Moscow-Sheremetyevo

The aircraft departed Syktyvkar Airport at 0955LT bound for Moscow and continued to climb in normal weather conditions. Twelve minutes later, while cruising at an altitude of 5,600 meters, the fire alarm connected to the rear cargo compartment activated in the cockpit. The flight engineer was dispatched to the rear of the cabin to check the situation and came back less than two minutes later, confirming that smoke was spreading. Instead of declaring an emergency and informing ATC about the situation according to published procedures, the captain decided to inspect the rear of the cabin with the flight engineer. They elected to extinguish the fire but this was unfortunately not possible. They returned to the cockpit and in the meantime, the airplane continued to climb to 6,700 meters. The captain contacted ATC, declared an emergency more than 4 minutes after the fire alarm activated and was cleared to return to Syktyvkar. At this time, the aircraft position was about 140 km from Syktyvkar Airport. The captain started an emergency descent and at an altitude of 1,200 meters, flaps and gear were lowered. The crew realized it would not be able to reach Syktyvkar Airport so he attempted an emergency landing on land. In a reduced visibility due to rain falls, the aircraft struck trees, lost its both wings and crashed 340 meters further in a dense wooded area, bursting into flames. Four crew members and 34 passengers were rescued while 54 other occupants were killed. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and fire.

Following an uneventful flight from Chelyabinsk to Moscow in relative good weather conditions, the crew started the descent to Moscow-Domodedovo when the weather conditions worsened. While descending to an altitude of 3,600 meters, the aircraft entered an area of heavy rain falls and icing (a cold front was passing over Moscow at that time). The Pitot tubes became obstructed, modifying some instruments settings. The airspeed indicator fell to zero and the crew thought the aircraft was near stall conditions so he initiated an emergency descent with a rate of descent of 100 meters per second and a speed of 813 km/h. The aircraft encountered positive acceleration of 3,2 g and suffered structural damages. The crew was able to divert to Moscow-Sheremetyevo Airport where an emergency landing was completed. All 185 occupants evacuated safely and the aircraft was later declared as damaged beyond repair due to irreparable damages to the main structure (fuselage).

Following an uneventful flight from Moscow-Shermetyevo Airport, the crew completed the approach to Luxembourg-Findel Airport. While passing over the runway 06 threshold at a height of 5 meters and a speed of 278 km/h, engine power was reduced to 40% and thrust reversers were activated on engine n°1 and 4. For unknown reasons, reversers on engine n°1 failed to deploy and the airplane banked right. At a speed of 265 km/h, the airplane landed five seconds later and after touchdown, the spoilers were activated and the engine power increased on engine n°1 and 4 to 86% and 80% respectively. The airplane veered off runway to the right, rolled for 1,300 meters then struck a water tower before coming to rest 900 meters further, bursting into flames. 38 occupants were injured and 32 others were unhurt. Unfortunately, seven passengers were killed in the accident.

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.

Following a normal takeoff roll on runway 24R, the airplane lifted off at a speed of 290 km/h with the copilot at controls. At this time, the visibility was poor due to the night and marginal weather conditions. Less than a minute later, while climbing, the airplane rolled to the right to an angle of 60-70° then the airspeed increased to 580 km/h. The captain took over control when the airplane initiated an uncontrolled descent and crashed at a speed of 620 km/h in a huge explosion near the village of Klushino, about 10 km northwest of the airport, three minutes after takeoff. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 73 occupants have been killed.

After takeoff from Leningrad-Shosseinaya Airport, while cruising at an altitude of 7,800 meters, a stewardess informed the cockpit crew about a passenger who wanted to fly to Stockholm and was carrying a pistol and a hand grenade. After entering the cockpit, the hijacker stand by the flight engineer. The crew returned to Leningrad-Shosseinaya and on final approach, while at a height of 120-140 meters, the captain asked the copilot to lower the gear. When the hijacker realized they were flying back to Leningrad, he unpin the grenade that exploded in the cockpit, causing a huge hole in the fuselage. The hijacker and the flight engineer were killed while both pilots were slightly injured. 30 seconds later, the pilots were able to land the airplane at a speed of 310 km/h. After touchdown, the nose gear collapsed and the airplane slid for several dozen meters before coming to a halt. All 55 other occupants were uninjured while the aircraft was not repaired.

