Crash of an Ilyushin II-14 in Voronezh: 25 killed

Date & Time: Aug 6, 1955 at 1518 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L5057
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Stalingrad – Moscow-Vnukovo
MSN:
4 34 04 08
YOM:
1954
Flight number:
SU214
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
20
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
25
Aircraft flight hours:
824
Circumstances:
The aircraft was performing a flight from Stalingrad to Moscow-Vnukovo, carrying a crew of five and 20 passengers, among them 10 citizens (women) from Norway who met antifascist people in Stalingrad and were flying back to Moscow. While cruising at an altitude of 2,200 meters in clouds, the crew informed ATC about the failure of the right engine and obtained the permission to divert to Voronezh Airport for an emergency landing. Shortly later, the right engine caught fire and while descending to an altitude of 900 meters, the right wing failed, causing the aircraft to dive into the ground and to crash about 4 km from the runway threshold. The airplane disintegrated on impact and all 25 occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the right engine was brand new and totalized 250 hours only. Despite this, the engine already suffered cracks and defaults. Investigations reported that a fuel leak occurred on the right engine enroute. Due to lack of oil, the engine overheated, caught fire and eventually exploded. The fire spread to its nacelle and then to the right wing that broke off few minutes later.

Crash of an Antonov AN-2 near Birobidzhan: 4 killed

Date & Time: Jul 24, 1955 at 0820 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L2616
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
MSN:
1 09 473 05
YOM:
15
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
4
Aircraft flight hours:
2169
Circumstances:
The single engine aircraft departed Birobidzhan Airport at 0810LT on a short cargo flight to a remote area, carrying two geophysicists, two pilots and two diesel drums. After takeoff, the aircraft climbed to 15-20 meters then the crew made a 180 turn and continued to the southwest for about 20 km. While cruising at an altitude of 600 meters, the aircraft hit tree tops and crashed in flames in a wooded area. The aircraft was destroyed and all four occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
It was determined that both pilots were intoxicated at the time of the accident. They decided to start the flight without proper permission and failed to consult the weather forecast prior to departure. It was also reported that both passengers were not authorized to embark on this flight and at takeoff, the total weight of the aircraft was 4,900 kilos, 160 kilos above the MTOW.

Crash of an Ilyushin II-12 in Nagurskoye

Date & Time: Jul 2, 1955
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-N480
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Dikson - Nagurskoye
MSN:
30 237
YOM:
1950
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
0
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The crew was completing a supply mission to the ice expedition christened 'Sever 7'. On approach to Nagurskoye ice strip, the pilot in command encountered low visibility due to thick fog. Rather than to divert to a suitable terrain, he tried three times to land, without success. During the fourth attempt to land, the aircraft was too low and misaligned when it struck the ground on short final. On touchdown, the left main gear was sheared off and the aircraft went out of control and came to rest. There were no casualties but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
Probable cause:
Approach completed below minima weather conditions.

Crash of an Antonov AN-2 in Tobys

Date & Time: Jul 1, 1955 at 1454 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-A2641
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Ukhta – Syktyvkar
MSN:
1 16 473 01
YOM:
1951
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
8
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed Ukhta Airport at 1442LT bound for Syktyvkar with eight passengers and a crew of two on board. About twelve minutes into the flight, while cruising at an altitude of 300 meters, the engine lost power and windmilled down to 400 rpm. The crew was unable to feather the propeller and the captain decided to attempt an emergency landing in a prairie when the aircraft struck trees and crashed at the edge of a forest and some 1,200 meters from a railway road. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and all ten occupants were rescued few hours later.
Probable cause:
The engine suffered a loss of power in flight.

Crash of an Antonov AN-2 in Chelyabinsk: 8 killed

Date & Time: May 16, 1955 at 1400 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L5579
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Chelyabinsk - Chelyabinsk
MSN:
1 49 473 17
YOM:
2
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
4
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
8
Aircraft flight hours:
132
Circumstances:
The crew arrived at the Podovinnoe Farm in the Chelyabinsk region on May 12 to apply fertilizers on crops. On the evening of May 12, the crew drank a lot of vodka and red wine. There were no flight on May 13 due to poor weather conditions. On May 14 and 15, the crew completed 30 rotations each day for a total of 12 hours flight. On the evening of May 15, all four crew members went to a local hostel and again drank a lot of vodka and red wine. The captain went to bed at 0030LT, the copilot at 0255LT, the machanic at 0105LT and the flight engineer slept at the hostel. On the 16, at 0900LT, all four crew took their breakfast with vodka and red wine again. Later, the crew arrived at the airplane with four other people, among them two young girls. A local keeper elected to dissuade the crew to takeoff but without success. After takeoff at 1400LTf, the single engine aircraft climbed to a height of 60 meters then continued to a heading of 110° for about 2-3 minutes before entering a dive and crashing in a field located six km from the airstrip. The aircraft was destroyed and all eight occupants were killed.
Probable cause:
All four crew members were drunk at the time of the accident and were not able to fly. Poor discipline and responsibility on part of the crew who decided to takeoff in such conditions. Also, the crew violated the company procedures letting non authorized people to fly with.

