Aeroflot Flight 811

Aeroflot Flight 811
Accident
Date	24 August 1981
Summary	Mid-air collision
Site	70 km (43.8 mls) E of Zavitinsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia) ; 50°01′10″N130°28′00″E / 50.01944°N 130.46667°E
Total fatalities	37
Total injuries	1
Total survivors	1
First aircraft
	; An Aeroflot An-24RV similar to the accident aircraft
Type	Antonov An-24RV
Operator	Aeroflot
Registration	CCCP-46653
Flight origin	Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport (UUS)
Stopover	Komsomolsk-on-Amur Airport (KXK)
Destination	Blagoveshchensk Airport (BQS/UHBB)
Passengers	27
Crew	5
Fatalities	31
Injuries	1
Survivors	1
Second aircraft
	; A Tu-16K similar to the accident aircraft
Type	Tupolev Tu-16K
Operator	Soviet Air Forces
Registration	07514 (call sign)
Flight origin	Zavitinsk air base
Destination	Zavitinsk air base
Crew	6
Fatalities	6
Survivors	0

Last updated April 09, 2024

Aeroflot Flight 811 was a scheduled Soviet domestic passenger flight from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Blagoveshchensk that collided mid-air on 24 August 1981 with a Tupolev Tu-16K strategic bomber over Zavitinsky District in Amur Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia). The collision between Aeroflot's Antonov An-24RV and Tupolev Tu-16K occurred at an altitude of 5,220 metres (17,130 ft), killing 37 people on both aircraft. The sole survivor, 20-year-old passenger Larisa Savitskaya from Antonov An-24RV, was rescued on the third day after the accident.

Background and collision

Antonov An-24RV departed from Komsomolsk-on-Amur at 14:56 local time, after a four-hour delay due to weather conditions. The crew consisted of first pilot Alexander Mirgorodsky, co-pilot Valery Shevelev, navigating officer Fedosy Kryzhanovsky, flight engineer Nikolai Dimitriyev and flight attendant Galina Borisova.^[1] Among the passengers was one child.^[1] Larisa Savitskaya and her husband Vladimir were returning from their honeymoon.

The flight dispatcher was informed that the local airspace would be traversed by military aircraft at altitudes of 4,200–4,500 metres (13,800–14,800 ft).^[1] On the same day, at 16:00 and 16:01 local time two Tupolev Tu-16Ks left Zavitinsk air base for weather reconnaissance. At 16:21 local time, one of them (serial number 6203106) collided with the Aeroflot An-24RV, 70 km east of Zavitinsk air base.^[1] The collision occurred in good lighting conditions, with a visibility of over 10 km.^[1] Savitskaya was sound asleep at that moment.^[2] The Tu-16K razed off the An-24RV's roof and severed both wings.^[2] The temperature inside An-24RV's cabin dropped from 25 °C (77 °F) to −30 °C (−22 °F).^[3] Both aircraft disintegrated and fell on taiga terrain. The fragments of Antonov An-24RV were scattered in a south-western direction, 1020 m from the collision point, on a 2,500 by 900 metres (8,200 by 3,000 ft) area. The Tu-16K exploded after the ground impact, its fragments were scattered approximately 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) from the collision point.^[1]

Savitskaya was conscious during the fall, which lasted eight minutes.^[2] She survived partly because the 4-by-3-metre (13.1 by 9.8 ft) aircraft fragment she was in started to glide^[3] and landed on a soft, swampy glade. Savitskaya also pushed against the seat with her hands and feet, "perhaps hoping to absorb the blow" in her own words.^[2] The impact with the ground, however, knocked her temporarily unconscious.^[2] She sustained a concussion, a broken arm and rib and some spinal injuries.^[2]

Investigation

The investigation concluded that the flight operations director at Zavitinsk air base did not use radar assistance to track the Tupolevs, which became the direct cause of the accident.^[1] Additionally, there was a poor coordination between the local civilian and military air traffic control due to flawed air traffic regulations.^[1] Military prosecutors placed the responsibility for the accident on the pilots of both aircraft.^[2]

Aftermath

The first reports about the accident in the Soviet press were censored, saying Savitskaya had crashed in a homemade glider.^[2] Savitskaya was warned by the KGB not to reveal the accident to the public; she spoke openly about the accident for the first time on 11 January 2001 in Moscow. Savitskaya was paid 75 Soviet rubles ($20) compensation by Aeroflot.

