Aeroflot Flight 902

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Aeroflot Flight 902 was a scheduled domestic passenger service operating between Khabarovsk and Moscow, with planned stops in Irkutsk and Omsk, within Russia. The aircraft involved was a Tupolev Tu-104A. On June 30, 1962, the flight departed Irkutsk on time, carrying 76 passengers—including 14 children—and a crew of eight. Approximately 50 kilometers from Krasnoyarsk, the crew provided a routine position report. Shortly thereafter, an emergency transmission was received featuring an agitated voice later identified as the co-pilot’s, accompanied by unfamiliar background noises. Efforts to reestablish communication with the aircraft after this transmission were unsuccessful.Template:Fix/category

The crash site was located 28 kilometers east of Krasnoyarsk Airport, situated on predominantly flat terrain interspersed with small forested sections. Investigators concluded that the aircraft had struck the ground inverted, descending at an approximate angle of 40°. No survivors were found.

Cause of disaster

The officially stated cause attributed the accident to an aerodynamic stall combined with spatial disorientation while flying through cloud cover. An alternative official hypothesis suggested that a cabin fire led to loss of control.Template:Fix/category Nevertheless, damage observed on the aircraft’s port side fuselage—specifically a perforation showing internal signs of burning—aligned more closely with an impact from an anti-aircraft missile. Unofficial reports confirmed that during an air defense exercise nearby, one such missile had strayed off course in the vicinity.

According to unofficial accounts, investigators discovered a fuselage fragment exhibiting a roughly 20 cm diameter hole accompanied by burn marks consistent with high-velocity impact. Concurrently, an anti-aircraft missile unit based at Magansk was conducting live-fire drills. It is believed that one missile lost its intended target amid a storm front and inadvertently struck the Tu-104.

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