Occurrence Type: | Accident |
Summary: | Stalled due to manufacturing error |
Site: | Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt |
Coordinates: | 30.102°N 31.404°W |
Aircraft Type: | Tupolev Tu-154 |
Aircraft Name: | Nefertiti |
Operator: | EgyptAir |
Tail Number: | SU-AXB |
Origin: | Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt |
Destination: | Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt (return flight) |
Passengers: | 0 |
Crew: | 6 |
Fatalities: | 6 |
Survivors: | 0 |
The 1974 EgyptAir Tupolev Tu-154 crash occurred on 10 July 1974, when an EgyptAir Tupolev-Tu-154 aircraft crashed during a training flight near Cairo International Airport. This resulted in the deaths of all six crew members on board.
The aircraft was a brand-new Tupolev Tu-154, with serial number 74A-048 and manufacturing number 00-48. It was built at the Aviakor аviation plant. It was the first Tupolev Tu-154 delivered to EgyptAir, on 1 December 1973 and was named Nefertiti after the wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten.[1] [2]
The aircraft was performing a training flight at Cairo International Airport carrying a crew of six; two EgyptAir pilots and four Soviet instructors.[3] After three hours and 14 minutes, the aircraft performed a touch-and-go landing on the runway known as Runway 23. during the maneuver, the aircraft pitched-up before entering a stall. This caused the aircraft to crash into the ground at 17:30 local time. All six occupants perished.[4] [5] [6]
Investigators determined that the pilot flying had applied too many pitch-up inputs, as well as incorrect center of gravity calculations. The shifting ballasts during the flight were also contributing factors.
The following year, in 1975, EgyptAir returned its remaining Tupolev Tu-154s to the Soviet Union. In the same year, during the production of the Tu-154B, systems for flap resynchronization and the rearrangement of stabilizers were installed to prevent any similar incidents.[7]