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1942 Aeroflot Tupolev ANT-20bis crash

CCCP-Л760, the aircraft involved
Accident
Date	December 14, 1942 (1942-12-14)
Summary	Crew errors, loss of control
Site	86 km (53 mi) southwest of Tashkent
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Tupolev PS-124
Operator	Aeroflot
Registration	СССР-Л760
Flight origin	Urgench, Uzbek SSR
Stopover	Chardzhou, Turkmen SSR
Destination	Tashkent, Uzbek SSR
Passengers	26
Crew	10
Fatalities	36
Injuries	0
Survivors	0

On 14 December 1942, a Tupolev ANT-20bis aircraft operated by Russian airline Aeroflot crashed during a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Urgench to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. All 36 people on board died, and the accident was due to a loss of control.

Aircraft

The ANT-20bis involved in the accident was built in 1938 to replace the ANT-20, which crashed in 1935. Equipped with more powerful Mikulin M-34FRNV engines, this allowed six engines instead of eight and eliminated the two engines above the fuselage. Passenger capacity increased to 64 as a result. Designated PS-124 (because it was built at Plant No. 124), it first flew on 15 May 1939. The aircraft was ferried to Moscow and after passing tests, it was registered as CCCP-Л760 and transferred to Aeroflot. The PS-124 operated on the Moscow–Kharkov–Rostov-on-Don–Mineralnye Vody route until it was transferred to Aeroflot's MAGON (Moscow Special Purpose Air Group) division in December 1940. At this point it was re-engined with Mikulin AM-35 engines. Due to World War II, the aircraft was transferred to Aeroflot's Uzbek division, serving Central Asian routes. On the day of the crash, the aircraft had a total operating time of 272 hours.

Flight

On 12 December the aircraft flew from Urgench to Chardzhou (now Türkmenabat) with 85 passengers and 1,925 kg (4,244 lb) of cargo, piloted by I. I. Govyaz. Two days later at 11:50, the aircraft took off for Tashkent with 26 passengers and 10 crew, flying at 500 m (1,600 ft). Two hours ten minutes into the flight, the aircraft suddenly pitched down and entered a steep dive, crashing into the ground at an 80° angle in the steppe three kilometres (two miles) northeast of the "Pakhta-Aral" state farm (86 km or 53 mi southwest of Tashkent Airport). None of the 36 on board survived.

Investigation

Govyaz had allowed a passenger, Kozlov (also a pilot), to take control of the aircraft. Co-pilot Tropikov was to look after Kozlov while Govyaz left the cockpit. Kozlov somehow managed to activate the trimmer for the horizontal stabilizer, increasing its angle and sending the aircraft into a dive. Neither Kozlov nor Tropikov were able to regain control of the aircraft due to confusion and the aircraft's low altitude.

See also

• List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft

External links

• Profile of the crash at the Flight Safety Network (ASN)

References

1. "Loss of control Accident Tupolev ANT-20bis CCCP-L760, Monday 14 December 1942". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
2. ^ "АНТ-20 (МАКСИМ ГОРЬКИЙ)" [ANT-20 (MAKSIM GOR'KIY)]. Tupolev. Archived from the original on 24 July 2016.
3. Kostenko, Igor (1978). "Авиагиганты второй пятилетки" [Aviation giants of the second five-year plan]. Tekhnika Molodezhi (in Russian). No. 7. p. 39.
4. ^ Kotelnikov, Vladimir (2011). "Пассажирский самолет ПС-124" [Passenger aircraft PS-124]. Aviatsiya i Kosmonautika. No. 3.
5. "Materials of the investigation of the crash of CCCP-Л760" (Document). Uzbek Directorate of Aeroflot. 14 December 1942.
6. Duffy, Paul; Kandalov, Andrei (1999). Tupolev - The Man and His Aircraft. Moscow Rabochy. ISBN 5-239-02089-2.

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