Following is a list of accidents and incidents Aeroflot experienced in the 1960s. The deadliest event the Soviet Union's flag carrier went through in the decade occurred in, when an Ilyushin Il-18V crashed upside down shortly after takeoff from Koltsovo Airport in Sverdlovsk, then located in the Russian SSR, killing all 107 occupants on board, prompting the temporary grounding of the type within the airline's fleet. In terms of fatalities, the accident ranks as the fifth worst involving an Il-18, .[1] Another aircraft of the type was involved in the second deadliest accident the airline experienced in the decade, this time in, when 87 people were killed when the aircraft struck a hillside on approach to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The decade was also marked by the only deadly accident experienced by a Tupolev Tu-114, which entered commercial service on the Moscow–Khabarovsk route in .[2]
The number of recorded fatalities aboard Aeroflot aircraft during the decade rose to 1801; likewise, 175 of its aircraft were written off in accidents or incidents, split into six Antonov An-10s, 13 Antonov An-12s, 54 Antonov An-2s, two Antonov An-6s, 8 Antonov An-24s, two Avia 14s, one Ilyushin Il-12, 22 Ilyushin Il-14s, 31 Ilyushin Il-18s, 12 Lisunov Li-2s, 14 Tupolev Tu-104s, two Tupolev Tu-114s, and five Tupolev Tu-124s. Most of the fatal accidents took place within the borders of the Soviet Union.
Certain Western media conjectured that the Soviet government was reluctant to publicly admit the occurrence of such events, which might render these figures higher, as fatal events would have only been admitted when there were foreigners aboard the crashed aircraft, the accident took place in a foreign country, or they reached the news for some reason. However, no significant amount of unreported serious accidents have emerged after the dissolution of the USSR, in any of its then-constituent republics.
| Date | Location | Aircraft | Tail number | Airline division | Aircraft damage | Fatalities | Description | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Didino | Li-2 | CCCP-19405 | Ural | W/O | /4 | The aircraft was being ferried from Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) to Moscow with a stop at Kazan. Thirty-two minutes after takeoff from Sverdlovsk, the pilot noticed that the aircraft begin turning to the right and also noticed that the pressure and revs in the right engine were dropping. After turning off the autopilot, the flight engineer reported that the right engine had failed. Despite the crew's efforts, the engine could not be restarted and the crew decided to return to Sverdlovsk and feathered the right propeller. The aircraft lost altitude during a left turn, and the crew began throwing cargo out of the aircraft in an attempt to slow its descent, but some of the larger cargo got stuck in the front door, worsening the aerodynamics but also causing a shift in the center of gravity. The aircraft was able to level out and continued flying, but the left engine began to overheat and later lost power, causing a loss of altitude. The aircraft slowly lost altitude until it struck trees and crashed. | ||
| Berezovo | An-2V | CCCP-01271 | Ural | W/O | The aircraft was refueled at Berezovo Airport with too much fuel. The aircraft took off overloaded with the fuel valve shut off, causing the engine to lose power and a loss of airspeed and altitude resulted. The confused pilots realized this, but too late, and mistook the loss of power for an engine failure. A forced landing was carried out. | |||
| Moma Airport | An-2T | CCCP-98332 | Yakut | W/O | /13 | On takeoff, the aircraft entered a steep climb with a loss of airspeed. At 20m (70feet) the aircraft entered a spiraling dive and crashed next to the runway. The aircraft was overloaded and the center of gravity was too far to the rear. | ||
| Lvov | An-10A | CCCP-11180 | Ukraine | W/O | /33 | Crashed on approach to Snilow Airport, ahead of the runway threshold, in icing conditions. It was completing a domestic scheduled Kiev–Lviv passenger service as Flight 315. | ||