Crash of a Lisunov LI-2 in Mys Zhelaniya

Date & Time: Apr 2, 1955
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-N497
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Mys Zhelaniya - Dikson Island
MSN:
184 307 08
YOM:
1951
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
7
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
On a flight from Mys Zhelaniya (Novaya Zemlya) to Dikson Island in support of the Arctic expedition 'Sever 7' when the crew was ordered to land on the ice near Mys Zhelaniya for training purposes. The skis of the landing gear broke through the ice during the landing run. All 7 crew and 3 passengers escaped unhurt but the aircraft could not be recovered in time and sank during a storm 06APR55.
Probable cause:
It was later reported that the ice thickness was about 30 cm at the time of the accident, which is insufficient.

Crash of an Ilyushin II-12 near Kepino: 5 killed

Date & Time: Mar 4, 1955 at 1051 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-N479
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Mys-Kamennyy – Amderma – Arkhangelsk – Moscow
MSN:
30 236
YOM:
27
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
20
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Aircraft flight hours:
2630
Circumstances:
While cruising at an altitude of 2,700 meters between Amderma and Arkhangelsk, a technical failure occurred on the manifold of the left engine, causing fuel to spill in the nacelle and a fire to develop. The crew tried to extinguish the fire but without success. So the captain decided to attempt an emergency landing when the aircraft hit trees and crashed in a dense wooded area located near Poltozero Lake. Rescuers arrived on site a day later and were able to evacuate 26 wounded people while five others were killed, among them four crew members as the cockpit was totally destroyed upon impact.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the direct cause of the accident was a fire that occurred in the nacelle of the left engine due to the failure of a fuel line, presumably from a ringing tube located in the left nacelle as a result of a metallurgical defect. The fuel then spilled inside the nacelle and ignited in contact with exhaust gases. The nacelle caught fire and later, the engine detached. It was also reported that the validity of the certificate of airworthiness expired on March 2, which obviously did not provide an opportunity to fly to Pevek and back. A small remainder of the resource obliged the crew to closely monitor the condition of the material part and regularly perform the required maintenance at the intermediate airports. In fact, the crew in the process of the flight exceeded the established daily norm and failed to perform the 25-hour routine maintenance during the three-day parking at Pevek Airport.

Crash of a Lisunov LI-2 in Moscow: 5 killed

Date & Time: Jan 13, 1955 at 1130 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L5000
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Moscou – Gorki – Sverdlovsk
MSN:
334 449 02
YOM:
1953
Flight number:
SU031
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Aircraft flight hours:
2188
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from Bykovo Airport, while climbing to a height of 20-30 meters, the right engine failed. The aircraft lost height, collided with trees and eventually crashed onto a house located less than one km from the airfield. The airplane burst into flames and was totally destroyed as well as the house. All five crew members were killed while no one on the ground was injured. The owner of the house just left his house three minutes before the accident. The crew was completing a mail flight to Svedlovsk with an intermediate stop in Gorki, carrying a load of 1,989 kilos of mail and newspapers.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the failure of the right engine was caused by an act of sabotage. A nut was found in the fuel line which caused the fuel pump to fail during initial climb. A similar case was detected eight days prior to the crash.

Crash of an Ilyushin II-14 in Irkoutsk: 17 killed

Date & Time: Dec 31, 1954
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Beijing– Irkutsk – Tashkent – Nicosia
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
14
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
17
Circumstances:
Crashed shortly after takeoff from Irkutsk-Intl Airport for unknown reason, killing all 17 occupants.

Crash of a Lisunov LI-2 in Sverdlovsk: 6 killed

Date & Time: Nov 12, 1954 at 1640 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L4519
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Leningrad – Moscow-Bykovo – Kazan – Sverdlovsk – Omsk – Novosibirsk
MSN:
184 290 02
YOM:
1948
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
10
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
6
Aircraft flight hours:
7096
Circumstances:
One minute after takeoff from Sverdlovsk-Koltsovo Airport, while in initial climb, the airplane banked left and right and encountered difficulties to gain height when it stalled and crashed 250 meters past the runway end. The wreckage was spotted 150 meters to the left of the runway centerline. Both pilots and three passengers were killed while ten other occupants were injured. Two weeks after the accident, a passenger died from his injuries.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the flaps were deployed at 25° for takeoff, too much for this procedure. Thus, the aircraft's speed after rotation was too low, deteriorating its stability and its lateral control. Investigations were able to determine that the flying crew failed to identify and eliminate the abnormal behavior of the aircraft during initial climb, probably because his attention was diverted. This situation led the aircraft to stall and the distance between the aircraft and the ground was insufficient to expect a recovery. At the time of the accident, the crew was on duty since 13 hours and 40 minutes and the day before, it observed a ON duty period of 17 hours. Thus, it is believed that fatigue accumulated during these two consecutive days, which could be considered as a contributing factor.