Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 26 December 1941 |
Site | 6 km from Dmitrievka (Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union) |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Tupolev G-2 |
Operator | Aeroflot (Kazakh Territorial Directorate of Civil Air Fleet) |
Registration | USSR-Л3043 |
Flight origin | Alma-Ata Airport |
Occupants | 34 |
Fatalities | 26 |
Survivors | 8 |
G-2 Crash near Alma-Ata was an aviation accident involving a G-2 aircraft (a cargo-passenger version of the ANT-6) operated by Aeroflot near Alma-Ata on 26 December 1941. The crash resulted in the deaths of 26 people, including several leaders of the Kazakh SSR. This was the first documented air disaster on the territory of Kazakhstan. [1]
The G-2 was a cargo-passenger version of the civilian four-engine aircraft ANT-6, which in turn had been created by modifying the bomber Tupolev TB-3 under the leadership of A.N. Tupolev. The G-2 aircraft, tail number USSR-L3043 (serial number 22182), was built in 1939 and was soon transferred to the Kazakh Territorial Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet. [2] [3]
The aircraft was supposed to carry two teams from the Central Committee on a mission to the Akmola and Kustanay regions. It was piloted by the second-class pilot and aircraft commander A.I. Solovyev (flight time 4,256 hours, including 177 hours on the G-2) and the co-pilot G.S. Tupchy, who was assigned to this flight by the authorities despite having no flight experience on the G-2, and thus sat in the cockpit as a passenger. A total of 34 people were on board, with 3,200 kilograms of fuel in the tanks. The takeoff weight was exceeded by approximately one ton. [2]
According to the weather forecast provided, fog was expected to start near Bakanas, but in reality, the fog began in the vicinity of Alma-Ata. However, the head of the Civil Air Fleet Directorate A.Ya. Gatushkin decided to proceed with the takeoff. The airport manager, V.A. Kudinov, was negligent in not insisting on canceling the flight. [2]
After taking off from the airport, the aircraft initially flew at an altitude of 100–150 meters, with strong turbulence being noted by the surviving passengers. The crew then began a left turn. At that moment, the aircraft started losing altitude, then touched the ground with the left wingtip, and crashed. The more than two tons of fuel in the tanks ignited, causing a fire that destroyed the aircraft. Only eight passengers seated in the tail section, who were thrown out during the impact, survived. All other 26 people, including both pilots, perished. [2]
Source: [2]
As concluded by the technical examination, the aircraft was fully operational before it struck the ground, although it was overloaded by nearly a ton. It was also noted that the aircraft commander, Solovyev, lacked the necessary experience flying in heavy fog ("blind"), using instruments, while the co-pilot, Tupchy, had no experience flying this type of aircraft at all. Another contributing factor was the inaccurate weather forecast along the flight route. The primary person held responsible for the crash was the head of the Civil Air Fleet Directorate, Gatushkin, who personally prepared and dispatched the crew, although he was not authorized to do so. The manager of Alma-Ata Airport, Kudinov, was also blamed for not insisting on the flight's cancellation. As for the senior dispatcher, F.S. Listovnichy, it was unclear why he was allowed to work since he was on leave due to health reasons after returning from the front. [2]
From the commission's conclusions on 30 December 1941 [2] :
By the decision of the Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Kazakh SSR in August 1942, the head of the Civil Air Fleet Directorate A.Ya. Gatushkin and the airport manager V.A. Kudinov were sentenced to imprisonment for 10 and 6 years, respectively, with Gatushkin being expelled from the party CPSU. However, in December of that year, the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union acquitted them, and Gatushkin was later reinstated in the party. Senior dispatcher F.S. Listovnichy received a strict reprimand with a warning from the party. [2]
The families of the victims received one-time allowances and were granted pensions. The victims of the crash were buried on 28 December in a mass grave at the Central Cemetery in Alma-Ata. Later, the grave was enclosed with a cast iron fence and a monument was erected. [2]
On 12 November 1996, Saudia Flight 763, a Boeing 747 en route from Delhi, India, to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907, an Ilyushin Il-76 en route from Chimkent, Kazakhstan, to Delhi, collided over the city of Charkhi Dadri, around 100 km west of Delhi. The crash killed all 349 people on board both planes, making it the world's deadliest mid-air collision and the deadliest aviation accident ever in India. The final report from the investigation found that "[T]he root and approximate cause of the collision" was the failure of the Kazakh crew to maintain the correct altitude. Contributing factors included the poor English language skills in the Kazakh cockpit resulting in inadequate interpretation of directions provided by air traffic control, and three specific incidents of failures in crew resource management (CRM) by the Kazakh crew. The report also suggested technical enhancements that would provide assistance in preventing a future crew's mistakes being allowed to go unchecked in real time.
Tajik Air is an flag carrier airline of Tajikistan. It has its head office at Dushanbe International Airport in Dushanbe. The airline's main hub is Dushanbe International Airport.
Kazakhstan Airlines was an airline from Kazakhstan, serving as national flag carrier of the country from its independence in 1991 until 1996. Following the disaster of the Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision, Kazakhstan Airlines ceased operations, and its role as flag carrier was transferred to Air Kazakhstan.
