Aeroflot Flight 1912

1971 aviation accident in the Soviet Union

52°16′10″N 104°22′55″E / 52.26944°N 104.38194°E / 52.26944; 104.38194AircraftAircraft typeTupolev Tu-104BOperatorAeroflotRegistrationСССР-42405Flight originOdesa International Airport1st stopoverKiev (Kyiv)2nd stopoverChelyabinsk Airport3rd stopoverTolmachevo Airport4th stopoverIrkutsk AirportLast stopoverKhabarovsk Novy AirportDestinationKnevichi Airport, VladivostokPassengers118Crew8Fatalities97Survivors29

Aeroflot Flight 1912 (Russian: Рейс 1912 Аэрофлота Reys 1912 Aeroflota) was a scheduled domestic Aeroflot passenger flight on the Odessa-Kiev (Kyiv)-Chelyabinsk-Novosibirsk-Irkutsk-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok route that crashed on 25 July 1971, making a hard landing at Irkutsk Airport. It touched down 150 metres (490 ft) short of the runway, breaking the left wing and catching fire.^[1] Of the 126 people on board the aircraft, 29 survived.^[2]^[3]

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was a Tupolev Tu-104B, registered СССР-42405 to the West Siberia Civil Aviation Directorate, a division of Aeroflot. At the time of the accident, the aircraft operated 19,489 flight hours and sustained 9,929 pressurization cycles.^[1]^[4]

Crew

The crew of the fatal flight took over in Novosibirsk. A total of eight crew members were aboard the flight, of which five were from the cockpit crew.

The cockpit crew consisted of:^[3]

A. V. Ovchinnikov serving as pilot in command
A. A. Pinchuk serving as co-pilot
G.P. Guslyakov serving as flight engineer
I. V. Shchepkin serving as navigator
V. I. Bolotin serving as radio operator

Flight attendants G. K. Eselevich, L. B. Shokina and A. N. Sorokin served as the cabin crew.^[3]

Synopsis

The Odessa-Kyiv-Chelyabinsk-Novosibirsk part of the route was carried out by a different aircraft, Tu-104B registered СССР-42402; as well as a different crew. At the stopover in Novosibirsk at Tolmachevo Airport, a new crew and aircraft took on the route. At 04:34 local time (01:34 Moscow time) the airliner departed Novosibirsk for Irkutsk. After takeoff the flight maintained an altitude of 10,000 metres (33,000 ft).^[1]

In Irkutsk, the sky was completely covered with stratus clouds with a ceiling of 150 metres (490 ft), mild north-easterly winds were present, and visibility was at 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). The crew was instructed to proceed on the final approach on a bearing of 116°. At 08:10 local time (03:10 Moscow time) the air traffic controller gave flight 1912 permission to begin descent. At 08:29:35 the crew received a landing instructions and permission to descend to an altitude of 400 metres (1,300 ft). The flight crew responded that they heard the information and would begin approach with the ILS. In response, the air traffic controller reported weather conditions to the flight. At 08:31:52 the flight was on approach 17 kilometres (11 mi; 9.2 nmi) from the runway. At first, the aircraft stayed on the correct trajectory; but when the aircraft was eight kilometres (5.0 mi; 4.3 nmi) from the runway, the air traffic controller warned the flight that it was straying to the left. At 08:33:45 local time, when the flight was just seven kilometres (4.3 mi; 3.8 nmi) from the runway, the air traffic controller warned that they were close to missing the glide slope. In response, the flight crew notified the controller that the landing gear had been released and they were ready to land.^[1]

At 08:33:58 received permission to land; the crew confirmed they received the information. At 08:34:18 the crew reported they were near the non-directional beacon. The controller again warned the flight of the slight deviation to the left. The recommended instrument approach speed for the Tu-104 is 300 km/h (160 kn; 190 mph), but it is very likely that the aircraft's instruments overstated the speed, causing the misinformed crew to try to reduce speed. In reality, the aircraft's speed was around 270–275 km/h (146–148 kn; 168–171 mph), causing a left bank and a lateral deviation of 30 metres (98 ft). At 08:34:47 the aircraft passed the non-directional beacon at an altitude of 85 metres (279 ft).^[1]

Due to flying 25–30 km/h (13–16 kn; 16–19 mph) less than the recommended speed, the aircraft reached a critical angle of attack. At 08:35:00 with a vertical speed of approximately 8–10 m/s (26–33 ft/s), the Tu-104 hit the right landing gear on the runway 154 metres (505 ft) from the base of the runway; milliseconds later the left landing gear, then the front gear, stuck the runway. Shortly thereafter the left wing of the plane broke, fuel leaking from the broken left tanks ignited. The plane skidded on the runway, causing the fuselage to break into pieces. The wreckage of the plane was strewn over an area of 500 metres (1,600 ft; 550 yd). 97 people perished in the crash; the captain, the co-pilot, the flight engineer, a flight attendant, as well as 73 adult passengers and 20 children. 36 of the deaths were from carbon monoxide poisoning.^[1]

