: Vologda Air Yak-40D, Moscow Sheremetyevo, 9 March 2000 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 3.ASN record: Faraz Qeshm Airlines Yak-40, near Sari, 17 May 2001 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 4.ASN record: Yugavia Yak-40, near Makhachkala, 7 November 1991 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 5.ASN record: Tajikistan Airlines Yak-40, near Khorog, 28 August 1993 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 6.SafetyScorer fleet model (World Bank departures, OpenSky averages) (opens in a new tab)Passenger departures 1968 to 7 October 2026 from a fleet model: deliveries with a median passenger service life of about 29 years and about 1,366 departures per aircraft per year (average of similar types in OpenSky). OpenSky sees too few of these aircraft. After 1991 capped by departures reported by the former Soviet republics (World Bank). Uncertainty roughly ±50%.