| Koltsovo Airport | Il-18A | CCCP-75648 | Ural | W/O | /5 | The aircraft was being used for crew training, practicing approaches and landings. During the fifth approach, the rate of descent suddenly increased and the aircraft touched down hard, nosegear first after which it bounced and landed again nosegear first, breaking off the nosegear, bounced again and struck the runway, but the propellers had struck the runway. The aircraft skidded to the side of the runway and caught fire. The pilot showed a passive behavior during the approach and the instructor had little experience on the Il-18. The rear cargo hold was also loaded with too little ballast and this had moved the center of gravity too far forward. | ||
| Enken | Li-2 | CCCP-84609 | Far East | W/O | /5 | During a positioning flight from Nikolayevsk-on-Amure to Okhotsk, the aircraft encountered severe turbulence and snow. Ice formed on the wings and the aircraft lost speed and altitude until it struck the side of the 1207m (3,960feet) high Dzhugdzur ridge at 900m (3,000feet). | ||
| near Tkvarcheli | Il-14P | CCCP-91571 | North Caucasus | W/O | /31 | While en route to Tbilisi, the aircraft struck a mountain at 1200m (3,900feet) after the crew deviated north of the flight route by 17km (11miles). The aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled Rostov-Sochi-Kutaisi-Tbilisi passenger service as Flight 207. | ||
| Aldan | An-2 | CCCP-98282 | Yakut | W/O | /4 | During an aerial photography flight, the pilot realized the aircraft was going to hit a hill. He turned the aircraft to go around the hill, but too late, after which the aircraft clipped a tree with its left wing, hit a second tree with its right wing and crashed in taiga and caught fire. The next day, the two surviving crew left in different directions to seek help. The flight operator was able to walk to a helicopter landing site and was flown to a hospital in Aldan, but the navigator was never seen again; his body was found on 16 July in taiga some 4km (02miles) from the crash site. | ||
| Il-14M | CCCP-61696 | Komi | W/O | /23 | The aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled Leningrad–Syktyvkar passenger service as Flight 613 when it encountered heavy turbulence on its flight path and broke up, crashing off the destination city. | |||
| Minsk | Il-12P | CCCP-01405 | Ukraine | W/O | /28 | Crashed on takeoff from Minsk Airport. The aircraft failed to accelerate on the waterlogged grass runway and lifted off at too low a speed with a nose-high attitude. The aircraft bounced four times and then banked to the left, striking a power pole and a lamp post. Crashing into a motor depot, the aircraft struck several trucks and a fence and broke up. The aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled Leningrad-Minsk-Lviv passenger service as Flight 414. | ||
| Tarasovich | Il-18B | CCCP-75705 | 235 Sep. Aviation Detachment | W/O | /34 | En route to Moscow, the crew reported that the number four propeller was feathered and requested an emergency landing at Borispol Airport. Five minutes later the crew reported that the number four engine and right wing were on fire and requested an emergency descent. ATC offered a diversion to nearby Zhuliany Airport. Control was lost and the aircraft crashed in a forest in a nose down, right bank attitude. The aircraft was operating an international scheduled Cairo–Moscow passenger service as Flight 036. | ||
| Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Hijacking episode. | |||
| Il-14M | CCCP-04200 | Polar | W/O | /18 | The aircraft was operating a non-scheduled passenger service carrying researchers from Mys Schmidta back to Moscow, when it crashed into mountainous terrain in bad weather while en route from Arkhangelsk to Cherepovets, away from Zikhnovo. | |||
