TABSO Flight 101

Last updated

TABSO Flight 101
LZ-BER IL-18 TABSO Bulgarian Air Tspt B-Hill 09MAY64 (6939209849).jpg
A TABSO Ilyushin Il-18, similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date24 November 1966
Summary Controlled flight into terrain, bad weather and pilot error
Site Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
48°14′40″N17°09′55″E / 48.24444°N 17.16528°E / 48.24444; 17.16528
Aircraft
Aircraft type Ilyushin Il-18B
Operator TABSO
Registration LZ-BEN
Occupants82
Passengers74
Crew8
Fatalities82
Survivors0

TABSO Flight 101 was a scheduled service of the Bulgarian national airline from Sofia, Bulgaria, via Budapest, Hungary, and Prague, Czechoslovakia (today's Czech Republic), to East Berlin in the German Democratic Republic (today's Germany). The service was operated by the airline's 1960s' flagship equipment, the Ilyushin Il-18B airliner. On Thursday 24 November 1966, the service crashed near Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia (then part of Czechoslovakia), with the loss of 82 lives. The crash remains Slovakia's deadliest aviation disaster. [1]

Contents

Background

On the day of the accident, flight 101 was operated by an Il-18B airliner registered LZ-BEN. It had been manufactured in January 1964 (constructor's number 7101) and had been accepted by TABSO on 22 January that year. By the time of the accident, it had not been involved in any incidents and had been maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's schedules.

The crew comprised Commander (captain) Lubomir Todorov Antonov, 41 years old, with 11,959 total flight hours. He was among TABSO's most senior Il-18 commanders, having gained command of the type in July 1962, a month or so after its inauguration into his airline's service. Antonov had passed a proficiency test two days earlier. He was very familiar with Bratislava Airport, having operated there on 11 prior occasions. Second Pilot (first officer) was Svetomir Dimitrov Shakadanov, 36, with 5975 flight hours. He had passed a proficiency check the previous day. Navigator Officer was First Class Specialist Navigator Slavi Stefanov Tomakov. Radio-Telegraphy Officer was Nikola Aleksandrov Tasev, 36 years old, with 3160 flight hours. On-Board Mechanical Officer was Stoyan Todorov Rangelov, 42, with 3602 flight hours. Cabin crew comprised Stewardesses Maria Ivanova, Svetla Georgieva (also known as Svetla Marinova, married 18 days earlier to Ivan Slavkov) and Violina Stoichkova.

NationalityDeaths
Bulgaria 45
Hungary 16
Czechoslovakia 5
Germany 5
Brazil 3
Chile 2
Argentina 1
Honduras 1
Japan 1
United Kingdom 1
Switzerland 1
Tunisia 1
Total82

The 74 passengers on board Flight LZ101 were of 12 nationalities: Bulgarians, Argentinians, Britons, Chileans, Czechoslovaks, Germans, Hondurans, Hungarians, Japanese, Soviets, Swiss and Tunisians. Among them were Bulgarian opera soloist Katya Popova, Bulgaria's ambassador to the German Democratic Republic, General Ivan Buchvarov [2] and famous Honduran writer and journalist Ramón Amaya Amador. The diversity of nationalities was partly explained by the recent Ninth Congress of the BKP Bulgarian Communist Party, many of them having been delegated to it by foreign communist parties.

Events

Flight LZ101 departed Budapest at 1146 hours CET. While it was en route, weather in Prague deteriorated. Commander Antonov elected to make a diversion to Bratislava Airport (today the M. R. Štefánik Airport), landing there at 11:58. By 15:30, the weather in Prague had improved and Antonov decided to prepare to resume the flight. Bratislava Airport meteorologist Jan Popeleny briefed the Commander that medium to strong turbulence was expected above the Little Carpathians hills north-west of Bratislava.

By 16:10 the flight had boarded and at 16:20:30, Antonov was given clearance to taxi to Runway 04 or Runway 31 at his discretion. (He chose to use Runway 31 whose extended centreline crossed the Little Carpathians.) At the same time, he was cleared to take off, to turn right, to overfly the Nitra radio beacon and to proceed to overhead Brno and on to Prague at 5,100 metres (16,700 ft) Meanwhile, an Il-14 airliner of Czechoslovak Airlines (now as Czech Airlines) had taken off from Bratislava. In order to maintain separation between the slower Il-14 and his faster Il-18, Antonov was instructed to maintain a height of 300 metres (980 ft) until cleared to climb to his cruise altitude.

