Aeroflot Flight 15

1968 aviation accident

Aeroflot Flight 15
Accident
An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-18D, similar to the one involved in the accident.
Date	29 February 1968
Summary	Loss of control
Site	Parchum, Chunsky District, Irkutsk Oblast
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Ilyushin Il-18D
Operator	Aeroflot
Registration	CCCP-74252
Flight origin	Domodedovo International Airport
Stopover	Yemelyanovo International Airport
Destination	Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport
Occupants	84
Passengers	75
Crew	9
Fatalities	83
Injuries	1
Survivors	1

Aeroflot Flight 15 (Russian: Рейс 15 Аэрофлота Reys 15 Aeroflota) was a passenger flight from Moscow-Domodedovo Airport to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport with a stopover at Yemelyanovo Airport that crashed on 29 February 1968 en route to Petropavlovsk. All but one aboard the aircraft were killed in the crash.^[1]

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was an Ilyushin Il-18D registered CCCP-74252 to the Aeroflot Far East Civil Aviation Directorate. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had 342 flight hours and 89 pressurization cycles.^[2]

Crew

The cockpit crew consisted of:^[3]

Captain Eugene A. Berezhnov
Co-Pilot Vladimir Makarov
Navigator Benedict E. Dernov
Flight Engineer Nikolai Vasilyes
Radio operator Ivan M. Pashchenko

Flight attendants Lyubov Semenovna Martynenko, Galina Lobanova, Hope Gavrilovna Kucheryavaya, and Alla G. Vnukovo served as cabin crew.

Accident

The flight successfully completed the Moscow-Yemelyanovo part of the route. At 22:03 (17:03 Moscow time), the Il-18 took off from Yemelyanovo with 64 adults and 11 children as passengers; two passengers were not registered. After completing takeoff the flight maintained an altitude of 8,000 meters. At 22:37 local time (17:37 Moscow time) the flight crew switched communications to Bratsk air traffic control. Weather conditions were reported to be normal at the time. The aircraft was established to be at a distance of 234 kilometers from the airport at a bearing of 270° degrees. The crew confirmed receiving the information, stating that they were at an altitude of 8,000 meters and flying at 780 km/h, and expected to fly past Bratsk airport at Bratsk 18:06.^[4]

At 18:38:38, the airliner was forced into sudden descent. The situation onboard evolved into a full-blown emergency at 22:41:28. When the flight was at an altitude of 3000 meters, air traffic controllers detected a short unintelligible transmission at 22:43:12 from the flight, determined by investigators to be most likely about the state of the aircraft. The crew unintentionally pitched the aircraft further down to the point of overspeed while trying to correct the pitch of the aircraft. The "fasten seat belt" sign was turned on and at one point the airliner was inverted. At an altitude of 1000 meters and at a speed of 890 km/h, the airliner began to break apart, and at 17:43:47 the airliner crashed 13 kilometers away from Parchum and 165 kilometers west of Bratsk airport into the taiga. The only survivor was a young soldier found alive but injured at the crash site.^[4]

Causes

The investigation hypothesized that an emergency onboard caused the crew to descend, and in doing so control of the aircraft was lost when engine number three did not perform as expected. Examination of the left wing showed evidence of a fuel leak, which was presumed to have caused an onboard fire; that part of the wing was not equipped with fire detection or fire extinguishing systems. However, the commission responsible for the investigation later rejected the claim of an in-flight fire in the left wing caused by a leak, stating that the exact cause of the emergency is unknown.

References

^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin 18D CCCP-74252 Parchum, Chunsky District, Irkutsk Region". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
^ "✈ russianplanes.net ✈ наша авиация". russianplanes.net. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
^ "Plane crash IL-18D in the district of Bratsk. 1968". en.avia.pro. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
^ ^a ^b "Катастрофа Ил-18Д Дальневосточного УГА в р-не Братска (борт CCCP-74252), 29 февраля 1968 года. // AirDisaster.ru - авиационные происшествия, инциденты и авиакатастрофы в СССР и России - факты, история, статистика". www.airdisaster.ru. Retrieved 2017-07-12.