Causes

The flight was on an approach speed far below the recommended parameters. The instruments most likely gave inaccurate readings, causing the crew to reduce speed before touching the runway led to a hard landing. Examination of the airspeed indicators showed that the indicators themselves were functional, but flight tests showed that changes in cabin pressure affected the pressure in the full-pressure pipeline of the speed indicator used by the co-pilot and the navigator; resulting in an overstatement of the speed ranging from 17 to 80 km/h (9.2 to 43.2 kn; 11 to 50 mph). While simulating the flight to determine the cause of the erroneous indications, the depressurization happened approximately three minutes after turning off the cabin pressurization. The probability of such events occurring during descent was supposed to be 0.000001%.^[1]

The investigation cited the three primary causes of the accident as follows:

The lack of objective airspeed reading available to the crew on approach due to mechanical errors upon depressurization of the cabin when reaching a low altitude.

Flying at too slow a speed at a dangerous rate of climb, 25–35 km/h (13–19 kn; 16–22 mph) below the recommended parameters, which, with insufficient forward speed, led to the impossibility of performing a normal leveling and a rough blow to the runway surface, exceeding the design load and destroying the aircraft.

The erroneous actions by the crew were flying at too slow a speed while landing in difficult conditions with not enough time or altitude to solve the issue.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Катастрофа Ту-104Б Толмачевского ОАО в а/п Иркутск". www.airdisaster.ru. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 104B СССР-42405 Irkutsk Airport (IKT)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Plane crash of Tu-104B to Irkutsk airport. 1971". en.avia.pro. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
^ "Туполев Ту-104Б Бортовой №: СССР-42405". russianplanes.net. Retrieved 2017-04-09.

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 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 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 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 1971 (1971)
Jan 7 B-52C Lake Michigan crash Jan 18 Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 130 Jan 22 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash Jan 30 Indian Airlines hijacking Jan 31 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash Mar 31 Aeroflot Flight 1969 May 23 Aviogenex Flight 130 May 28 Colorado Aviation Aero Commander 680 Jun 6 Hughes Airwest Flight 706 Jun 7 Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 Jul 3 Toa Domestic Airlines Flight 63 Jul 25 Aeroflot Flight 1912 Jul 30 All Nippon Airways Flight 58 Jul 30 Pan Am Flight 845 Aug 28 Malév Flight 731 Sep 4 Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 Sep 6 Paninternational Flight 112 Sep 13 Lin Biao incident Sep 16 Malév Flight 110 Oct 2 British European Airways Flight 706 Oct 10 Aeroflot Flight 773 Nov 9 Aeroflot Flight N-63 Nov 9 Livorno RAF Hercules crash Nov 10 Indian Ocean Vickers Viscount crash Nov 20 China Airlines Flight 825 Nov 24 D. B. Cooper hijacking Dec 1 Aeroflot Flight 2174 Dec 2 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 712 Dec 24 LANSA Flight 508
1970 ◄ ► 1972

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1971 (1971)

Jan 7

B-52C Lake Michigan crash

Jan 18

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 130

Jan 22

Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash

Jan 30

Indian Airlines hijacking

Jan 31

Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash

Mar 31

Aeroflot Flight 1969

May 23

Aviogenex Flight 130

May 28

Colorado Aviation Aero Commander 680

Jun 6

Hughes Airwest Flight 706

Jun 7

Allegheny Airlines Flight 485

Jul 3

Toa Domestic Airlines Flight 63

Jul 25

Aeroflot Flight 1912

Jul 30

All Nippon Airways Flight 58

Jul 30

Pan Am Flight 845

Aug 28

Malév Flight 731

Sep 4

Alaska Airlines Flight 1866

Sep 6

Paninternational Flight 112

Sep 13

Lin Biao incident

Sep 16

Malév Flight 110

Oct 2

British European Airways Flight 706

Oct 10

Aeroflot Flight 773

Nov 9

Aeroflot Flight N-63

Nov 9

Livorno RAF Hercules crash

Nov 10

Indian Ocean Vickers Viscount crash

Nov 20

China Airlines Flight 825

Nov 24

D. B. Cooper hijacking

Dec 1

Aeroflot Flight 2174

Dec 2

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 712

Dec 24

LANSA Flight 508

1970 ◄ ► 1972

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