Date & Time:
Mar 22, 1946 at 1209 LT
Type of aircraft:
Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L893
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Cargo
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Moscow – Minsk – Berlin
MSN:
13096
YOM:
23
Country:
Russia
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
5
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
5
Aircraft flight hours:
1581
Circumstances:
About five minutes after takeoff from Moscow-Vnukovo Airport, while climbing to a height of some 150 meters, the aircraft banked left, dove into the ground and crashed 800 meters south of Bukovka. All five crew members were killed. They were performing a cargo flight to Berlin with an intermediate stop in Minsk, carrying a load of newspapers for a total weight of 2,350 kilos.
Probable cause:
The exact cause of the accident could not be determined with certainty. However, investigators reported that the loss of control may have been caused by an excessive accumulation of ice on the carburetors or on the Pitot tubes or on the windshield or on all three simultaneously.