| Brest Airport | Il-14M | CCCP-41866 | Belarus | W/O | /27 | Crashed on landing at Brest Airport. After passing Kobrin the right engine began to run rough and emitted black smoke. The crew shut down the engine, feathered the propeller, and continued to Brest. Due to poor weather at Brest the crew began circling. Unbeknownst to the crew, the aircraft had deviated from the approach and ATC ordered the crew to perform a go-around. Instead of a go-around, the crew continued the approach. The flaps and landing gear were lowered. ATC ordered a missed approach, but the crew did not respond and landed at high speed. The aircraft overran the runway and destroyed the VHF direction finder booth. The aircraft struck a pond, breaking off the nose gear. On the opposite bank of the pond the right engine separated. The aircraft came to a stop on the opposite side with a destroyed cockpit. The aircraft was completing a Moscow-Mogilev-Minsk-Brest passenger service as Flight 607. | ||
| Ust-Orda | Tu-104A | CCCP-42452 | Far East | W/O | /68 | The aircraft was operating a scheduled Moscow-Omsk-Irkutsk-Khabarovsk passenger service as Flight 5. En route to Irkutsk, the aircraft diverted to Ust-Orda due to bad weather. The crew aborted the approach after the nose gear landing light malfunctioned. The pilot initiated a left turn to climb but the aircraft struck sloping terrain and caught fire. | ||
| Penza | Avia 14P | CCCP-52025 | Privolzhsk | W/O | /5 | Crashed shortly after takeoff from Penza Airport. Despite worsening weather, including icing conditions, the aircraft took off. Ice formed on the wings and propellers. Both engines failed and the aircraft began to lose altitude until it struck a ravine with the left and then the right engine. The aircraft crashed in a plowed field and was destroyed by fire. The aircraft was operating a Leningrad-Penza-Saratov cargo service as Flight 534. | ||
| Zyryanka Airport | Li-2 | CCCP-84748 | Magadan | W/O | /6 | The aircraft took off from Zyryanka Airport despite a snow-covered runway. After a long takeoff run the aircraft achieved a nose-high attitude, stalled, and bounced on the runway several times, catching fire in the process, after which it continued to fly until it banked left and crashed in a snow-covered field 440m (1,440feet) past the runway. The aircraft was operating a Magadan–Seymchan–Zyryanka–Nizhny Kresty–Bilibino–Pevek cargo service as Flight 213. | [3] | |
| Leningrad Region | Il-14FK | CCCP-91610 | Northern | W/O | /9 | During a training flight, the instructor simulated a right engine failure while flying between two layers of cloud. The crew became disorientated and the aircraft entered a dive. The aircraft came out of the clouds at 200m (700feet), too low to allow recovery from the dive, and it crashed on a bank of a stream near Dachnoe. | ||
| Chernovo | Il-14M | CCCP-52091 | Komi | W/O | /14 | Experienced a fire in the starboard engine while en route a domestic scheduled Syktyvkar–Moscow passenger service as Flight 61. This situation prompted the flightcrew to initiate a descent for an emergency landing, in which the wing broke off. The aircraft crashed near Chernovo. | ||
| Semipalatinsk | An-2T | CCCP-33181 | Kazakhstan | W/O | /12 | The aircraft was operating a Semipalantinsk–Abai passenger service. Several passengers moved to the rear of the aircraft, causing the center of gravity to move past limits. The aircraft lost airspeed, stalled at 500m (1,600feet) and crashed. | ||
| Yamburg Airport | An-2T | CCCP-01245 | Ural | W/O | /3 | Crashed on takeoff. The aircraft took off from a frozen river in strong crosswinds and an iced over upper wing leading edge. When the pilot forced the aircraft to lift off at low speed, the aircraft banked and turned to the left, striking the river bank and nosing over. Due to begin a Yamburg-Tazovsky cargo service. | ||
| Ulyanovsk Airport | Il-18A | CCCP-75651 | Ulyanovsk Flight School | W/O | /17 | The aircraft was approaching Ulyanovsk when it suddenly nosed down at 120m-150mm (390feet-490feetm) after the crew selected 40 degrees of flaps due to tailplane icing, after which the aircraft crashed in a plowed field and caught fire. Test flights later showed that the Il-18 was vulnerable in icing conditions. | ||
