Aeroflot Flight 366

Aeroflot

Company type	State airline
Industry	Aviation
Founded	1923
Headquarters	Moscow , Soviet Union
Area served	Soviet Union and international
Products	Air transport services

Template:Multiple issues Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence

Aeroflot Flight 366, famously referred to as the Miracle on the Neva, was a water ditching involving a Tupolev Tu-124 operated by the Soviet national airline Aeroflot (Moscow division). The flight departed from Tallinn-Ülemiste Airport at 08:55 local time on 21 August 1963, carrying 45 passengers and 7 crew members. The intended destination was Vnukovo International Airport. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft experienced failure of the nose landing gear to retract. Due to fog conditions at Tallinn, air traffic control rerouted the flight to Saint Petersburg.

Aircraft

The airplane involved was a Tupolev Tu-124, approximately one year old, bearing the registration CCCP-45021 and constructed in 1962. Its production serial number was 2350701.

Incident

At around 10:00 local time, Flight 366 commenced holding patterns over the city at an altitude near 450 m (1,500 ft) to burn off fuel. This procedure aimed to reduce the aircraft’s weight and lower fire risk in case of an emergency landing. Meanwhile, ground crews at Pulkovo Airport (LED) were preparing a dirt runway for the anticipated arrival. Each orbit around the urban area lasted roughly fifteen minutes. During these circuits, the crew attempted to manually secure the nose gear in its fully extended position by using a pole retrieved from the cloakroom.

On the eighth and final circuit, approximately 20 km (12 mi) from the airport, engine number one failed due to fuel starvation. Shortly after, the second engine also stopped functioning while flying over the city center, heading east past landmarks such as St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Admiralty building, Saint Petersburg. With both engines out, the pilots executed a water landing on the 300 metres (1,000 ft) wide expanse of the Neva River.

Witnesses observed Flight 366 approaching upstream. After completing a turn, it passed just above the tall steel framework of the Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge with an estimated clearance of about 30 m (100 ft). The aircraft then narrowly avoided collision with the partially constructed Alexander Nevsky Bridge. The pilot successfully executed a water landing close to a steam-powered tugboat built in 1898.

Water began entering the fuselage shortly after touchdown. The tugboat’s captain noticed the distressed plane and moved to assist. Along with his crew, he broke through the aircraft’s windshield and fastened a cable to its control yoke before towing it toward shore. Throughout this operation, all passengers remained inside. Subsequently, everyone evacuated safely through a roof hatch on the airplane.

See also

• List of airline flights that involved gliding
• US Airways Flight 1549

External links

• "Prepare to Ditch", featured in Flight International magazine, 13 August 1964, page 241
• "Soviet Transports" series, including Ditch or crash-land? by B.W. Townshend, 1965 (pages 47–49)