Air crashes happen relatively infrequently, but each of them excites society in a special way. This is not surprising, because dozens and hundreds of people die in them in no time. In this regard, the Soviet Union was no exception . Let's look at the largest air crashes in the USSR, find out their details and statistics of the victims.
Catastrophe list
How many air crashes were in the USSR? If we take into account even the smallest, costless victims, their number will be very large, and it is unlikely to be calculable at all. We will stop at the most famous and major wrecks. The list of air crashes in the USSR is as follows:
- disaster near Tiflis (1925);
- crash at the Central airfield of Moscow (1935);
- death of the Air Force team in Sverdlovsk (1950);
- plane crash in Vurnarsky district (1958);
- disaster near Krasnoyarsk (1962);
- disaster in Sverdlovsk (1967);
- the collision of aircraft over the Kaluga region (1969);
- disaster in Svetlogorsk (1972);
- wreck in the Kharkov region (1972);
- plane crash at Nersky lake (1972);
- catastrophe near Leningrad (1974);
- death of the Pakhtakor team (1979);
- clash over Zavitinsky (1981);
- accident at the airport of Omsk (1984);
- plane crash over Lviv (1985);
- disaster near Uchkuduk (1985);
- crash at Kurumoch airport (1986);
- crash in the Irkutsk region (1989).
This list includes not only the largest crashes in terms of the number of victims, but also the most resonant ones. Of course, the number of air crashes in the USSR was much greater, but we can only dwell on the above tragedies in detail.
First disaster
The largest catastrophes in the USSR are opened by the crash of the Junkers F 13 passenger plane, which happened near Tiflis in Georgia in 1925. It is from him that one can begin the countdown of aviation tragedies in the Soviet state.
This flight followed from the capital of Georgia to Sukhum. On board there were two crew members and three passengers flying on official assignment. 15 minutes after takeoff, the Junkers F 13 suddenly caught fire. Two of the passengers made a desperate jump, but crashed to death. The remaining passengers died from the explosion that occurred during a plane collision with the ground.
It was not possible to establish a reliable cause of the fire, but according to one version, it happened because one of the passengers threw a burning match on the floor.
Of course, the scale of this event in terms of the number of victims is significantly inferior to those disasters, which we will discuss in the future, but nevertheless, this aircraft crash can be called the first in the USSR.
The crash at the Moscow airport
The largest air crashes in the USSR continue with the tragedy that occurred in May 1935 in the vicinity of the airfield of Moscow, which was located in the village of Sokol. It was then that the pilot Nikolai Balagin, performing a flight on his fighter, crashed into the ANT-20 Maxim Gorky airliner. In addition to himself, 11 people from the crew of the passenger plane and 38 passengers died. Although there is also alternative evidence that there were 50 passengers. Thus, the total number of victims ranged from 49 to 62 people.
The verdict of the investigation was unequivocal - the pilot’s mistake.
Death of the air force
When discussing air crashes in Russia and the USSR, one cannot help but recall the deaths of players of the Air Force hockey club in early January 1950, flying from Moscow to Chelyabinsk to meet with a local team. The flight took place in rather severe weather conditions, which was one of the reasons for the tragedy. Another reason was called the problems in the organization of the dispatch service, first of all letting in their own planes, and the Li-2, on which the Air Force team flew, was in the air for a long time, waiting for permission to land.
Thus, the statistics of air crashes in the USSR was replenished with nineteen more victims, of which 8 were crew members and 11 were team players.
Wreck in Vurnarsky district
Like other major plane crashes in Russia and the USSR, the tragedy in Vurnarsky district will remain in the memory of people, especially relatives of the victims. It happened near the village of Bulatovo by the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in October 1958.
The Tu-104A plane was transporting a delegation of Chinese party leaders from Omsk to Moscow, but at the point of arrival, due to bad weather conditions, the airliner crew was refused a landing. A similar situation was repeated in Gorky. Therefore, the crew decided to fly to Sverdlovsk. But this decision provided for a cardinal change of course. When performing this complex maneuver, the aircraft fell into a very strong air stream, which caused it to dive, which caused a collision with the surface of the earth.
The crash killed 9 crew members and 71 passengers.
The tragedy near Krasnoyarsk
Of course, all the plane crashes that occurred in Russia and the USSR are a huge disaster, but among the rest we can single out the tragedy near Krasnoyarsk in June 1962. It differed from others in that the cause was not a pilot or dispatcher error, not an airplane malfunction, and not meteorological conditions, but an anti-aircraft missile hit.