During an approach to Moscow-Sheremetyevo Airport in marginal weather conditions, the crew initiated a go-around for unknown reason. During the second approach, at a distance of 5 km from the runway 07 threshold, the crew was informed by ATC that his position was 15 meters below the glide. Shortly later, the airplane nosed down then crashed in a huge explosion 4,330 meters short of runway. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 25 occupants were killed.

The aircraft took off at 0650 GMT on a scheduled flight Moscow - Prague. Over the territory of the USSR the flight proceeded at 10 000 m, and this altitude was increased over the Romanian People's Republic to 10 650 m. Over Warsaw the aircraft was cleared to descend to 9 400 m, and near the Czechoslovak frontier it was cleared again to 8 850. The frontier was crossed at 6 700 m, the crew complying with all instructions. At 0854 GMT the aircraft reported overhead OKX that it had descended from 7 200 m to 6 700 m. Prague ACC cleared it to continue descent to 2 450 m and tune to Rodnice (RCE) VOR. At 0856 GMT the aircraft was instructed to maintain a track which would keep it in the middle of the airway. At 0900 GMT the aircraft reported overhead Rodnice at 2 450 m and was instructed to change over to the approach frequency 121.4 MHz. The aircraft at once contacted approach control and was cleared to fly via MO until it intercepted the approach beacon, then to descend to 1 200 m and report when crossing 1 500 m. The crew complied with these instructions. At 0902 GMT the aircraft reported descending through 1 500 m on a 135O heading and was instructed to change over to the ATC radar frequency. On this frequency it was cleared to continue flying to the ILS approach beacon, was given priority to land on Runway 25 and instructed to descend to 500 m on QFE 730.1 mm. At 0904 GMT the aircraft was cleared to descend to 350 rn on QFE and was informed that it was 2 km off the course line. After 40 seconds the radar controller informed the aircraft that it was correctly aligned and 15 km from the aerodrome, and at 0905 GMT he instructed the aircraft to switch over to the TWR frequency. After changeover the aircraft reported to TWR that it was approaching to land. TWR cleared it to land on Runway 25 and reported a change in the wind direction and speed to 250' - 4 m/s. At 0906 GMT, at its own request, the aircraft was given runway braking coefficient 5 and again cleared to land. This data was acknowledged by the aircraft at 0906.30 GMT, and this was the last contact with it. The aircraft flew the correct heights and headings and did not report any defects or trouble on the ATC frequencies. The descent to land proceeded normally along the ILS glide path up to the vicinity of the "L" marker. Near this aid the aircraft suddenly ducked under the glide path, continued to descend at an average angle of 4.62° to the glide path and struck the ground with the nosewheel at a point 467 m before the threshold of Runway 25. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and was also destroyed by a post crash fire. Four stewardesses and 62 passengers were killed, 18 occupants were seriously injured and 16 were uninjured.

A McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62 passenger plane, JA8040, was destroyed when it crashed on takeoff from Moscow's -Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO), Russia. Five of the 14 crew members and ten of the 62 passengers survived the accident. JAL flight JL446 was a scheduled international flight from Copenhagen (CPH), Denmark to Tokyo-Haneda (HND), Japan with an en route stop in Moscow. The flight to Moscow was uneventful and the airplane landed at 18:17. After servicing of the aircraft startup and taxi clearance was received at 19:38. JL446 was cleared for takeoff from runway 25 at 19:49. On takeoff the DC-8 climbed to 100 m with a supercritical angle of attack and lost height abruptly. It hit the ground and burst into flames.

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.