Aeroflot Flight 366 - Misplaced Pages

1963 Aircraft water ditching

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Aeroflot Flight 366
Accident
A Tu-124 similar to the accident aircraft
Date	21 August 1963 (1963-08-21)
Summary	Fuel exhaustion due to pilot and maintenance error
Site	Neva River Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union 59°55′11″N 30°24′13″E / 59.91972°N 30.40361°E / 59.91972; 30.40361
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Tupolev Tu-124
Operator	Aeroflot
Registration	СССР-45021
Flight origin	Tallinn-Ülemiste Airport, Estonian SSR, Soviet Union
Destination	Moskva-Vnukovo Airport, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Passengers	45
Crew	7
Fatalities	0
Survivors	52

Aeroflot Flight 366 (Russian: Рейс 366 Аэрофлота), also known as the Miracle on the Neva, was a water landing by a Tupolev Tu-124 of the Soviet state airline Aeroflot (Moscow division). The aircraft took off from Tallinn-Ülemiste Airport (TLL) at 08:55 on 21 August 1963 with 45 passengers and 7 crew on board. The aircraft (registration number СССР-45021) was built in 1962 and was scheduled to fly to Moscow–Vnukovo (VKO) under the command of 27-year-old captain Victor Mostovoy. After takeoff the nose gear did not retract. Ground control diverted the flight to Leningrad (LED) – because of fog at Tallinn.

Events

At 10:00 Flight 366 started to circle the city at 450 m (1,500 ft), in order to use fuel, reducing weight and decreasing the risk of fire in the event of a crash. The ground services at Pulkovo Airport (LED) were preparing the dirt runway for the landing. Each circuit around the city took the aircraft approximately 15 minutes. During this time the crew attempted to force the nose gear to lock into the fully extended position by pushing it with a pole taken from the cloak closet.

On the eighth and last circuit while 20 km (12 mi) from the airport, the no. 1 engine flamed out due to fuel starvation. The remaining engine ceased shortly thereafter, with the aircraft above the city center, traveling east over St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Admiralty. Upon loss of power the flight crew ditched the aircraft in the 300-metre (1,000 ft) wide Neva River.

External image
Photo of the plane ditched on the riverbank

Eyewitnesses saw Flight 366 upstream. Immediately after a turn, the aircraft glided over the high steel structures of the Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge with approximately 30 m (100 ft) of clearance. The Tu-124 flew over the Alexander Nevsky Bridge – under construction at the time – barely missing it. The pilot managed to land the aircraft on the river, in close proximity to an 1898-built steam tugboat.

The plane began to fill with water. The captain of the tugboat saw the plane in distress and went to help. He and his crew broke the aircraft's windshield to tie a cable to the cockpit's control wheel and proceeded to tow the craft to the river bank. During the tow all passengers remained on board. Passengers and crew then evacuated the cabin via an access hatch on the plane's roof.

References

^ Soviet Transports Team. "Soviet Transports Database". Scramble. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018. C/n 2350701 ... rgd 11oct62
"Воздушные гонки в Питере... 1:1 [RC Форум]" (in Russian). forum.rcdesign.ru. 22 June 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. circle the city at 1650 feet. ... aircraft was towed ashore.

External links

"Prepare to Ditch", in Flight International magazine, 13 August 1964, p. 241
"Soviet Transports" series, also Ditch or crash-land? B.W. Townshend, 1965 (pp. 47–49)
Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1963 (1963)
Jan 13 Elephant Mountain B-52 crashFeb 1 Ankara mid-air collisionFeb 12 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705Mar 2 Philippine Air Lines Flight 984Mar 5 Aeroflot Flight 191Mar 5 Camden PA-24 crashApr 4 Aeroflot Flight 25May 3 Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul Flight 144Jun 3 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293Jul 2 Mohawk Airlines Flight 112Jul 3 NZ National Airways Flight 441Jul 13 Aeroflot Flight 012Jul 27 United Arab Airlines Flight 869Aug 12 Air Inter Flight 2611Aug 21 Aeroflot Flight 366Aug 24 Aeroflot Flight 663Sep 4 Swissair Flight 306Oct 22 BAC One-Eleven test crashNov 8 Aero Flight 217Nov 22 Poonch IAF helicopter crashNov 29 Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831Dec 8 Pan Am Flight 214
1962 ◄ ► 1964

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1963 (1963)

Jan 13 Elephant Mountain B-52 crashFeb 1 Ankara mid-air collisionFeb 12 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705Mar 2 Philippine Air Lines Flight 984Mar 5 Aeroflot Flight 191Mar 5 Camden PA-24 crashApr 4 Aeroflot Flight 25May 3 Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul Flight 144Jun 3 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293Jul 2 Mohawk Airlines Flight 112Jul 3 NZ National Airways Flight 441Jul 13 Aeroflot Flight 012Jul 27 United Arab Airlines Flight 869Aug 12 Air Inter Flight 2611Aug 21 Aeroflot Flight 366Aug 24 Aeroflot Flight 663Sep 4 Swissair Flight 306Oct 22 BAC One-Eleven test crashNov 8 Aero Flight 217Nov 22 Poonch IAF helicopter crashNov 29 Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831Dec 8 Pan Am Flight 214

