Tupolev TU-104

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-42501

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

MSN:

0 2 18 04

YOM:

1960

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

17301

Aircraft flight cycles:

12990

Circumstances:

After landing at Chita-Kadala Airport, the airplane was unable to stop within the remaining distance and overran. It rolled for about 430 meters before colliding with a railway embankment. There were no injuries while the aircraft was written off.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-104B in Moscow: 16 killed

Date & Time: Dec 7, 1973 at 2229 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-42503

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Kutaisi - Mineralnye Vody - Moscow

MSN:

0 2 19 01

YOM:

1960

Flight number:

SU964

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

18300

Aircraft flight cycles:

10983

Circumstances:

The descent to Domodedovo Airport was initiated by night and marginal weather conditions with limited visibility due to snow falls. On final, the airplane was unstable and not properly aligned on the glide so the captain decided to make a turn to the left when the airplane banked left to 35-40°, causing the left wing to struck the ground 135 meters short of runway threshold and 25 meters to the right of its extended centerline. Out of control, the airplane crashed in flames and came to rest 340 meters past the threshold and 220 meters to the left of the runway. Five crew members and seven passengers were killed while 63 other occupants were injured. The aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire. Within 10 days after the accident, four other passengers died from their injuries.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the crew adopted a wrong approach configuration in marginal weather conditions and failed to initiate a go-around maneuver while the aircraft was not properly aligned on the glide and was unstable. The sharp turn completed by the captain caused the airplane to become uncontrollable and to crash.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-104B in Moscow: 122 killed

Date & Time: Oct 13, 1973 at 2018 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-42486

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Kutaisi - Moscow

MSN:

0 2 15 04

YOM:

1960

Flight number:

SU964

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

114

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

122

Aircraft flight hours:

16250

Aircraft flight cycles:

9776

Circumstances:

Following an uneventful flight from Kutaisi, the crew started the descent to Moscow-Domodedovo by night and good weather conditions. On approach at an altitude of 1,300 feet, the airplane banked left to an angle of 75° then nosed down and crashed in a huge explosion in a potatoes field located 16,3 km from the runway threshold. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 122 occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the loss of control on approach was the consequence of the failure of artificial horizons as a result of a malfunction of the on-board electrical system. The combination of night, lack of visibility and flight instruments failure caused the pilot to suffer a spatial disorientation and the eventual loss of control.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-104B in Sverdlovsk: 108 killed

Date & Time: Sep 30, 1973 at 2037 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-42506

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Sverdlovsk – Omsk – Novosibirsk – Chita – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok

MSN:

0 2 19 04

YOM:

1960

Flight number:

SU3932

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

100

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

108

Aircraft flight hours:

20582

Aircraft flight cycles:

9412

Circumstances:

After takeoff by night from Sverdlovsk-Koltsovo Airport, the crew was cleared to climb to 1,500 meters and initiated a left turn as instructed by ATC. The airplane first banked left to an angle of 35-40° and at an altitude of 1,200 meters, the left angle increased to 75-80° when control was lost. The airplane entered a dive and crashed in a huge explosion in a wooded area located 10 km from the airport. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and none of the 108 occupants survived the crash. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were considered as marginal with a visibility limited to 6 km, overcast 800 feet, wind from northwest at 15 knots and light rain.

Probable cause:

It was determined that the loss of control during initial climb was the consequence of the failure of artificial horizons as a result of a malfunction of the on-board electrical system. The combination of night, lack of visibility and flight instruments failure caused the pilot to suffer a spatial disorientation and the eventual loss of control.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-104A in Nicosia

Date & Time: Aug 29, 1973 at 0639 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

OK-MDE

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Baghdad - Damascus - Nicosia - Prague

MSN:

8 66 012 02

YOM:

1958

Flight number:

OK531

Location:

Nicosia

Country:

Cyprus

Region:

Europe

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

After touchdown on runway 14 at Nicosia Airport, the airplane deviated to the right then veered off runway and came to rest in flames about 150 metes from the runway end. All 70 occupants escaped, nine of them were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.

Probable cause:

The failure of the pilot to stop the aircraft within the nominally adequate runway distance available and the subsequent entry of the aircraft into a right turn at high speed, as a result of which the aircraft was subjected to lateral centrifugal forces and side skidded off the runway.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-104B near Chita: 81 killed

Date & Time: May 18, 1973 at 0938 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-42411

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Moscow – Chelyabinsk – Novosibirsk – Irkutsk – Chita

MSN:

8 2 03 03

YOM:

1958

Flight number:

SU109

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

19329

Aircraft flight cycles:

8841

Circumstances:

While in cruising altitude on the leg from Irkutsk to Chita, a hijacker went into the cockpit and ordered the crew to fly to China. Negotiations between the crew and the hijacker were unfruitful and after few minutes, a member of the militia shot the hijacker. Before dying, the hijacker was able to fire a system connected to several grenades attached to his belt. A huge detonation occurred in the cabin, causing the aircraft to disintegrate in the air. From an altitude of 6,500 meters, the airplane entered a dive and crashed in the taiga about 97 km west of Chita. Debris were found on a wide area and none of the 81 occupants survived the crash. Soviet Authorities later reported that the hijacker was a mental imbalance and explained his gesture by their recent refusal to grant him a job position within the diplomatic corps.

Probable cause:

Explosion of a 'bomb' after being hijacked.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-104B in Leningrad: 2 killed

Date & Time: Apr 23, 1973 at 1506 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-42505

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Leningrad – Moscow

MSN:

0 2 19 03

YOM:

1960

Flight number:

SU2420

Location:

Leningrad-Shosseynaya

Leningrad oblast

Country:

Russia

Region:

Asia

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

17095

Aircraft flight cycles:

10698

Circumstances:

After takeoff from Leningrad-Shosseinaya Airport, while cruising at an altitude of 7,800 meters, a stewardess informed the cockpit crew about a passenger who wanted to fly to Stockholm and was carrying a pistol and a hand grenade. After entering the cockpit, the hijacker stand by the flight engineer. The crew returned to Leningrad-Shosseinaya and on final approach, while at a height of 120-140 meters, the captain asked the copilot to lower the gear. When the hijacker realized they were flying back to Leningrad, he unpin the grenade that exploded in the cockpit, causing a huge hole in the fuselage. The hijacker and the flight engineer were killed while both pilots were slightly injured. 30 seconds later, the pilots were able to land the airplane at a speed of 310 km/h. After touchdown, the nose gear collapsed and the airplane slid for several dozen meters before coming to a halt. All 55 other occupants were uninjured while the aircraft was not repaired.

Probable cause:

Hijacked after takeoff and severely damaged by the explosion of a grenade and the failure of the nose gear after landing.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-104B in Omsk

Date & Time: Mar 19, 1972

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-42408

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

MSN:

8 2 02 05

YOM:

1958

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While descending to Omsk Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and low visibility due to snow showers. On final, as he was unable to locate the runway, the captain abandoned the approach and initiated a go-around. Three other attempts to land were abandoned within the next minutes. During the fifth approach, the crew descended too low when the airplane struck a snow wall located just short of runway threshold and crash landed. There were no casualties.

Crash of a Tupolev TU-104B in Moscow: 25 killed

Date & Time: Oct 10, 1971 at 2017 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CCCP-42490

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site: