Aeroflot Flight 105

Aeroflot

Industry	Aviation
Founded	1923 (1923)
Headquarters	Moscow , Soviet Union
Products	Air transport services

Aeroflot Flight 105 involved an Ilyushin Il-12P operated by Aeroflot and crashed near Magadan, Russia, on June 9, 1958, resulting in the loss of all 24 individuals aboard.

Aircraft

The aircraft was an Il-12P, serial number 30082 with manufacturing number 082, produced at the "Banner of Labor" plant in Moscow during 1947. It bore the registration CCCP-Л1364 and was initially assigned to the Main Directorate of Civil Air Fleet under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, which allocated it to the Vnukovo Aviation Unit within the Moscow Territorial Administration of the Civil Air Fleet. In April 1957, this plane was reassigned to the Far Eastern Territorial Administration's 198th (1st Khabarovsk) Aviation Unit, known as Dalavia. By the time of the accident, it had logged a total flight time of 11,103 hours.

Accident

Flight 105 was a scheduled passenger service operating from Khabarovsk to Magadan with a scheduled stop at Okhotsk. The journey proceeded uneventfully until reaching Okhotsk. There, the crew obtained a weather update for Magadan indicating persistent stratocumulus and nimbostratus clouds covering 70–100% of the sky, with cloud bases between 300 and 600 meters, calm winds, rainfall, and visibility varying from four to ten kilometers. At 01:16, with twenty passengers and four crew members aboard, Flight 105 departed Okhotsk and climbed to cruise altitude at approximately 2,400 meters.

At 02:20, the flight crew informed air traffic control that they had passed over Balagannoye and received clearance to enter the Magadan Airport control zone. By 02:30, communication was established with Magadan’s dispatch service; the crew reported flying within cloud cover at an altitude of 2,400 meters. The flight director authorized descent first to 1,800 meters and subsequently to 1,500 meters. At 02:48, after passing a navigational beacon, permission was granted to descend further and proceed through cloud layers following standard procedures. During later interviews, the flight director claimed to have provided comprehensive landing conditions and weather details including a cloud base at approximately 600 meters; however, recorded communications suggest this information was not fully conveyed. Subsequently, no further responses or contact were made by the crew.

Weather over Magadan featured low cloud cover with bases near 300 meters accompanied by rain and visibility around six kilometers. Upon receiving clearance to break through clouds, the pilot descended to about 600 meters as per protocol. During final approach, for reasons not determined, the aircraft veered off its designated route and was directed toward mountainous terrain. While flying through clouds at roughly 300 meters altitude, the commander observed a bay through intermittent cloud breaks and assumed it was Gertner Bay. The descent continued into cloud cover; however, this bay was actually Vesyolaya Bay located several kilometers farther south. At approximately 02:50 (local time: 11:50), while still within clouds at an altitude near 430 meters, the aircraft struck treetops before impacting Marchekan Hill on the Staritsky Peninsula about sixteen and a half kilometers south of Magadan Airport. The plane slid about 130 meters down a slope strewn with trees and rocks up to an elevation of roughly 500 meters above sea level before being completely destroyed. All twenty-four occupants lost their lives.

This incident stands as the most fatal aviation catastrophe in Magadan Oblast. A commemorative wooden cross has been placed at the site where the crash occurred.

Causes

The investigative commission identified the main factor behind the accident as a severe breach by air traffic controllers who failed to comply with the weather minimums set for Magadan-13 Airport. These regulations specified a minimum cloud base of 600 meters and a visibility requirement of 4 kilometers. However, at the time of the incident, the cloud base was measured at only 300 meters—half the required minimum—yet the airport remained operational for incoming flights. Additionally, the disaster was exacerbated by the pilot initiating the approach despite weather conditions being below the prescribed limits and straying from the standard procedure during the cloud break.