Date & Time:
Dec 16, 1942 at 0220 LT
Type of aircraft:
Polikarpov P-5
Operator:
Registration:
21
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Supply
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Rzhev - Lotoshino
MSN:
101
YOM:
1942
Country:
Russia
Region:
Asia
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
Following a supply mission to the Soviet troops in the area of Rzhev, the airplane was returning to base at Lotoshino at 0030LT. About two hours later, while cruising at night at a height of 250 metres, the airplane head-on collided with a Lisunov LI-2 and crashed one km west from Blaginino. Both crew members were killed. The Lisunov made an emergency belly landing and was repaired.
Probable cause:
The main cause of the accident was a night time midair collision between two airplanes flying in an opposite direction with their navigation lights turned OFF due to the proximity of the front. A secondary cause was the difficulty of monitoring the air due to the presence of a large number of light signals, rockets, and shell explosions, as well as the mutual ignorance of the crews and unit command regarding the flight altitudes of aircraft flying in opposite directions at night.