| Santash Pass | An-2SKh | CCCP-25482 | Kyrgyzstan | W/O | /9 | At Przhevalsk Airport, seven passengers boarded the aircraft. After passing the Santash Pass, the weather worsened and visibility dropped below minimum. The pilot descended below the clouds without ATC permission and the aircraft later struck a snow-covered hill. | [4] | |
| Pervoye Maya | Li-2 | CCCP-84694 | North Caucasus | W/O | /5 | During an atmospheric sounding flight, the inexperienced pilot allowed a loss of airspeed at 5200m (17,100feet). The aircraft stalled and entered a nosedive. The pilot attempted to regain control, but he could not and the aircraft crashed. | [5] | |
| Dnepropetrovsk Airport | Avia 14P | CCCP-61610 | Ukraine | W/O | /34 | Crashed 150m (490feet) short of the runway on final approach following a premature descent. The aircraft was operating a Lugansk-Stalino (now Donetsk)-Dnepropetrovsk (now Dnipro)-Kiev domestic scheduled passenger service as Flight 95. | ||
| Stalingrad | Il-14M | CCCP-41858 | North Caucasus | W/O | /4 | During a training flight out of Stalingrad, the check pilot simulated an engine failure shortly after takeoff without informing the rest of the crew, which was against procedure. The pilot mistook the loss of power for an actual engine failure and ordered the engine shut down and its propeller feathered. The aircraft banked left, stalled and crashed. | [6] | |
| Vladivostok Airport | Tu-104A | CCCP-42357 | MUTA | W/O | /58 | The aircraft was completing a Moscow–Khabarovsk–Vladivostok passenger service as Flight 01. While on approach to Vladivostok, the aircraft was too high. The right engine was shut down, unbeknownst to the crew. The pilot increased the angle of descent and the aircraft touched down too late and too fast. The brakes were ineffective due to the high speed and the brakes were applied, but the pilot did not use much braking to avoid tire blowouts. The pilot then began turning and ran off the runway and the left engine was shut down. The aircraft struck two trucks before crashing into a ditch. | ||
| Sverdlovsk | Tu-104B | CCCP-42438 | West Siberia | W/O | /51 | The aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled Khabarovsk-Sverdlovsk-Leningrad passenger service as Flight 068. The right engine failed shortly after takeoff. The crew were unable to determine which engine failed because they could not read the instruments due to severe vibration. A crew member manipulated the left engine throttle to attempt to hear the difference in engine power to determine which engine had failed, but the engine was shut down by mistake. The aircraft lost altitude and the crew made a forced landing on a frozen pond. Two people on the ground died when a home was destroyed. | ||
| Ufa | Li-2 | CCCP-54783 | Privolzhsk | W/O | /4 | The aircraft took off from Ufa in poor weather and failed to gain sufficient speed. Despite this, the pilot rotated the aircraft, but it pitched up, causing a tail strike. After bouncing several times, the aircraft crash landed and overran the runway. The wings and tail were covered in snow. Due to begin the second leg of a Kazan–Ufa–Chelyabinsk–Omsk–Novosibirsk–Tomsk cargo service as Flight 747. | [7] | |
| Dovyren | An-2T | CCCP-01248 | Arkhangelsk | W/O | /2 | The aircraft was beginning a Nizhneangarsk-Dovyren-Irkana-Nizhneangarsk cargo service, carrying six diesel drums. Twelve minutes after takeoff, the crew radioed that they were climbing to 1200m (3,900feet) in good weather. Ten minutes later the aircraft crashed in a mountainous area near Dovyren; wreckage was found the next day. A propeller blade had broken off due to a manufacturing defect and hit and broke the windshield. The crew could not make an emergency landing due to the terrain. | [8] | |
| Novoye Akhperdino | An-2T | CCCP-47614 | Privolzhsk | W/O | /2 | The aircraft was spraying crops. After three flights, the pilot was flying at 10m (30feet) following a 500m (1,600feet) straight-in path when the aircraft banked left and crashed. | [9] | |