Aeroflot

Part of the SkyTeam alliance

Subsidiaries

Active	Pobeda Rossiya
Inactive	Dobrolet Donavia Orenair SAT Airlines Vladivostok Air
Exited	Aurora Nordavia (now Smartavia)

Fleet

Accidents and
incidents

1950s	Flight 31 (1955) 1957 Kiev mid-air collision Flight 04 Тu-104 Kanash crash Flight 120 Flight 200 Flight 315
1960s	Flight 315 Flight 207 Flight 036 Flight 068 Flight 245 Flight 902 Flight 415 Flight 03 Flight 213 Flight 191 Flight 25 Flight 012 Flight 366 Flight 663 Flight 721 Flight 101/X-20 Flight 542 Flight 513 Flight 99 Flight 065 Flight 2723 Flight 5003 Flight 2230 Flight L-51 Flight 1668 Flight 15 Flight 831 Flight N-826
1970s	Flight U-45 Flight 1661 Flight 3630 CCCP-11000 crash CCCP-12996 crash Flight 1969 Flight 1912 Flight 773 Flight 2174 Flight 1491 Flight 558 Flight 1036 Flight 217 Flight 6263 Flight 141 Flight 630 Flight 6551 Flight 109 Flight A-13 Flight 3932 Flight 964 Flight 19 Flight 2022 CCCP-75559 crash Flight 662 Flight 2003 Flight 3739 Flight 909 Flight 1802 Flight 418 Flights 7957 and 31 (1976) Flight 2415 Flight N-36 Flight 3843 Flight 5003 Flight 331 Flight B-2 Flight 6709 Flight 1080 Flight 1691 Flights 7628 and 7880 Flight 5484
1980s	Flight 4225 Flight 498 Flight 811 Flight 3603 Flight 8641 Flight 411 Flight 343 Flight 5463 Flight 601 Flight 3352 Flight 3519 Flight 7841 1985 Zolochiv mid-air collision Flight 5143 Flight 101/435 Flight 2306 Flight 6502 Flight 892 Flight U-505 Flight N-528 Flight 699 Flight 3739
since 1990s	CCCP-46472 crash Flight 2808 Flight 593 Flight 521 Flight 821 Flight 1492

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1968 (1968)
Jan 6 Aeroflot Flight 1668 Jan 21 Thule Air Base B-52 crash Feb 7 Indian Air Force An-12 crash Feb 16 Civil Air Transport Flight 10 Feb 29 Aeroflot Flight 15 Mar 6 Air France Flight 212 Mar 24 Aer Lingus Flight 712 Mar 27 Yuri Gagarin's MiG-15 crash Mar 27 Ozark Air Lines Flight 965 Apr 5 Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge incident Apr 8 BOAC Flight 712 Apr 20 South African Airways Flight 228 May 3 Braniff Flight 352 May 12 Kham Duc C-130 shootdown May 22 Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 May 28 Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892 Jul 1 Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A Jul 3 BKS Air Transport Flight C.6845 Jul 23 El Al Flight 426 hijacking Aug 14 Los Angeles Airways Flight 417 Sep 11 Air France Flight 1611 Oct 25 Northeast Airlines Flight 946 Nov 22 Japan Air Lines Flight 2 Nov 24 Pan Am Flight 281 Dec 2 Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 Dec 12 Pan Am Flight 217 Dec 24 Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 Dec 26 El Al Flight 253 Dec 26 Pan Am Flight 799 Dec 27 North Central Airlines Flight 458 Dec 27 Ozark Air Lines Flight 982 Dec 31 MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750
1967 ◄ ► 1969

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1968 (1968)

