Russia

The crew departed Moscow-Khodynka Airport on a local test flight on this first example of a new bomber prototype. While flying in the vicinity of the airfield, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in a field, bursting into flames. All four crew members were killed.

The airplane departed Moscow at 0605LT on a cargo flight to Mineralnye Vody with an intermediate stop in Kharkiv, carrying three crew members. The pilot continued at an altitude of 300 metres and at a speed of 290 km/h when weather conditions deteriorated with low clouds and rain falls. Without any radio contact with the ground to obtain a weather briefing, the crew continued to the south and passed over Tula at 0653LT. Shortly later, the crew encountered foggy conditions and was unable to locate his position so the captain decided to return. Flying to low in fog, the airplane impacted trees at a speed of 220 km/h and crashed into a ravine. All three crew members were killed.

The aircraft disappeared in the region of Arkhangelsk while completing a mission with four crew members on board. SAR failed to find any trace of the aircraft nor the crew. The wreckage was eventually found by walkers in early 90's in an isolated area.

The float plane departed Novaya Ladoga on a reconnaissance mission over Ladoga Lake. On the return trip, while cruising along the east coast of the lake, the airplane was mistakenly shot down by the pilot of a Soviet fighter and crashed three km south of Uste Tuloksy. A crew member was injured and three others were killed.
Crew:
Lt Petr A. Tsyplakov, pilot, †
S/Lt Petrov, navigator,
Cpt Sergey V. Belov, †
1st Lt Vasiliy Grishkov, gunner. †

On December 1st, the airplane departed Saratov with the same crew to deliver mouse for a laboratory based in Ganyushkino, south Kazakhstan. The next day, the pilot departed Ganyushkino at 0830LT on the return trip to Saratov with an intermediate stop in Vladimirovka. Approaching Saratov, the pilot encountered poor visibility due to fog and passed over the airfield without any visual contact with the ground. He then returned to the north when he encountered snow falls. The airplane entered a right turn the lost height and crashed in a pasture located 1,5 km west of the village of Dolgii Buerak, about 7,5 km north-east of Saratov Airport. The airplane was destroyed and both occupants were killed.

Following an in-flight collision with a Junkers JU.52, the airplane entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed near Rauschen (now Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad) in Königsberg. All four crew members were killed.
Crew:
FF Uffz Joachim Gabriel,
Lt Heinrich Rackwitz,
Bw Flg Herbert Skwara,
Bf Gefr Wenzel.

While cruising at an altitude of 5,000 metres, the airplane entered an area of cumulonimbus. Due to severe atmospheric turbulences, the airplane became uncontrollable and started to lose altitude. The captain ordered his crew to bail out and abandoned the airplane that dove into the ground and crashed in the taiga near Birakan. The pilot was found alive but both other crew members were killed as they did not bail out.

On final approach to Tushino Airport in Moscow, the aircraft landed 460 metres behind the landing T. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, it overran and crashed in a ditch. The airplane was damaged beyond repair and all four crew members escaped uninjured.

The airplane departed Arkhangelsk on a cargo flight to Naryan-Mar with an intermediate stop in Mezen, carrying a load consisting of cans of food for a total weight of 2,5 tons. Approaching the destination, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with snow falls reducing visibility to 800 metres. Unable to establish a radio contact with the destination airport station, the captain asked the copilot to check the radio system. Doing so, the captain was distracted and lost visual references with the horizon. The airplane descended to the ground and crashed in a snow covered field. There were no casualties but the aircraft was destroyed.

On final approach to Omsk Airport, in light snow falls, the pilot realized he was not properly aligned with the runway and initiated a go around procedure. Following a short circuit, he started a second attempt to land when, on short final, the airplane rolled to the left and descended to the ground, crashing near the runway threshold. The aircraft was destroyed and all four occupants were killed.