1958 Aeroflot Tu-104 Kanash crash

Aeroflot

Industry	Airline
Founded	1923
Headquarters	Soviet Union
Area served	International
Products	Air transport services

Template:Infobox Aircraft accident

The 1958 Aeroflot Tu-104 Kanash disaster took place on 17 October 1958 when an Aeroflot-operated Tupolev Tu-104A on an international journey from Beijing to Moscow crashed amid adverse weather conditions near Kanash, located in Chuvashia, Soviet Union, roughly four hundred miles east of Moscow. All eighty individuals on board lost their lives. Among the passengers were prominent diplomatic representatives from several Soviet-aligned nations including China, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia. This accident marked only the second fatal incident involving the Tu-104 model, which had been incorporated into Aeroflot’s fleet two years prior. It remained the airline’s deadliest crash until the occurrence of Aeroflot Flight 902 in 1962.

Aircraft

The airplane involved was a Tupolev Tu-104A bearing registration CCCP-42362 and operated by Aeroflot. Introduced in 1956, the Tu-104A was a relatively recent addition to Soviet aviation. Its design was derived from the Soviet strategic bomber, the Tupolev Tu-16, but featured a broader, pressurized cabin to accommodate passengers. At the time of the accident, this particular aircraft had accumulated only 465 flight hours and had been active for under three months.

Crew

The flight crew comprised three cabin attendants along with the cockpit team:

• Check Captain: Garold Dmitrievich Kuznetsov
• Captain: Anton Filimonovich Artemov
• Co-pilot: Igor Alexandrovich Rogozin
• Flight engineer: Ivan Vladimirovich Veselov
• Navigator: Yevgeny Andreevich Mumrienko
• Radio operator: Alexander Sergeevich Fedorov

Passengers

Memorial dedicated to those who perished in the Kanash Tu-104 accident at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery

The majority of individuals traveling on this flight were diplomatic representatives from various foreign countries, predominantly allies of the Soviet Union, heading to Moscow for an official engagement. Among the passengers, Soviet nationals formed the largest contingent. The most substantial foreign delegation consisted of sixteen members from the Chinese Communist Party, led by esteemed writer and scholar Cheng Chen-to (Zheng Zhenduo) alongside Tsai Sha-fan. Additionally, the flight carried a single Cambodian passenger, who served as Cambodia’s ambassador to China.

Nationalities

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Soviet Union	17	9	26
People's Republic of China	16	0	16
Czechoslovakia	8	0	8
East Germany	5	0	5
France	5	0	5
Hungary	5	0	5
Romania	3	0	3
Sudan	3	0	3
Morocco	3	0	3
Great Britain	2	0	2
Poland	1	0	1
Iraq	1	0	1
Cambodia	1	0	1
Laos	1	0	1
Total	71	9	80

Synopsis

On 17 October 1958, CCCP-42362 departed from Beijing bound for Moscow. After making a scheduled stop in Omsk, Russia, the flight continued westward toward its final destination. As it approached Moscow-Vnukovo Airport, air traffic control denied landing clearance due to dense fog conditions. Consequently, the crew redirected the aircraft to their alternate airport, Gorky Airport. When weather conditions at Gorky were also unsuitable for landing, the flight proceeded further to Sverdlovsk. While cruising at approximately 10,000 meters (33,000 ft), the aircraft unexpectedly encountered severe turbulence that caused a rapid and significant increase in its pitch angle.

The plane was caught in a strong vertical updraft, causing it to climb abruptly to an altitude near 12,000 meters (39,000 ft). According to cockpit voice recordings, one pilot described the aircraft as "standing on its hind legs" before it entered a steep near-vertical dive and subsequently entered a spin. Despite attempts by the crew to regain control, excessive forces on the horizontal stabilizers prevented recovery, making a crash unavoidable. The captain, Harold Kuznetsov, instructed the radio operator to relay information about their critical situation to ground control before exclaiming "... we're dying! Goodbye!" as captured by the flight recorder. At 21:30 Moscow Time (MSK), the Tupolev Tu-104A impacted terrain near Apnerka rail station, located west of Kanash.

Conclusions

The inquiry into the accident was overseen by Minister of Aircraft Production Mikhail Khrunichev alongside Chief Air Marshal Pavel Zhigarev, who was the leader of Aeroflot. The investigation concluded that the crash resulted from the aircraft losing control after encountering severe turbulence, which forced it to surpass critical angles of attack. This determination was supported by reports from other Tu-104 pilots who had experienced similar conditions at altitudes of 8,000 meters (26,000 ft) and above, as well as analysis of the cockpit voice recordings. Following these findings, authorities imposed a maximum flight ceiling of 9,000 meters (29,500 ft) for the Tu-104 and initiated a redesign of the aircraft's stabilizers.

See also

• Aeroflot Flight 04
• Braniff International Airways Flight 250
• United Airlines Flight 585
• Eastwind Airlines Flight 517