1965 Aeroflot Antonov An-24 crash

Aeroflot

Industry	Aviation
Headquarters	Soviet Union
Products	Air transport services

Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence

The 1965 Khanty-Mansiysk An-24 accident took place on 20 March 1965 at Khanty-Mansiysk Airport, involving an Antonov An-24 operated by Aeroflot. This incident resulted in the loss of 43 lives.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was an Antonov An-24 bearing the tail number 46764 and factory serial number 47301301. It was produced by the Antonov Serial Production Plant and delivered on 30 September 1964. Prior to the crash, the plane had logged 580 flight hours and completed 573 landings.

Accident

This flight originated from Tyumen and was destined for Khanty-Mansiysk. The crew belonged to the 120th flight squadron and included commander Vladimir Tikhonovich Kozlovskikh, co-pilot Leonid Petrovich Tugarin, navigator and radio operator Aleksandr Mitrofanovich Khoroshaev, and flight engineer Mikhail Semenovich Syomin. The cabin crew member was flight attendant Yuriy Ivanovich Morozov. A total of 42 passengers were on board.

Weather conditions were favorable, featuring continuous stratocumulus clouds at about 400 meters altitude and visibility extending up to 10 kilometers. While descending from an altitude of 5,400 meters, the crew reduced height sequentially to 3,000 meters, then to 600 meters, and finally to 300 meters. They initiated a visual approach for landing, executing a right turn on a magnetic heading of 38°. At approximately 10 meters above ground level, the aircraft suddenly dropped, causing it to touch down in snow before reaching the runway threshold. After sliding roughly 7 meters over the snow-covered surface, it struck a snow embankment at the runway’s end at high speed and began breaking apart. Some accounts suggest that one wing detached during impact, leading to fuel leakage into the cabin area. A fire subsequently broke out. All individuals inside the cabin—comprising the 42 passengers and the flight attendant—succumbed to toxic smoke inhalation caused by burning plastic interior materials.

Causes

The investigation commission was unable to pinpoint a definitive cause for the accident. Several hypotheses were proposed:

1. An error in pilot technique, specifically an incorrect assessment of the altitude at which to begin leveling the aircraft, leading to a delayed landing flare and causing the plane to touch down short of the runway.
2. The possibility that the propellers generated negative thrust when the throttle levers were positioned near or beyond the crossover gate, potentially due to improper engine settings.
3. A shift in the aircraft’s center of gravity triggered by passengers moving within the cabin during a fire outbreak, which may have been linked to smoking.

Officials from the Ministry of Aviation Industry disagreed with the second and third hypotheses.