Crash of a Tupolev TU-104A near Kanash: 80 killed
Date & Time:
Oct 17, 1958 at 2130 LT
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-42362
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Beijing – Omsk – Moscow
MSN:
8 66 010 02
YOM:
1958
Crew on board:
9
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
71
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
80
Aircraft flight hours:
465
Circumstances:
While cruising at an altitude of 11,000 meters on a flight from Omsk to Moscow, the crew was informed by ATC that the route to Vnukovo was closed due to weather deterioration and was instructed to divert to Sverdlovsk and to reduce his altitude to 10,000 meters. Two minutes later, the pilot sent a mayday message, reporting he was losing control of the airplane that entered a dive. By an angle of 80°, the airplane struck the ground and crashed in a field located along a railroad track near Kanash. The aircraft totally disintegrated on impact and all 80 occupants were killed, among them several foreign citizens such as three Sudanese, one Cambodian (Cambodian ambassador in China), eight Czech, three Romanian, one Polish, five East-German, five Hungarian, three Moroccan, two British, five French, one Iraqi and one Laotian.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the loss of control was caused by severe downdrafts, updrafts and atmospheric turbulences encountered at high altitude while changing its itinerary and altitude. The aircraft then reach a critical angle of attack before entering a dive.
