The Makhachkala Il-76 collision occurred on January 15, 2009 near 18:00 UTC, when two Ilyushin Il-76

Ilyushin Il-76

The Ilyushin Il-76 is a multi-purpose four-engined strategic airlifter designed by Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a commercial freighter in 1967. Intended as a replacement for the Antonov An-12, the Il-76 was designed for delivering heavy machinery to remote, poorly-serviced areas...

 military transport aircraft collided at the Uytash Airport

Uytash Airport

Uytash Airport is a civil airport located near Makhachkala and Kaspiysk cities. It is named after Amet-Khan Sultan, World War II fighter pilot, twice Hero of the Soviet Union....

 serving the city of Makhachkala

Makhachkala

-Twin towns/sister cities:Makhachkala is twinned with: Sfax, Tunisia Siping, China Spokane, United States Vladikavkaz, Russia Yalova, Turkey Ndola, Zambia-See also:*...

 in Dagestan, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

.

One plane was landing with 31 soldiers on board, while the other plane, having unloaded all of its soldiers, was taxiing for take-off. The taxiing plane crossed the taxiway end-line but did not report its position to air traffic control (ATC). ATC gave permission to the approaching plane to land. Due to a sudden gust of wind, the landing plane deviated to the right and struck the taxiing plane's cockpit with its wing. Both planes caught fire. The airport was closed until the following morning.

Four crew members were killed in the taxiing plane, and one more was reported missing.