Portrayal in films

The One, disaster-survival adventure film based on the real events. The film tells the story of Savitskaya's life, catastrophe and rescue.

Related Research Articles

The Tupolev Tu-134 is a twin-engined, narrow-body jet airliner built in the Soviet Union for short and medium-haul routes from 1966 to 1989. The original version featured a glazed-nose design and, like certain other Russian airliners, it can operate from unpaved airfields.

The Tupolev Tu-104 is a retired medium-range, narrow-body, twin turbojet-powered Soviet airliner. It was the second to enter regular service, behind the British de Havilland Comet and was the only jetliner operating in the world from 1956 to 1958, when the British jetliner was grounded due to safety concerns.

The Tupolev Tu-124 is a 56-passenger short-range twinjet airliner built in the Soviet Union. It was the first Soviet airliner powered by turbofan engines.

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.

Aeroflot Flight 5143 was a domestic scheduled Karshi–Ufa–Leningrad passenger flight that crashed near Uchkuduk, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union, on 10 July 1985. The crash killed all 200 occupants on board. Investigators determined that crew fatigue was a factor in the accident.

Aeroflot Flight 821 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Aeroflot-Nord in a service agreement with Aeroflot and as its subsidiary. On 14 September 2008, the aircraft operating the flight crashed on approach to Perm International Airport at 5:10 local time (UTC+06). All 82 passengers and six crew members were killed. Among the passengers who were killed was Russian Colonel General Gennady Troshev, an adviser to the President of Russia who had been the commander of the North Caucasus Military District during the Second Chechen War. A section of the Trans-Siberian Railway was damaged by the crash. Flight 821 is the deadliest accident involving a Boeing 737-500, surpassing the 1993 crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 733, and was the second-deadliest aviation incident in 2008, behind Spanair Flight 5022.

Aeroflot Flight 3352 was a regularly scheduled Aeroflot flight from Krasnodar to Novosibirsk, with an intermediate landing in Omsk. While landing at Omsk Airport on Thursday, 11 October 1984, the aircraft crashed into maintenance vehicles on the runway, killing 174 people on board and four on the ground. While a chain of mistakes in airport operations contributed to the accident, its major cause was an air traffic controller falling asleep on duty. As of 2022, this remains the deadliest aviation accident on Russian territory. It was also the deadliest aviation accident involving a Tupolev Tu-154 at the time until the crash of Aeroflot Flight 5143 nine months later; as of 2023, it still ranks as the second-deadliest accident involving a Tupolev Tu-154. The tragedy was kept secret for twenty years, until Komsomolskaya Pravda published an article in 2004.

On 11 August 1979, a mid-air collision occurred over the Ukrainian SSR, near the city of Dniprodzerzhynsk. The aircraft involved were both Tupolev Tu-134As on scheduled domestic passenger flights, operated by Aeroflot. All 178 people aboard both aircraft died in the accident. The Soviet aviation board investigating the accident concluded that the crash was caused by "mistakes and violations" made by air traffic controllers.

Katekavia Flight 9357 was an Antonov An-24 regional aircraft on a domestic flight from Krasnoyarsk to Igarka in Russia that crashed on final approach in fog in the early hours of 3 August 2010, killing twelve out of the fifteen people on board.