SCAT Airlines, legally PLL SCAT Air Company, is a Kazakh civil airline. Its head office is located in the Shymkent International Airport in Şymkent, Kazakhstan. It operates services to all major cities of Kazakhstan and its neighboring countries. Its main base is Şymkent Airport, with focus cities at Aqtau International Airport, Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport, and Almaty International Airport.
Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport, alternatively referred by its previous name as Astana International Airport until 2017, is the international airport serving Astana, Kazakhstan, the capital and second most populous city in the country. It is the primary aviation hub for northern Kazakhstan. Regionally, it stands as the second-busiest international air passenger gateway into Central Asia after Almaty International Airport (ALA). The airport is also the second-busiest airport in terms of total passenger traffic, air traffic movements and total cargo handled in Kazakhstan, with ~7,500,000 passengers served annually in 2023, a 25% increase compared with 2022, a new passenger record for the airport. On average, the airport handles more than 200 departures a day.
Almaty International Airport, is the largest international airport of Kazakhstan, surpassing Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport (NQZ) in Astana and the principal hub of Air Astana. It serves Almaty, the largest and most populous city in the country, and, with its surface transport links, much of the rest of the country.
Kokshetau International Airport is an international airport in Akmola Region, Kazakhstan. It is the primary international airport serving Kokshetau, and also the nearest to the Burabay National Park and Kokshetau National Park.
Nikolai Alekseyevich Kuznetsov was a Soviet, and later, Kazakhstani aviator. Kuznetsov served in the Soviet Armed Forces during World War II, and later went on to serve as the director of the Kazakh SSR's Administration of Civil Aviation. Kuznetsov has been called the "father of Kazakhstani aviation".
Aeroflot Flight 4225 was a Tupolev Tu-154B-2 on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Alma-Ata Airport to Simferopol Airport on 8 July 1980. The aircraft had reached an altitude of no more than 500 feet when the airspeed suddenly dropped because of thermal currents it encountered during the climb out. This caused the airplane to stall less than 5 kilometres from the airport, crash and catch fire, killing all 156 passengers and 10 crew on board. To date, it remains the deadliest aviation accident in Kazakhstan. At the time, the crash was the deadliest involving a Tupolev Tu-154 until Aeroflot Flight 3352 crashed in 1984 killing 178
Bek Air was a Kazakh airline headquartered in Oral.
SCAT Airlines Flight 760 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Kokshetau to Almaty, Kazakhstan, operated by a Bombardier CRJ200 twinjet that on 29 January 2013 crashed in thick fog near the village of Kyzyltu, while on approach to Almaty. All 16 passengers and 5 crew on board were killed.
Khiuaz Qayrqyzy Dospanova was a Kazakh pilot and navigator who served during World War II in the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, nicknamed the "Night Witches." In addition to being the first Kazakh woman officer in the Soviet Air Force, she was the only Kazakh woman to serve in the "Night Witches". Despite sustaining multiple fractures in her legs in a ground collision in 1943, she returned to active duty and continued to participate in sorties against doctor's recommendations; she was eventually awarded the title Hero of Kazakhstan in 2004 for her perseverance, and Atyrau International Airport is named in her honor.
Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Moscow to Alma-Ata via Omsk, Soviet Union, that crashed in low visibility conditions on 4 January 1965, killing 64 of the 103 people on board.
Aeroflot Flight 1080 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight from Yekaterinburg, Russia, to Kostanay, Kazakhstan, that crashed at night shortly after takeoff on 7 October 1978. All 38 passengers and crew were killed in the crash which occurred when one of the engines failed due to icing during initial climb out. At the time, the crash was the second worst in the history of the Yakovlev Yak-40, which had entered operational service with Aeroflot just ten years prior.
Aeroflot Flight 207 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight from Rostov-on-Don Airport to Tbilisi International Airport that crashed on 10 June 1960 in the Tkvarcheli district. The crash involved an Ilyushin Il-14 aircraft operated by Aeroflot. There were 24 passengers and 7 crew on board, all of whom perished in the crash.
Bek Air Flight 2100 was a domestic passenger flight from Almaty to Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, operated by a Fokker 100 that crashed on 27 December 2019 while taking off from Almaty International Airport. Of the 98 people on board – 93 passengers and five crew, 13 died in the crash and 66 were injured. The Kazakhstani government started investigations on the same day.
On 7 March 1965, an Aeroflot Li-2 operating as Aeroflot Flight 542 crashed shortly after takeoff from Abakan. Approximately 40 minutes after departure, the aircraft banked left and dived into the mountains of the Krasnoyarsk Krai region of the USSR. All 31 passengers and crew died, making it the deadliest known accident involving the Li-2.
Aeroflot Flight F-28 was a domestic flight from Talas to Frunze that crashed on Saturday, June 28, 1969, in the mountains of the Kyrgyz Range near Talas, resulting in the deaths of 40 people.
The 1950 Karaganda Il-12 crash was a fatal accident involving an Il-12 operated by Aeroflot on 30 July 1950, in which all 25 people on board were killed when the aircraft crashed in Karaganda.
The 1933 Tupolev ANT-7 Podolsk crash was an aviation accident that occurred south of Podolsk, Moscow Oblast, on Tuesday, 5 September 1933. The crash involved a converted Tupolev ANT-7 aircraft and resulted in the deaths of all eight people on board, including prominent figures in the Soviet aviation industry and civil aviation. The incident gained widespread attention and ultimately led to a comprehensive reorganization of air transport in the Soviet Union.