Date & Time:
Apr 22, 1956 at 2050 LT
Type of aircraft:
Ilyushin II-14
Operator:
Registration:
CCCP-L1718
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Postal (mail)
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Moscow-Vnukovo – Kharkiv – Rostov-on-Don – Sukhumi – Kutaisi – Tbilisi
MSN:
1460 002 02
YOM:
14
Flight number:
SU227
Country:
Georgia
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
5
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
1
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
6
Aircraft flight hours:
19
Aircraft flight cycles:
12
Circumstances:
Less than one minute after takeoff from Sukhumi Airport by night, while climbing to a height of 60 meters, the aircraft adopted a pitch-down attitude and eventually crashed into the sea about 3 km off shore. The airplane sank by 15 meters deep and all six occupants were killed. The aircraft was carrying a load of 2,117 kilos of mail.
Probable cause:
The exact cause of the accident could not be established with certainty. However, the assumption the pilot could be blinded by a beam was not ruled out.
