Aeroflot Flight 7957, an Antonov An-24RV and Aeroflot Flight 31, a Yakovlev 40, crashed following a mid-air collision over the Black Sea. All 52 on board the An-24 and all 18 occupants of the Yak-40 were killed. The An-24 (CCCP-46518) operated on a flight from Gomel to Donetsk and Sochi and took off at Donetsk Airport at 12:56 hours local time. The Yak-40 (CCCP-87772) took off from Rostov at 12:47, bound for Kerch. Both aircraft were en route at an altitude of 5700 meters. At 13:47 hours, the An-24 was in contact with the controller of the Western sector of the Krasnodar ARTCC. The flight was cleared to turn left onto the airway in the direction of Sochi. At the same time, the Yak-40 was approaching on the same airway, at the same altitude, in the opposite direction. The Yakovlev collided head-on with the Antonov The wreckage of both aircraft sank in in the water of the Black Sea, 1500-1600 feet deep. PROBABLE CAUSE: Violation of separation rules. Contributing causes were insufficient visual alertness on the part of both crews and a lack of ‘situation analysis’ based on air/ground radio communications.