Ilyushin II-62

The four engine airplane departed Moscow-Sheremetyevo Airport on a regular schedule service to Freetown with an intermediate stop in Dakar. After takeoff from runway 24R at Sheremetyevo Airport, while in initial climb, the crew raised the landing gear. Eight seconds later, the fire alarm for engine n°1 sounded. The crew shut down the engine in accordance with the Flight Manual and used the three stages of fire suppression systems. Thirty seconds later, the fire alarm coupled to the engine n°2 sounded as well. The same procedure was adopted for the second engine and the crew declared an emergency. At a speed of 320 km/h and a height of 160 meters with the undercarriage retracted and the flaps down at 30°, the pilot-in-command initiated a right turn. Unfortunately, he was unable to maintain a safe altitude and the airplane lost speed and height while in a high angle of attack. From a height of 75 meters, the airplane stalled, banked left to 70° then nosed down 20° and crashed in a wooded area located in Mendeleyevo, about 11,4 km northwest of the airport. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 90 occupants were killed.

The four engine airplane was completing flight LO007 from Montreal to Warsaw via New York-JFK. On final approach to Warsaw-Okecie Airport runway 15, the crew reported problems with the landing gears that seemed to be down but not locked. At a height of about 250 meters, the captain was cleared to initiate a go-around and increased engine power when the engine n°2 exploded, damaging the engine n°1. Debris damaged the rudder and elevator control cables, causing the aircraft to enter an uncontrolled descent. In a 20° nose-down attitude, the aircraft speed increased to 380 km/h when it crashed in an embankment located by the Okecie Fort, about 900 meters short of runway 15 threshold. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 87 occupants were killed. On board were 14 members of the US boxing team and 10 coaches as well as Anna Jantar, a Polish singer.

Following an uneventful flight from Lisbon, the crew started the descent to Havana-Jose Martí-Rancho Boyeros Airport and was cleared for an approach to runway 05. The crew encountered poor visibility due to foggy conditions and failed to realize his altitude was too low after he initiated the final approach too late, causing the aircraft to be 64 meters below the minimum descent altitude. The aircraft turned onto runway heading at a distance of 9 km from the runway threshold. According to the approach procedure, the aircraft should have done so at 14-15 km from the threshold. Despite he did not have the runway in sight, the captain decided to continue to descent until the aircraft passed below the decision height. At a distance of 1,820 meters from the runway threshold, the aircraft was approaching at a speed of 280 km/h and at a height of 23-25 meters when it struck power cables. Elevators separated and flaps on the right wing were torn off. The airplane then struck 22 palms, continued to descent until it crashed in flames 1,270 meters short of runway and 121 meters to the right of its extended centerline. Two passengers were seriously injured while 67 other occupants were killed.

While approaching Damascus International Airport by night and excellent weather conditions, the crew failed to realize his altitude was insufficient when the airplane struck the ground at an altitude of 605 meters AMSL and crashed in flames in a desert area located about 18 km from the airport. Rescue teams arrived on scene about 30 minutes later and two passengers, two Syrian citizens, were rescued. All 126 other occupants were killed, among them 67 Czechs, 55 Syrians, 3 Polish and one East-German. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were ideal with good visibility despite the night and a wind from 230° at 10 knots.

The airplane was completing a charter flight from Paris to Moscow with an intermediate stop in Leningrad. It departed Leningrad-Pulkovo Airport at 2059LT bound for Moscow. While descending from the north in marginal weather conditions at an altitude of 600 meters, the airplane entered an uncontrolled descent, nosed down then struck trees and crashed in flames in a wooded area located near Krasnaya Polyana, about 5 km north of Moscow-Sheremetyevo Airport. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and debris were found on an area of 550 meters long and 80 meters wide. None of the 174 survived the crash. Among the passengers were 128 Russians, 38 Chileans, six Algerians, one East-German and one Australian. Up to date, this was the worse plane crash in History.

The four engine aircraft departed Berlin-Schönefeld Airport at 1630LT on a charter flight to Burgas, carrying 148 passengers (144 East German citizens, three Austrians and one unknown nationality) and eight East-German crew members. Thirteen minutes later, while cruising at an altitude of 29,200 feet, the crew informed ATC about technical problems and was cleared to return to Berlin. The dumping fuel system was activated at 1651LT and three minutes later, as the situation worsened, the captain started an emergency descent. At 1659LT, he informed ATC that he was losing control of the airplane and declared a fire on board. Shortly later, the empennage detached and totally out of control, the airplane dove into the ground and crashed in flames in a wooded area located in Königs Wusterhausen, about 11 km southeast of Berlin-Schönefeld Airport. The aircraft was totally destroyed and none of the 156 occupants survived the crash. Up to date, this was the worst aircraft crash in the European History.

After landing on runway 36 at Cairo-Almaza Airport, the four engine airplane was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran, lost its undercarriage and came to rest. All 59 occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. It was determined that the crew was scheduled to land at Cairo International Airport runway 34 but following a poor flight preparation and several mistakes on approach, the crew descended to Almaza Airport instead of the international airport. At the time of the accident, the first portion of 650 meters of runway 34 at International Airport were closed to traffic due to repair. Thinking they were landing on the right airport, the crew landed at Almaza runway 36 700 meters past its threshold. In such conditions, the airplane was unable to stop within the remaining distance of runway 36 (1,890 meters), which is a relative short for such aircraft type.

The crew was engaged in a test flight from Moscow to Ashgabat with an intermediate stop at Tashkent Airport. The takeoff was attempted with a total weight near the MTOW. After liftoff, the airplane nosed up then lost speed and height. At a height of 4-5 meters, the airplane struck a concrete wall, stalled then crashed in flames. Ten crew members were killed while seven others were injured. The aircraft, first prototype built in 1962, was destroyed. It made its first successful test flight on January 2, 1963.