1972 Svetlogorsk An-24 crash
| Industry | Military aviation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1969 |
| Headquarters | Svetlogorsk , Soviet Union |
Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence
On 16 May 1972, an An-24T operated by the Baltic Fleet Air Force’s 263rd Separate Transport Aviation Regiment was undertaking a flight aimed at testing radio equipment. Approximately fifteen minutes following departure, amid poor weather conditions, the aircraft struck trees and subsequently collided with a kindergarten building located in Svetlogorsk. This tragic incident caused 35 deaths, including all six crew members and two passengers aboard the plane, as well as 27 individuals on the ground—comprising 24 children and three kindergarten employees.
Aircraft
Template:Unreferenced section The involved An-24T, identified by factory number 9911302 and serial number 13-02, was produced at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant in 1969. That same year, it was assigned to the Baltic Fleet Air Force’s 263rd Separate Transport Aviation Regiment and received the tail number 05. The airplane was powered by two Ivchenko AI-24 turboprop engines manufactured by the ZMK "Progress" plant named after A.G. Ivchenko.
Crew
The personnel aboard aircraft 05 were as follows:
- Captain Vilor Ilyich Gutnik, serving as the Commander.
- Senior Lieutenant Viktor Baranov, acting as the Co-pilot.
- Captain Alexander Kostin, assigned as the Navigator.
- Warrant Officer Nikolai Ivanovich Gavrilyuk, fulfilling the role of Flight Engineer.
- Senior Lieutenant Andrey Lyutov, designated Radio Technician.
- Warrant Officer Leonid Sergienko, Airborne Radio Operator-Gunner.
In addition to the crew, there were two passengers on the flight:
- Lieutenant Colonel Lev Denisov, Senior Flight Inspector within the Baltic Fleet Air Force’s Flight Safety Department.
- Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Svetlov, Senior Engineer specializing in Radio Equipment.
Preceding circumstances
On May 13, 1972, the flight plan received approval from Colonel General of Aviation Sergey Gulyayev, commander of the Baltic Fleet Air Force. The intended route was outlined as follows:
- Departure from Khrabrovo Airport
- Overflight of Zelenogradsk city
- Passing Taran Cape
- Landing at Kosa settlement airfield
- Takeoff from Kosa settlement airfield
- Landing at Chkalovsk settlement airfield
- Takeoff from Chkalovsk settlement airfield
- Return landing at Khrabrovo Airport
The An-24T aircraft 05 departed Khrabrovo Airport on May 16, 1972, at 12:15, bound for the Baltic Sea. The flight was planned to be conducted visually at an altitude of 500 meters; however, according to the commander’s report, actual flight altitude was approximately 50 meters. All segments of the route were scheduled to be flown over the sea.
After turning over the sea, the plane crossed near Zelenogradsk’s coastline and proceeded toward Taran Cape. Shortly after this point, aircraft 05 vanished from radar detection.
The crash
Around 12:30, aircraft 05 encountered dense fog while flying over Svetlogorsk at an unsafe low altitude. The plane struck pine tree tops on Svetlogorsk’s steep shoreline, resulting in damage to its wing. It then traveled roughly 200 meters further before overturning and crashing into a kindergarten building in Svetlogorsk. The impact destroyed the building’s second floor entirely.
The crash caused a significant fuel spill and ignited a severe fire. At that moment, 29 individuals were inside the kindergarten—most children had just returned from outdoor activities and were preparing for lunch. Fatalities included all eight occupants of the An-24 (six crew members and two passengers), 24 children aged between two and seven years old, and three staff members: cook Tamara Yankovskaya and teachers Valentina Shabashova-Metelitsa and Antonina Romanenko. Although both teachers initially survived the crash, they later succumbed to their injuries in a military hospital—Shabashova-Metelitsa shortly after and Romanenko six months later. Of those present in the kindergarten during the incident, only two survived.
Reaction
By 9 p.m. on May 16, under nine hours following the accident, all wreckage and victim remains had been cleared from the scene. By the morning of May 17, a modest park was created at the former kindergarten location. To reduce public scrutiny, suburban train services were suspended, and traffic between the regional center and Svetlogorsk was restricted on the day of the victims' funerals. Approximately 10,000 individuals assembled at the cemetery for the memorial.[1]
Investigation
The inquiry into the Svetlogorsk disaster was led by a Moscow-based commission under the direction of Colonel General Nikolai Alekseev, who served as the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR for Armaments.Template:Fix/category[citation needed]
As of July 2019, no official investigative reports have been released publicly.Template:Fix/category[citation needed] The cause officially cited for the crash—despite attempts by authorities to obscure it—was attributed to "inadequate preparation and flight control."Template:Fix/category[citation needed] No criminal case followed the incident. An internal probe conducted by the Ministry of Defense of the USSR led to a classified directive from Minister Andrei Grechko, resulting in the dismissal of roughly 40 military personnel.[2]
Some theories propose that insufficient crew experience played a role.Template:Fix/category[citation needed] Other accounts, based on documentation shared by Lieutenant General Vasily Proskurnin, former commander of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, suggest a technical failure. This hypothesis indicates that at the moment of impact with trees, aircraft number 05's altimeter displayed an altitude of 150 meters above sea level, while its actual height was only 42 meters. This discrepancy is attributed to a recent decision within the Baltic Fleet Air Force to replace Il-14 altimeters with those designed for the An-24 shortly before the flight. The functionality of these altimeters was inadequately verified post-installation. Investigative experiments revealed that aircraft 05’s crew received altitude information with errors reaching up to 60–70 meters.[2]Template:Vn
According to Vladimir Biryukov, a test pilot at the Gromov Flight Research Institute, it is likely that the pilots either failed to set or incorrectly adjusted the pressure settings during takeoff.Template:Fix/category[citation needed]
Memorial
In 1994, a chapel was constructed at the location of the accident, featuring a commemorative plaque stating: "This temple-monument dedicated to the icon of the Mother of God 'Joy of All Who Sorrow' stands at the site of the tragic loss of the kindergarten on May 16, 1972."
References
External links
- Detailed crash report on Aviation Safety Network
- Incident involving the An-24T of the Baltic Fleet Air Force in Svetlogorsk (tail number 05), May 16, 1972
- Documentary on a classified USSR plane crash: The AN-24 accident in Svetlogorsk
- Commemoration video marking 40 years since the crash
Template:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 Template:Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union in the 1970s
- Aviation accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain
- Aviation accidents and incidents caused by weather
- Accidents and incidents involving the Antonov An-24
- May 1972
- 1972 meteorology
- Censorship in the Soviet Union
- Soviet Navy
- Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972
- Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union