Aeroflot Flight 2230

Aeroflot Flight 2230 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight from Yekaterinburg (then Sverdlovsk) to Tashkent that crashed after takeoff on 16 November 1967, killing all 107 people aboard (including twelve children).^[1] The exact cause of the accident remains unknown.^[1] At the time it was the deadliest aviation accident in the Russian SFSR and the worst accident involving the Il-18.^[2]

Crew

The crew consisted of the pilot in command Yuri Abaturov, co-pilot Nikolai Mikhaylov, navigating officer Anatoly Zagorsky, flight engineer Viktor Ospishchev, radio officer Yuri Yefremov and three air hostesses: Rimma Lombina, Valentina Shashkova and Marina Shvedova.^[1]

Accident

The aircraft was cleared for takeoff from Koltsovo Airport at 21:02 local time.^[1] Climbing at a speed of 340–350 km/h, the aircraft suddenly turned to the right at an altitude of 140–150 m and began to rapidly descend,^[1] impacting, with a horizontal velocity of 440 km/h and a vertical speed of 20 m/s, in a ploughed field with 37 degrees right bank.^[1][2] The aircraft completely disintegrated, complicating the subsequent accident investigation.^[1] There were also fire outbreaks at the crash site.

The investigation proposed two possible causes: a short-time negative thrust due to failure of the far right engine and false readings of the attitude indicators, even though both causes could lead to the disaster only in the presence of other factors.^[1]

References