Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801
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.
