An Ilyushin 18A passenger plane, operated by Aeroflot’s Ural Division, was destroyed in a landing accident at Sverdlovsk-Koltsovo Airport (SVX), Russia. One pilot was killed. The other four survived with minor injuries. The airplane was being used for a crew training flight. Several approach and landings were flown at Sverdlovsk (now called Ekaterinburg). During the final stages if the fifth approach the angle of descent suddenly increased and the airplane touched down hard, nosewheel first. The Il-18 bounced to a height of 4-5 m and again touched down nosewheel first, causing the nose undercarriage leg to break. The airplane bounced to a height of 8-10 m and struck the runway again. The propellers contacted the runway surface and the airplane skidded to the side of the runway. A fire erupted. Investigation revealed that the captain showed a passive behaviour during the approach. The instructor had limited experience on the Il-18 and had long breaks in flying the plane. Also, rear cargo hold was loaded with a ballast weight of 600 kg instead of 1000 kg. This caused a centre of gravity on the forward limits.