Jan 6

Aeroflot Flight 1668

Jan 21

Thule Air Base B-52 crash

Feb 7

Indian Air Force An-12 crash

Feb 16

Civil Air Transport Flight 10

Feb 29

Aeroflot Flight 15

Mar 6

Air France Flight 212

Mar 24

Aer Lingus Flight 712

Mar 27

Yuri Gagarin's MiG-15 crash

Mar 27

Ozark Air Lines Flight 965

Apr 5

Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge incident

Apr 8

BOAC Flight 712

Apr 20

South African Airways Flight 228

May 3

Braniff Flight 352

May 12

Kham Duc C-130 shootdown

May 22

Los Angeles Airways Flight 841

May 28

Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892

Jul 1

Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A

Jul 3

BKS Air Transport Flight C.6845

Jul 23

El Al Flight 426 hijacking

Aug 14

Los Angeles Airways Flight 417

Sep 11

Air France Flight 1611

Oct 25

Northeast Airlines Flight 946

Nov 22

Japan Air Lines Flight 2

Nov 24

Pan Am Flight 281

Dec 2

Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55

Dec 12

Pan Am Flight 217

Dec 24

Allegheny Airlines Flight 736

Dec 26

El Al Flight 253

Dec 26

Pan Am Flight 799

Dec 27

North Central Airlines Flight 458

Dec 27

Ozark Air Lines Flight 982

Dec 31

MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750

1967 ◄ ► 1969

Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union

1930s	Osoaviakhim-1 SSSR-V6 Osoaviakhim
1940s	1948 Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-12 crash
1950s	1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash LOT Polish Airlines Flight 232 1957 Kiev mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 04 1958 Aeroflot Tu-104 Kanash crash Aeroflot Flight 315 (1959) Aeroflot Flight 120 Aeroflot Flight 200
1960s	Aeroflot Flight 315 (1960) U-2 incident Aeroflot Flight 207 RB-47 shootdown incident Aeroflot Flight 036 Austrian Airlines Flight 901 Aeroflot Flight 068 Aeroflot Flight 245 Aeroflot Flight 902 Aeroflot Flight 415 Aeroflot Flight 213 (1962) Aeroflot Flight 191 Aeroflot Flight 03 Aeroflot Flight 25 Aeroflot Flight 012 Aeroflot Flight 366 Aeroflot Flight 663 Aeroflot Flight 721 Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20 Aeroflot Flight 542 Aeroflot Flight 513 Aeroflot Flight 99 Aeroflot Flight 065 Aeroflot Flight 2723 Aeroflot Flight 5003 (1967) Aeroflot Flight 2230 Aeroflot Flight L-51 Aeroflot Flight 15 Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A 1969 Yukhnov mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight N-826
1970s	Aeroflot Flight U-45 Aeroflot Flight 1661 Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair Aeroflot Flight 3630 Aeroflot Flight 244 22 January 1971 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash 31 January 1971 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash Aeroflot Flight 1969 Aeroflot Flight 1912 Malév Flight 110 Aeroflot Flight 773 Aeroflot Flight N-63 Aeroflot Flight 2174 Aeroflot Flight 1491 Aeroflot Flight 558 Aeroflot Flight 1036 Aeroflot Flight 217 Japan Air Lines Flight 446 Aeroflot Flight 6263 Aeroflot Flight 141 Aeroflot Flight 630 Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307 Aeroflot Flight 6551 Aeroflot Flight 109 Aeroflot Flight A-13 Aeroflot Flight 3932 Aeroflot Flight 964 Aeroflot Flight 19 Aeroflot Flight 2022 1974 Leningrad Aeroflot Il-18 crash 1974 Surgut mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 2003 Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1976) Aeroflot Flight 909 Aeroflot Flight 1802 Aeroflot Flight A-53 Aeroflot Flight 418 1976 Anapa mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 2415 Aeroflot Flight N-36 Aeroflot Flight 3843 Aeroflot Flight 5003 (1977) 1977 Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134 hijacking Aeroflot Flight B-2 Aeroflot Flight 6709 Korean Air Lines Flight 902 1978 Yegoryevsk Tu-144 crash Iranian Chinook shootdown Aeroflot Flight 1080 Aeroflot Flight 1691 1979 Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 5484
1980s– Dec. 1991	Aeroflot Flight 4225 1981 Pushkin Tu-104 crash Aeroflot Flight 498 1981 Armenia mid-air collision 1981 Zheleznogorsk mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 811 Aeroflot Flight 3603 Aeroflot Flight 8641 Aeroflot Flight 411 Aeroflot Flight 5463 Korean Air Lines Flight 007 Aeroflot Flight 601 Aeroflot Flight 3352 Aeroflot Flight 3519 Aeroflot Flight 7841 1985 Zolochiv mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 5143 Aeroflot Flight 101/435 Aeroflot Flight 2306 Aeroflot Flight 6502 Aeroflot Flight U-505 Aeroflot Flight N-528 Aeroflot Flight 699 Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1988) 1988 Soviet Air Force Il-76 crash An-24 crash in Navoiy Aeroflot Flight 8556