Kriz.jpg
Memorial cross at the site of the crash
Brezy.jpg
Birch trees at the accident site

Flight LZ101 took off at 16:28 hrs in almost total darkness. Its departure was observed by air traffic controller Jaroslav Vadovic who reported that it had been normal. Shortly after reporting lift-off, LZ101 was instructed to turn right and contact the Bratislava Approach controller on a frequency of 120.9 MHz. The airliner failed to make the transition to Approach control. Some two minutes after departing Bratislava Airport, it crashed eight kilometres (5.0 mi; 4.3 nmi) from the airport into the Sakrakopec location in the foothills of the Little Carpathians, near Bratislava's borough of Rača. The area of impact was 288 metres (945 ft) above the elevation of the airport. The aircraft struck the snow-covered ground while flying without any bank angle, at a speed of some 250 knots (460 km/h; 290 mph) and while full take-off power was delivered by its engines. As it disintegrated over a period of 20 seconds, it left a swathe with a total length of 562 metres (1,844 ft; 615 yd) and a width of between 30 and 10 metres (98 and 33 ft; 33 and 11 yd), of which the main wreckage was located towards the end of a 265-metre-long (869 ft; 290 yd) strip. [3] A fierce fuel fire broke out but burned out fairly rapidly, mostly because fragments and fuel had dispersed over a large area.

The location of the crash was close to built-up areas of Bratislava and very popular with hikers. The accident was observed and heard by many local residents, including an off-duty air traffic controller who immediately telephoned his colleagues at the airport. The approach controllers at the airport had not, however, observed the accident, visually or on radar.

Because of difficult terrain, total darkness and poor weather, rescue services failed to find the scene of the crash for an hour and a half after being summoned. More delays and hesitation were caused by fears that the airliner might have been carrying radioactive isotopes. Within the next three days, the bodies of 74 of the 82 souls on board were recovered and transported to Bratislava for identification. Most victims had died instantly due to multiple injuries received during the impact, and most had severe burn marks sustained post-mortem.

Today, a timber cross marks the site where the aircraft's flightdeck came to a rest and 82 birch trees (one for each victim) mark the general location of the wreckage. [4]

Investigation

The investigation was conducted by a Czechoslovak commission headed by Chief Inspector of Aeronautics Jan Dvorak. Under international law, he coopted representatives of the country in which the aircraft was registered and representatives of the Ilyushin design bureau and the Ivchenko engine design bureau. A Bulgarian commission of enquiry was also formed, headed by State Comptrol Commission chairman and BKP Bulgarian Communist Party Central Committee member Ninko Stefanov and also included TABSO Director General Lazar Beluhov, air specialist and deputy defence minister Gen Avgust Kabakchiev and Darzhavna Sigurnost (State Security) investigator Col Ivan Ohridski, chief police pathologist Dr Yordan Peychev and others, enough to fill two specially chartered aircraft. [5] The Bulgarians requested to lead the inquiry under a provision in international law which allowed this. The Czechoslovak authorities refused this on the grounds of reciprocity: Bulgaria had not signed the clause allowing foreign investigators to inquire into crashes in Bulgaria.

The investigators documented that the local militia (police), Czechoslovak State Security and Bratislava Military Engineer School ranks searched an area of some 350 by 50 metres (1,150 by 160 ft) surrounding the accident site. This involved removing snow cover of between 30 and 50 cm (12 and 20 in). The fears that the airliner was carrying radioactive isotopes were confirmed on 8 December 1966 when it was stated that it carried two steel-lead containers with iodine-131 for medical purposes.[ citation needed ] This is permitted for carriage on commercial flights under international law. The airliner's altimeter was found to indicate the correct height above Bratislava airport.

