Date & Time:
Oct 13, 1972 at 2149 LT
Type of aircraft:
Ilyushin II-62
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-86671
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Charter/Taxi (Non Scheduled Revenue Flight)
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Paris - Leningrad - Moscow
MSN:
70301
YOM:
1977
Flight number:
SU217
Country:
Russia
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
10
Crew fatalities:
10
Pax on board:
164
Pax fatalities:
164
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
174
Aircraft flight hours:
4374
Aircraft flight cycles:
1674
Circumstances:
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.
Probable cause:
The exact cause of the accident could not be determined with certainty. However, the assumption that the loss of control was the consequence of a technical problem with the elevator control system or the longitudinal control system wass not ruled out.
