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Aeroflot Flight 773

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1971 airliner bombing
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Aeroflot Flight 773
An Aeroflot Tu-104B, similar to the aircraft involved in the incident
Accident
Date10 October 1971 (1971-10-10)
SummaryBombing
SiteNear Baranovo, Naro-Fominsky District
Aircraft
Aircraft typeTupolev Tu-104B
OperatorAeroflot (Civil Aviation Administration of Ukraine)
RegistrationСССР-42490
Flight originVnukovo Airport, Russia
DestinationSimferopol Airport, Ukraine
Passengers18
Crew7
Fatalities25
Survivors0

Aeroflot Flight 773 was a scheduled domestic Soviet Union passenger flight from Moscow to Simferopol that crashed following a bomb explosion on 10 October 1971.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Tupolev Tu-104B registered as СССР-42390 to the Ukraine Civil Aviation Directorate of Aeroflot. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had endured 13,062 flight hours and 10,452 pressurization cycles.

Crew

Seven crew members were aboard the flight. The cockpit crew consisted of:

  • Captain Konstantin Romanovich Klyushnik
  • Co-pilot Anatoly Yefimovich Vorobevsky
  • Navigator Vladimir Alekseevich Solodyannikov
  • Flight engineer Valentin Alekseevich Bezrodny
  • Radio operator Viktor Ivanovich Obedkov

The two flight attendants consisted of Svetlana Vladimirovna Papushina and Boris Nesterovich Marchenko.

A policeman was also on board, but was counted as a passenger in the report.

Synopsis

The aircraft arrived at Moscow from Simferopol at 19:02, after which the aircraft was prepared for the return trip to Simferopol. Weather conditions at the time were overcast with low clouds and a visibility of 6 kilometers. Flight 773 took off from Vnukovo Airport at 20:16. Thirty-one seconds later the crew contacted air traffic control and reported that they were heading for Chornaya Gryaz. The controller ordered the aircraft to climb to 1,500 m (4,900 ft). The controller contacted Flight 773 asking them if they had passed through 1,200 m (3,900 ft), but the crew did not respond. The controller repeatedly attempted to contact the crew, but there was no response.

Just seconds after the crew reported to the controller about the takeoff, an explosion ripped through the aircraft. The left side of the fuselage was torn open and the left wing was severely damaged. The aircraft began rolling to the right with a loss of altitude. At 150–200 m (490–660 ft) the aircraft broke up and some passenger seats fell out. The aircraft crashed in a nose-down attitude in a 90 degree right bank near the village of Baranovo, Naro-Fominsky District, some 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of Vnukovo Airport. All 25 people on board died, including film actress Raisa Zvereva.

Investigation

An investigation showed that debris that fell from the aircraft before the crash showed signs of fire damage. Fragments of TNT were also found. It was concluded that the explosion was the result of a bomb that was located in the luggage compartment; however, it was later revealed that a bomb of 400–800 grams of TNT was placed on the cabin floor, between the cabin wall and a seat at frame 43. The investigation finished in 1973 without finding the suspect who placed the bomb.

References

  1. "Tupolev Tu-104B СССР-42490". Russian Planes (in Russian). Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  2. "Взрыв на борту Ту-104Б Украинского УГА близ аэропорта Внуково" [Explosion on board Tu-104 near Vnukovo Airport]. airdisaster.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 9 January 2019.

External links

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Aviation accidents and incidents in 1971 (1971)
Jan 7 B-52C Lake Michigan crashJan 18 Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 130Jan 22 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crashJan 30 Indian Airlines hijackingJan 31 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crashMar 31 Aeroflot Flight 1969May 23 Aviogenex Flight 130May 28 Colorado Aviation Aero Commander 680Jun 6 Hughes Airwest Flight 706Jun 7 Allegheny Airlines Flight 485Jul 3 Toa Domestic Airlines Flight 63Jul 25 Aeroflot Flight 1912Jul 30 All Nippon Airways Flight 58Jul 30 Pan Am Flight 845Aug 28 Malév Flight 731Sep 4 Alaska Airlines Flight 1866Sep 6 Paninternational Flight 112Sep 13 Lin Biao incidentSep 16 Malév Flight 110Oct 2 British European Airways Flight 706Oct 10 Aeroflot Flight 773Nov 9 Aeroflot Flight N-63Nov 9 Livorno RAF Hercules crashNov 10 Indian Ocean Vickers Viscount crashNov 20 China Airlines Flight 825Nov 24 D. B. Cooper hijackingDec 1 Aeroflot Flight 2174Dec 2 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 712Dec 24 LANSA Flight 508
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Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union in the 1970s
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