Extreme and escalating tension between the Bulgarian and Czechoslovak authorities and accident investigators was apparent from the outset. An advance TABSO party led by Beluhov had arrived at Bratislava the day after the crash but had been denied any access to the accident site or to any air traffic controllers. The Bulgarian side believed that air traffic controllers in the local Tower and Approach sectors had neglected their duties in allowing a slower aircraft (the Il-14) to depart before a high-performance aircraft (the Il-18), in failing to clear flight LZ101 to a safe height, and in failing to monitor its progress on radar. The Czechoslovak side believed that the flight crew had demonstrated poor comprehension of English by failing to turn right after lift-off, as instructed. The Czechoslovaks were also accused by the Bulgarians of spreading rumours that LZ101's flight crew had consumed alcohol while waiting in Bratislava. Dr Peychev insisted that a test recently developed by NASA be conducted on tissues taken from the Commander and Second Pilot; the results showed that they had not consumed alcohol.

Ultimately, Czechoslovak Minister of Transport Alois Indra assumed overall control of the investigation in order to resolve the conflict between the Bulgarian and Czechoslovak sides. The issues in the conflict touched national prestige and the amount of damages payable to the victims' families: if Czechoslovak air traffic control was found deficient, they would receive 20,000 US dollars each. If the Bulgarian crew was found deficient, they would receive 10,000 leva each.

The Czechoslovak commission's eventual report [6] stated that departure from runway 31 followed by climb to 300 metres (980 ft) was possible without colliding with obstacles. While the stipulated height of 300 metres was adhered to, the aircraft departed from the route which would have kept it clear of ground obstacles. This deviation may have been caused by a wider than necessary turn, greater speed, or a combination of both. It was not possible to exclude the possibility that the crew may have doubted the correct operation of their artificial horizon. It was also not possible to exclude the effect of turbulence on maintaining a uniform bank angle in the turn. The crew, however, had sufficient warning of the weather. The situation became critical when the crew failed to execute the stipulated and acknowledged departure manoeuvre and when unpredictable circumstances may have arisen and accrued during the turn. The report concluded that the cause of the accident could not be determined clearly from the established facts. The most likely cause was inadequate evaluation of terrain and weather by the crew, leading them to fly in a manner inappropriate to these conditions.

The accident was the second one to befall TABSO since 1952 and the airline's first publicly acknowledged one. Largely because of the loss of Katya Popova, well known Bulgarian lyric soprano, it had a massive public resonance in Bulgaria. The remains of the Bulgarian victims were ceremonially returned to Sofia and interred in the city's main cemetery, and all traffic was brought to a two-minute standstill when air-raid sirens sounded throughout Bulgaria. Poet Pavel Matev wrote the valedictory poem Ti san li si? ("Are you but a dream?") to Katya Popova which singer Lili Ivanova turned into a remorseful popular hit. [7]

Ivan Buchvarov conspiracy theory

One of the accident investigators appointed by the Bulgarian side, Supreme Court investigating magistrate Nedyu Ganchev, committed suicide during the closing stages of the investigation. Shortly beforehand, he had said to friends, "I cannot do what they insist I should do." This led some Bulgarians to believe that the crash might have been staged by Todor Zhivkov in order to eliminate Gen Buchvarov. The topic rapidly became the subject of insistent dark rumours at the time. It was revived after the fall of Zhivkov. [8] [9] [10] No evidence has been found to confirm or deny this.

Related Research Articles

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines was Bulgaria's government-owned flag carrier airline between 1947 and 2002. During the 1970s, the airline became a significant European carrier. The company encountered financial instability following the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe. Despite managing to continue operations, following the start of the 21st century and a controversial privatisation, it declared bankruptcy in 2002. Balkan was liquidated in late October 2002. Bulgaria Air was appointed Balkan's successor in December 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linate Airport disaster</span> Aircraft accident in Milan, Italy in 2001

The Linate Airport disaster occurred in Italy at Linate Airport in Milan on the morning of Monday, 8 October 2001. Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 686, a McDonnell Douglas MD-87 airliner carrying 110 people bound for Copenhagen, Denmark, collided on take-off with a Cessna Citation CJ2 business jet carrying four people bound for Paris, France. All 114 people on both aircraft were killed, as well as four people on the ground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bratislava Airport</span> Main international airport in Slovakia

