Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9045 was a cargo flight that crashed on approach to Nalchik while carrying of coins from the Saint Petersburg Mint, killing all 13 occupants.
The aircraft involved in the accident was an Antonov An-12BP with four Ivchenko AI-20M engines, registered RA-11118 to Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise.
Seven crew members and six passengers were aboard the flight.
Flight 9045 carried of coins in cargo from St. Petersburg to the stopover in Volgograd. Until landing there were no issues during the flight to Nalchik. The air traffic controller informed the flight crew of the weather conditions at the airport, but failed to mention the issue of ice; hence the crew did not activate the de-icing system for the approach.
When the flight was away from the runway, the crew set the flaps at 15ð. At from the runway, the aircraft entered the glide path, after which the flaps were set to 35ð. 16 seconds later, the crew increased the engine power to maintain a consistent speed of . The flight was already above the glide path and the pilots adjusted the elevators from 1 to 5ð deflection, only for the elevators to spontaneously go to 15ð deflection.
At an altitude of the aircraft pitched nose-down 50-55ð into a rapid descent; the pilots pulled back on the control columns; but due being at a low altitude the aircraft was unable to recover from the dive, the aircraft crashed into a field and was quickly engulfed in flames.
The investigation concluded that causes of the accident were as follows: