Aeroflot Flight 10 (1954)

Aeroflot Flight 10

Company type	Scheduled passenger flight
Industry	Aviation
Founded	1947 (aircraft service entry)
Headquarters	Soviet Union

Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence

Aeroflot Flight 10 was a scheduled service operating from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Airport to Vnukovo Airport, including intermediate stops at Krasnoyarsk Airport and Severny Airport. On 27 September 1954, the route’s Ilyushin Il-12 aircraft crashed near Severny Airport after colliding with trees.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was an Ilyushin Il-12P with registration СССР-Л1365, which entered service in 1947. It bore the factory number 30086 and serial number 086, produced by Factory Number 30.

The flight crew comprised:

• Commander Aleksandr Maksimovich Usachev
• Trainee pilot Georgiy Antonovich Sukharev
• First officer Yakov Aleksandrovich Konovalov
• Flight engineer Sergey Fedorovich Shachnev
• Radio operator Yakov Yakovlevich Shestak

Accident

The Il-12 departed Krasnoyarsk at 22:17, with visibility forecasted between 4–10 km (2.5–6.2 mi; 2.2–5.4 nmi) at departure. Although a notification was received at 00:12 indicating fog and poor visibility at the airport, the on-duty meteorologist informed the crew of current weather conditions only at 00:25. As the aircraft neared Novosibirsk, visibility deteriorated to approximately 400 m (1,300 ft). The captain aborted the initial approach after determining the plane was significantly left of the runway centerline.

After several minutes, the crew commenced a second approach amid reduced visibility near 100 m (330 ft). Without visual contact with the terrain, the pilot-in-command proceeded below the decision altitude with clearance from air traffic control. At 00:57, the aircraft collided with trees and crashed into a forested area close to the airport, resulting in total loss of all 29 people aboard. No post-crash fire occurred.

Flight 10 approached from the southern direction where approach lighting was absent, and the non-directional beacon was malfunctioning.

Cause

The inquiry revealed that visibility conditions were severely limited. In addition, the flight crew was unable to see the runway or surrounding terrain. As a result, diverting to an alternate airport—specifically Kemerovo or Barabinsk—was required. Ultimately, this led to the crew inadvertently flying the aircraft into the ground.

The investigation identified the following contributing factors for the incident:

• The crew's choice to attempt landing despite extremely poor weather conditions
• The air traffic controller's failure to notify the pilots about the presence of dense fog
• Lack of radio communication equipment at the airport to maintain contact with aircraft approaching from the south