M. R. Štefánik Airport, also called – especially in English – Bratislava Airport or Bratislava-Ivanka, located approximately 9 km (5.6 mi) northeast of the city center of Bratislava, spanning over the area of three municipalities. It is the main international airport of Slovakia. Shortly after the independence of Slovakia in 1993, it was named after general Milan Rastislav Štefánik (1880–1919), whose aircraft crashed near Bratislava in 1919. The airport is owned and run by Letisko M. R. Štefánika – Airport Bratislava, a.s. (BTS). As of September 2014 the company is fully owned by the Slovak Republic via the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silk Way Airlines</span> Azerbaijani cargo airline

Silk Way Airlines is an Azerbaijani private cargo airline with its head office and flight operations at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku. It operates freight services to Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as well as services for government and non-governmental organisations. The airline is part of the Silk Way Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thai Airways International Flight 311</span> 1992 aviation accident in Kathmandu

Thai Airways International Flight 311 (TG311/THA311) was a flight from Bangkok, Thailand's Don Mueang International Airport to Kathmandu, Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport. On Friday, 31 July 1992, an Airbus A310-304 on the route, registration HS-TID, crashed on approach to Kathmandu. At 07:00:26 UTC, the aircraft crashed into the side of a mountain 37 kilometres (23 mi) north of Kathmandu at an altitude of 11,500 ft (3,505 m) and a ground speed of 300 knots, killing all 113 passengers and crew members on board. This was both the first hull loss and the first fatal accident involving the Airbus A310.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ČSA Flight 001</span> 1976 crash in Czechoslovakia killing 73

Czechoslovak Airlines Flight 001 was an Ilyushin Il-18B four engine turboprop airliner, registered OK-NAB, which was operating as a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Prague's Ruzyně airport to Bratislava-Ivanka Airport, both in Czechoslovakia, which crashed into the Zlaté Piesky Lake while attempting to land in Bratislava on July 28, 1976. All 6 crew members and 70 out of 73 passengers died.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PMTair Flight 241</span> 2007 aviation accident

Progress Multi Trade Air Flight 241 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The flight was operated by regional airliner PMTair using an Antonov An-24. On 25 June 2007, the Antonov An-24, registered as XU-U4A, disappeared over the Cambodian jungle near Bokor Mountain in Kampot while on approach to Sihanoukville. A massive search and rescue operation ensued with thousands of soldiers and police scoured the area. The aircraft was found to have crashed in southwestern Cambodia, northeast of Dâmrei Mountains. All 22 people on board, most of whom were South Korean tourists, were killed. It remains as the second deadliest air disaster in Cambodian history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165</span> 1969 aviation accident

LOT Polish Airlines Flight LO 165 was an Antonov An-24 aircraft, registration SP-LTF, operating a scheduled passenger flight from Warsaw to Krakow Balice airport. It crashed into a mountain on 2 April 1969 at 16:08 local time (UTC+1) during a snowstorm. All 53 people on board were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeroflot Flight 821</span> 2008 Boeing 737-500 crash in Russia

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 107</span> 1978 passenger plane crash in Gabare, Bulgaria

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 107 was an accident that occurred on 16 March 1978, when a Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-134 airliner on an international flight from Sofia Airport to Warsaw Airport crashed. All passengers and crew died in the crash. As of 2023, it remains the deadliest accident in Bulgarian aviation history. The exact cause of the crash remains unknown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1979 Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collision</span> Fatal aviation accident in Ukraine

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lufthansa Flight 502</span> Aviation accident

Lufthansa Flight 502 was a scheduled flight from Hamburg, Germany to Buenos Aires, Argentina on 11 January 1959. The flight was being operated by a Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation. On the leg between Senegal and Brazil the Super Constellation was on approach to Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport when it crashed near Flecheiras Beach just short of the runway. All 29 passengers and seven of the ten crew were killed. It was the first fatal accident involving the current Lufthansa since it was formed in 1955.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeroflot Flight 141</span> 1973 aviation accident

Aeroflot Flight 141 was an international flight from Moscow to Prague. On 19 February 1973, the Tupolev Tu-154 crashed 1.5 kilometres short of runway 25 of Prague Ruzyně Airport. Most of the passengers survived the crash, but many died in the fire that followed. Out of the 87 passengers and 13 crew members, 62 passengers and 4 crew members perished with 18 occupants having serious injuries and the remaining 16 with either minor or no injuries. The crash was the first loss of and first fatal accident involving the Tu-154.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeroflot Flight 6551</span> 1973 Aeroflot Il-18 crash

Aeroflot Flight 6551 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight on an Ilyushin Il-18B from Baku to Novosibirsk with a stopover in Tashkent that crashed on 11 May 1973 over Semipalatinsk in the Kazakh SSR, killing all 63 people aboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeroflot Flight 721</span> 1964 aviation accident

Aeroflot Flight 721 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight between Moscow and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the Russian SFSR. On Wednesday, 2 September 1964, the aircraft flying this route, an Ilyushin Il-18V, crashed into the side of a hill on approach to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, killing 87 of the 93 people on board. At the time of the accident, it was the deadliest Il-18 crash and the deadliest aviation accident on Russian soil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeroflot Flight 245</span> Aviation accident

Aeroflot Flight 245 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by an Ilyushin Il-18B that crashed during the cruise phase of the flight en route to Sochi on Sunday 17 December 1961, resulting in the death of all 59 people on board. An investigation revealed the aircraft entered a steep dive after the flaps were accidentally extended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1969 Yukhnov mid-air collision</span>

The 1969 Yukhnov mid-air collision occurred when an Ilyushin Il-14M, operating as Aeroflot Flight 831, a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Moscow-Bykovo Airport to Simferopol Airport, Crimea collided in the air on 23 June 1969 with an Antonov An-12BP of the Soviet Air Force over the Yukhnovsky district of Kaluga Oblast, in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. All 120 occupants of both aircraft perished in the crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20</span> 1965 aviation accident

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeroflot Flight U-45</span> 1970 aviation accident in the Soviet Union

Aeroflot Flight U-45 was a passenger flight operated by an Ilyushin Il-18 that crashed during the approach to Samarkand on Friday, 6 February 1970, resulting in the death of 92 of the 106 people on board. An investigation revealed the aircraft went below the minimum obstacle clearance altitude (MOCA) during approach to Samarkand International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Flight 251 (2021)</span> 2021 airplane crash in Russia

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Air Flight 251 (PTK251) was a domestic Russian scheduled passenger flight from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Palana, both in Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East. On 6 July 2021, the Antonov An-26 serving the flight crashed on approach to Palana, killing all 28 passengers and crew on board.

References

  1. ↑ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin Il-18V LZ-BEN Bratislava-Ivanka Airport (BTS)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network . Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  2. ↑ Tsakov T, "Катастрофите на "Балкан" – мъртвите и виновните", ["The Crashes of Balkan: the Dead and the Guilty"; in Bulgarian] Meridian Pres-EM, 1994
  3. ↑ Vaclav Kolouch, "Historie Nehod: Letecke Nehody Zahranicnich Letadel na Uzemi Ceskoslovenska: 5. dil, 24.11.1966, IL-18B, LZ-BEN, TABSO, Male Karpaty", , Letectví a kosmonautika No 7, 2007, p 62
  4. ↑ Ďuriančík, Pavol (24 November 2006). "Haváriu lietadla nad Račou pripomína kríž" [Cross commemorates airplane crash over Rača] (in Slovak). SME . Retrieved 8 December 2007.
  5. ↑ "42 години от катастрофата на български самолет край Братислава" [42 years since the crash of a Bulgarian plane near Bratislava]. Blitz.bg (in Bulgarian). 26 November 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  6. ↑ Kolouch, op. cit.
  7. ↑ Ti san li si performed by Lili Ivanova, "Лили Иванова - Ти Сън Ли Си / Vbox7". Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  8. ↑ "Enemy of Zhivkov dies in Mystery Crash" (Враг на Живков загива в мистериозна катастрофа) by Boris Temkov (in Bulgarian), http://paper.standartnews.com/archive/2004/12/11/supplement/s4289_8.htm
  9. ↑ Kastelov B, Тодор Живков – мит и истина ("Todor Zhivkov: the Myth and the Truth"), Trud, Sofia, 2005 (in Bulgarian)
  10. ↑ http://m1d2g3.blog.bg/viewpost.php?id=201038%5B%5D
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.