| Stepanavan | An-2T | CCCP-98247 | Armenia | W/O | /19 | The aircraft was operating a Yerevan-Stepanavan passenger service. Weather during the first part of the flight was poor and marginal, with rain and clouds. During a left turn the aircraft struck the side of a mountain 10km (10miles) southwest of Stepanavan Airport. The aircraft was reportedly overloaded: the An-2 was designed for 12 passengers, not 17. | [10] | |
| Chita | Il-14G | CCCP-61732 | East Siberia | W/O | /5 | THe aircraft was operating a Irkutsk–Chita–Khabarovsk cargo service. During the approach to Chita, the aircraft was too low and struck trees and crashed on the side of Mount Cherskogo (11km (07miles) short of the runway). The crew had begun descending too soon. | [11] | |
| Bogoroditsk | Il-18B | CCCP-75672 | MUTA | W/O | /97 | Belly landed in a field following a fire in the inner starboard engine that was not extinguished. The aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled Moscow-Sochi service. | ||
| Sosnovy Bor | Il-14P | CCCP-41848 | Ukraine | W/O | /26 | Crashed due to fuel exhaustion after the crew failed to refuel before takeoff. The aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled Kazan-Sverdlovsk passenger service as Flight 411. | ||
| Odesa | Tu-104B | CCCP-42447 | Northern | W/O | /94 | Encountered downdrafts and struck approach lights on final approach to Odesa Airport in heavy rain. The aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled Leningrad-Odessa passenger service as Flight 381. | ||
| Riga | Il-18B | CCCP-75653 | Ulyanovsk Flight School | W/O | /8 | Overshot the runway on landing at Riga International Airport in fog. | ||
| Tashkent | Tu-104A | CCCP-42388 | Uzbekistan | W/O | Hard landing at Tashkent Airport. | |||
| Oymyakon | Li-2 | CCCP-16154 | Yakut | W/O | /6 | Crashed away from Oymyakon after running out of fuel. The aircraft was operating a Yakutsk-Oymyakon cargo service. | ||
| Yakutsk Airport | Li-2 | CCCP-63857 | East Siberia | W/O | Struck in the tail by Li-2T CCCP-71199 that had veered off the runway; CCCP-63857 was written off. | |||
| Smorodinny | Il-14M | CCCP-61712 | Yakut | W/O | /5 | The aircraft was operating a Yakutsk–Sangar cargo service. The crew mistook the lights of Smorodinny for the lights of the destination city during a blackout. It descended until, where it crashed into mountainous terrain. | ||
| Vladivostok | Tu-104B | CCCP-42504 | Far East | W/O | Made an emergency landing following an engine failure after hitting an antenna on approach to Vladivostok Airport. | |||
| Chebotovka | Il-18B | CCCP-75654 | MUTA | W/O | /59 | Crashed off Chebotovka, after the flight engineer inadvertently modified the position of the flaps at a cruising altitude of, causing the aircraft to dive uncontrollably. The aircraft was en route a domestic scheduled Moscow–Sochi passenger service as Flight 245. | ||
| Il-18V | CCCP-75757 | Armenia | W/O | /119 | The aircraft was operating a non-scheduled Tbilisi-Mineralnye Vody passenger service. It was one of two Il-18s chartered to pick up passengers in Tbilisi who had been stranded for several days due to bad weather. The boarding process was chaotic and disorganized, with tickets not being checked. The aircraft was also overloaded. Despite all this, the flight was without incident. While on approach at 250m (820feet), the crew reported that they did not see the runway or approach lights. The pilot aborted the approach and made a go-around. The aircraft turned to the right and crashed in hilly terrain. | |||
| Ulyanovsk | An-2T | CCCP-23721 | Magadan | W/O | /6 | The aircraft was operating a Egvekinot-Anadyr mail flight. On approach to Anadyr, weather conditions were poor with low visibility due to clouds. During the final segment, the pilot noticed a man walking on the runway and began a right turn to avoid him. The aircraft stalled and crashed. The man was sent to light a fire to guide the aircraft on approach. | [12] |