It is noteworthy that the cause of the crash of the Tu-104 aircraft, flying from Irkutsk to Omsk, remained a mystery. Only when examining the parts of the airliner at the crash site was it possible to detect damage to the fuselage skin. Moreover, the hole was from the outside. Only later did it become clear that military exercises were being carried out nearby, and due to bad weather conditions, one of the anti-aircraft missiles lost its original purpose and re-aimed at the Tu-104.
The result of this tragedy was the death of eight crew members and 76 passengers. In terms of the number of victims, there has not been until then such a large-scale plane crash in the USSR.
Plane crash in Sverdlovsk
Another tragic record was set in 1967 near Sverdlovsk, where the passenger airliner Il-18 crashed. In this disaster, 99 passengers and 8 crew members were killed. And again, all the plane crashes in the USSR that happened so far could not be compared with the number of victims.
The cause of the tragedy has not been reliably established. The plane crashed into the ground at high speed, as a result of which it crashed into many fragments. However, there were advanced versions about the technical malfunction of the device.
The catastrophe over the Kaluga region
Of course, when mentioning the largest air crashes in Russia and the USSR, it is impossible to ignore the crash near Yukhnov in 1969. After all, it was the largest disaster in the Soviet Union in terms of the number of casualties that occurred as a result of a collision of two aircraft. In addition, it was the largest crash in the territory of the Kaluga region.
The catastrophe occurred as a result of the collision of the Il-14M airliner and the An-12BP military transport aircraft. The result of this tragic event was the death of 24 people on board a passenger and 96 people on board a military aircraft. Including killed 5 crew members of both aircraft.
The cause of the disaster was the violation by both crews of parameters of a given height.
The tragedy in Svetlogorsk
Among the other aviation disasters that occurred in the Soviet Union, the tragedy of 1972 in the city of Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad Region, should be highlighted. It was then that the An-24T military transport plane, crashing, making a scheduled flyby. The tragedy of this event is that when the plane crashed, it crashed into a kindergarten. As a result, not only all 8 crew members were killed, but also three employees of the preschool institution and 24 children. The total number of victims of the tragedy was 34 people.
Although the authorities tried to hide this tragic incident, but, nevertheless, an event of this magnitude could not but become public. The investigation was conducted in strict secrecy, and its results were announced only in 2010, that is, after the collapse of the USSR. According to the conclusion, the cause of the tragedy was the unsatisfactory training of the pilots. But not a single criminal case was opened in connection with this event, although several dozen high-ranking military personnel were removed from their posts.
Given that the cause of the tragedy was a military aircraft, this event can be recorded in a military plane crash in the USSR.
Disaster in the Kharkiv region
Another major disaster occurred in 1972 in the Kharkov region near the village of Russian Lozovaya. It was there that the An-10 passenger plane crashed, flying along the Moscow-Kharkov route. The consequences of this crash were quite tragic - 122 people died, of which 7 crew members.
The investigation found that the cause of the accident was the technical flaws in the structure of the aircraft. Therefore, soon the An-10 airliners were decommissioned.
Plane crash near Moscow
Another major disaster that occurred in the same 1972 was the crash of an IL-62 aircraft, flying from Paris to Moscow, at Lake Nersky while landing at the end point of its flight. The result of this tragedy was the death of 164 passengers and 10 crew members. At that time, it was the largest air crash that happened in Russia. At the moment, only the tragedy in Omsk in 1984 was able to surpass her in the number of deaths.
The investigation did not reveal the exact causes of the disaster, but one of the main versions is considered to be the incorrect installation of the altimeter.
Crash near Leningrad
The statistics of plane crashes in the USSR and Russia would be incomplete without mentioning the crash of the IL-18V airliner near Leningrad in 1974. By the way, it became the largest aviation accident that occurred in the vicinity of this second largest city of the Soviet Union.
The plane was heading along the flight Leningrad - Zaporozhye, and only left its departure point when its engine caught fire. The crew tried to return the airliner to the airport, but when landing, the fire only intensified, the pilots lost control of the control, and the plane crashed. The cause of the disaster was called a malfunction in the engine. At the same time, the professionalism of the actions of the crew pilots was noted, which acted clearly according to the instructions and did everything possible to prevent a tragedy.
As a result of this disaster, 102 passengers and 7 crew members were killed. The total number of victims totaled 109 people.
The death of the Pakhtakor football team
Any plane crash causes significant resonance, but it especially excites the public when famous people, artists, and athletes die in it. This happened in 1979, when as a result of the collision of two Tu-134 aircraft over Dneprodzerzhinsk, almost all members of the Pakhtakor football team of the USSR Higher League from Tashkent were killed. But even without taking into account this, there was not a single plane crash in the USSR, so widespread in the number of victims. As a result of this tragedy, a total of 178 people from both aircraft died, including 17 Pakhtakor team members and 13 crew members of airliners. Not a single crash in the history of the Soviet Union before has known such a large number of victims. In addition, this disaster still ranks second in the world in the number of deaths as a result of a collision of two airliners.