1962 ◄ ► 1964

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union in the 1960s
1960	Aeroflot Flight 315 (February 1960) U-2 incident (May 1960) Aeroflot Flight 207 (June 1960) RB-47 shootdown incident (July 1960) Aeroflot Flight 036 (August 1960) Austrian Airlines Flight 901 (September 1960)
1961	Aeroflot Flight 068 (March 1961) Aeroflot Flight 245 (17 December 1961) Mineralnye Vody Aeroflot Il-18 crash (31 December 1961)
1962	Aeroflot Flight 902 (June 1962) Aeroflot Flight 415 (July 1962) Aeroflot Flight 03 (3 September 1962) Aeroflot Flight 213 (18 September 1962)
1963	Aeroflot Flight 191 (March 1963) Aeroflot Flight 25 (April 1963) Aeroflot Flight 012 (July 1963) Aeroflot Flight 366 (21 August 1963) Aeroflot Flight 663 (24 August 1963)
1964	Aeroflot Flight 721 (September 1964)
1965	Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20 (January 1965) Aeroflot Flight 542 (7 March 1965) Aeroflot Flight 513 (8 March 1965) Khanty-Mansiysk Aeroflot An-24 crash (20 March 1965) Aeroflot Flight 99 (November 1965)
1966	Aeroflot Flight 302 (16 February 1966) Aeroflot Flight 065 (17 February 1966) Aeroflot Flight 2723 (April 1966)
1967	Aeroflot Flight 5003 (January 1967) Aeroflot Flight 2230 (November 1967) Aeroflot Flight L-51 (December 1967)
1968	Aeroflot Flight 1668 (January 1968) Aeroflot Flight 15 (February 1968) Death of Yuri Gagarin (March 1968) Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A (July 1968)
1969	Yukhnov mid-air collision (23 June 1969) Aeroflot Flight F-28 (28 June 1969) Aeroflot Flight N-826 (3 August 1969) Aeroflot Flight 1770 (26 August 1969)
1950–1959 ◄ 1960–1969 ► 1970–1979

v t e Airliner accidents and incidents involving ditching
1950s	Pan Am Flight 526A (April 1952) Swissair Convair CV-240 crash (June 1954) KLM Flight 633 (September 1954) Pan Am Flight 845/26 (March 1955) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2 (April 1956) Pan Am Flight 6 (October 1956)
1960s	Aeroflot Flight 366 (August 1963) Japan Airlines Flight 2 (November 1968)
1970s	ALM Flight 980 (May 1970)
1990s	Faucett Perú Boeing 727 disappearance (September 1990) Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 (November 1996)
2000s	Marsa Brega Short 360 crash (January 2000) Whyalla Airlines Flight 904 (May 2000) Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 (January 2002) Laoag International Airlines Flight 585 (November 2002) Tuninter Flight 1153 (August 2005) US Airways Flight 1549 (January 2009)
2010s	Angara Airlines Flight 9007 (July 2011)
2020s	Transair Flight 810 (July 2021)

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Accidents and
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1940s	G-2 Alma-Ata crash ANT-20bis crash CCCP-Л1450 crash Flight 17
1950s	Il-12 Karaganda crash Il-12 Novosibirsk crash Kemerovo mid-air collision Flight 229 Flight 783 Flight 10 Flight 136 Flight 214 Flight 229 Kiev mid-air collision Flight 11 Flight 10 Flight 105 Flight 04 Flight 365 Flight 164 Il-12 Lazo crash Тu-104 Kanash crash Flight 200 Flight 315
1960s	Flight 315 Flight 207 Flight 036 Flight 068 Flight 245 Flight 902 Flight 415 Flight 03 Flight 213 Flight 191 Flight 25 Flight 012 Flight 366 Flight 663 Flight 721 Flight 101/X-20 Flight 542 Flight 513 Flight 99 Flight 065 Flight 2723 Flight 5003 Flight 2230 Flight L-51 Flight 1668 Flight 15 Flight 831 Flight F-28 Flight N-826
1970s	Flight U-45 Flight 1661 Flight 3630 CCCP-11000 crash CCCP-12996 crash Flight 1969 Flight 1912 Flight 773 Flight N-63 Flight 2174 Flight 1491 Flight 558 Flight 1036 Flight 217 Flight 6263 Flight 141 Flight 630 Flight X-167 Flight 6551 Flight 109 Flight A-13 Flight 3932 Flight 964 Flight 19 Flight 2022 Flight 2420 CCCP-75559 crash Flight 662 Flight E-15 Flight A-53 Flight 2003 Flight 3739 Flight 909 Flight 1802 Flight 418 Flights 7957 and 31 Flight 2415 Flight N-36 Flight 3843 Flight 5003 Flight 331 Flight B-2 Flight 6709 Flight 1080 Flight 6515 Flight 1691 Flights 7628 and 7880 Flight 5484
1980s	Flight 4225 Flight 498 Flight 811 Flight 3603 Flight 8641 Flight 411 Flight 343 Flight 5463 Flight 601 Flight 3352 Flight F-637 Flight 3519 Flight 7841 Zolochiv mid-air collision Flight 5143 Flight 101/435 Flight F-77 Flight 2306 Flight 6502 Flight 892 Flight U-505 Flight N-528 Flight 699 Flight 3739
since 1990s	Flight E-35D CCCP-46472 crash Flight 2808 Flight 593 Flight 521 Flight 821 Flight 1492

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