Aeroflot Flight 964 was a flight operated by Aeroflot from Kutaisi Airport, Georgia to Domodedovo Airport, Moscow, Russian SFSR. On 13 October 1973, the Tupolev Tu-104 operating on the route crashed during its approach to Moscow, killing all 122 passengers and crew on board. It remains the deadliest accident involving a Tupolev Tu-104.

Aeroflot Flight 3932 was a flight operated by Aeroflot from Koltsovo Airport to Omsk Tsentralny Airport. On 30 September 1973, the Tupolev Tu-104 operating the route crashed shortly after takeoff from Sverdlovsk, killing all 108 passengers and crew on board.

Aeroflot Flight 601 was a scheduled Soviet domestic passenger flight from Arkhangelsk to Leshukonskoye in the Russian SSR, operated by Aeroflot. The Antonov An-24RV that was involved crashed on 24 December 1983 during approach to Leshukonskoye. Forty-four people were killed; five survived the accident. Pilot error was cited as the cause of the accident.

Aeroflot Flight 1912 was a scheduled domestic Aeroflot passenger flight on the Odessa-Kiev (Kyiv)-Chelyabinsk-Novosibirsk-Irkutsk-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok route that crashed on 25 July 1971, making a hard landing at Irkutsk Airport. It touched down 150 metres (490 ft) short of the runway, breaking the left wing and catching fire. Of the 126 people on board the aircraft, 29 survived.

The 1976 Anapa mid-air collision was the collision of Aeroflot Flight 7957 and Aeroflot Flight S-31 on 9 September 1976, off the coast of Anapa in the Soviet Union. All 70 people on the two aircraft were killed in the crash. The primary cause of the accident was determined to be error by the air traffic controller; investigators never recovered the fuselage of the Yak-40.

Aeroflot Flight 5484 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Odesa to Kazan with a stopover in Kyiv that experienced loss of control followed by breaking up in the air on 29 August 1979 over the Tambov Oblast, killing all 63 people on board. It remains the deadliest Tu-124 crash and regular passenger services with the Tu-124 were permanently suspended after the accident, but the Tu-124 was still used by the Soviet military after the accident.

The 1958 Aeroflot Тu-104 Kanash crash occurred on 17 October 1958 when a Tupolev Tu-104A operated by Aeroflot flying an international route from Beijing to Moscow crashed in bad weather near the town of Kanash, Chuvashia, Russia, four hundred miles east of Moscow, killing all 80 people on board. The flight was carrying high-level diplomatic delegations from numerous Soviet aligned countries such as China, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia. It was just the second fatal accident involving the Tu-104 which had been introduced into Aeroflot's inventory two years earlier, and the deadliest in the airline's history until the crash of Aeroflot Flight 902 in 1962.

The One is a 2022 Russian disaster-survival adventure film written, co-produced and directed by Dmitry Suvorov. The film is based on the real events that occurred in 1981 Aeroflot Flight 811, when rescuers found a twenty-year-old student who survived after falling from a height of 5 kilometers.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Столкновение Ан-24РВ Дальневосточного УГА и Ту-16К в районе Завитинска" (in Russian). Airdisaster.ru. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lyuba Pronina (7 August 2002). "Trapped in a Harrowing Midair Collision". The Moscow Times . Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
1 2 "Лариса САВИЦКАЯ: "Для меня уже вырыли могилу"". Izvestia (in Russian). 29 July 2002. Retrieved 24 January 2014.

External links

Accident description (Aviation Safety Network)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[airdis-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Столкновение Ан-24РВ Дальневосточного УГА и Ту-16К в районе Завитинска" (in Russian). Airdisaster.ru. Retrieved 24 January 2014.

[tmt-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lyuba Pronina (7 August 2002). "Trapped in a Harrowing Midair Collision". The Moscow Times . Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2014.

[izvestiya-3] 1 2 "Лариса САВИЦКАЯ: "Для меня уже вырыли могилу"". Izvestia (in Russian). 29 July 2002. Retrieved 24 January 2014.

[1]

[2]

[3]