According to the conclusions of the official investigation, the cause of such a massive tragedy was the error of the dispatcher.
Survivor
Of course, the collision of two planes over Zavitinsky in 1981 would hardly have been included in the list: “The largest air crashes of the USSR”. It is noteworthy for a completely different one. It is with this event that the only woman out of all the passengers who survived the plane crash in the USSR is connected. It was she who made this tragedy known to the whole world.
Larisa Savitskaya, that was the name of the survivor of a plane crash in the USSR, along with her husband returned from a honeymoon to her native Blagoveshchensk on an An-24 plane. The tragedy occurred at an altitude exceeding 5,000 meters when the airliner collided with a Tu-16 military aircraft. Then the inconsistency of civil and military dispatch services will be called the official cause of the disaster.
During the clash, Savitskaya was asleep, and she woke up from a strong shock and burns from frost due to depressurization of the hull. The part of the plane where the woman who survived the plane crash in the USSR was in a birch landing, which in some way softened the fall. In addition, she was lucky that she was in the tail of the plane, least affected by the crash.
Nevertheless, as a result of the fall, Larisa Savitskaya received a severe concussion, lost almost all her teeth, received several spinal injuries, and fractures of her limbs and ribs, but still she remained alive and could even move. But since the crash site of this part of the aircraft was quite far from the settlements, the rescuers found Larisa only two days later.
Thus, she is the only survivor of the plane crash. In the USSR, information about this collision was hidden for a long time. Larisa Savitskaya became famous all over the world only in 2000, when all the details of the incident were revealed.
There was only one case like this. In 1972, a man escaped when falling from a height exceeding 10,000 meters after an airplane explosion. This man turned out to be Yugoslav Vesna Vulovich, a stewardess who survived the plane crash. The USSR, before the case of Savitskaya, which fell from a height exceeding 5,000 meters, did not know such precedents. This woman was the only one of 38 people aboard both aircraft that could survive the crash over Zavitinsky.
The tragedy in Omsk
The tragedy that happened at the Omsk airport in 1984 has a number of details that set it apart from such incidents. The fact that it did not happen in the air, but on the ground, is a distinctive feature of this plane crash. This happened infrequently in the USSR. In addition, according to the number of victims, this tragedy is the largest of those that occurred on the territory of Russia.
The collision of a Tu-154 airliner landing with snowplows killed 169 passengers and 4 crew members. One passenger and five crew members managed to survive.
The catastrophe near Lviv
Listing the largest plane crashes of the USSR, we should mention the tragedy that happened in 1985 in the Lviv region, in Ukraine. After the catastrophes near Kharkov and Dneprodzerzhinsky this was the largest air crash in terms of the number of victims that occurred on the territory of this Soviet republic.
The cause of the disaster was the collision of the An-26 military transport aircraft and the Tu-134A airliner, flying from Tallinn to Chisinau with landing in Lviv. As a result of the incident, which happened in the immediate vicinity of the city of Zolochev, Lviv Region, 79 passengers of a civilian plane and 9 of a military plane were killed, as well as six crew members from each aircraft. There were no survivors, and the total number of victims was 94 people.
The investigation found that the cause of the crash was the error of the dispatchers.
The tragedy of Uchkuduk
As you can see, major plane crashes in Russia and the USSR happened quite often, but the crash near Uchkuduk on the territory of the Uzbek SSR should be considered the most significant of them according to the number of victims. This happened in 1985, at the last stage of the existence of the country of Soviets. Not a single disaster in the Soviet Union had such a large number of dead people. The total number of victims totaled 200 people, of which 191 passengers and 9 crew members.
The reason for the tragedy was that when flying from Karshi to Leningrad, the crew of the Tu-154 airliner lost control, as a result of which the plane fell into a tailspin and crashed. According to the official version of the investigation, the main part of the blame for what happened lies with the pilots who deviated from the requirements of the standards, gaining maximum height, and then could not cope with the management in an emergency.
Crash in Kuibyshev
Another major disaster at the sunset of the existence of the USSR was the crash of the Tu-134 at the airport of Kuibyshev - Kurumoch. The tragedy of this event is enhanced by the fact that it happened as a result of the pilot's neglect of his duties. He argued with the crew that he could land the airliner blindly. This attempt was unsuccessful.The criminal negligence of crew commander Alexander Klyuyev claimed the lives of 70 people. Only 24 out of 94 crew members and passengers survived.
The pilot himself survived and was sentenced by the court to 15 years in prison. But later this term was revised and replaced with six years in prison.
Accident in the Irkutsk region
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