Aeroflot Flight N-826

Aeroflot Flight N-826

Company type	Passenger flight
Industry	Aviation
Founded	March 23, 1967 (aircraft manufacture date)
Defunct	August 3, 1969 (date of crash)
Fate	Crashed due to propeller blade failure
Area served	Voroshilovgrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, Lviv
Products	Passenger air service

Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence

On Sunday, August 3, 1969, Aeroflot Flight N-826, operated by an Antonov An-24, crashed, resulting in the loss of all 55 individuals on board. The investigation determined that the accident was triggered by an in-flight failure of a propeller blade on the aircraft’s left ("No. 1") engine.

Accident

Flight N-826 was a regular passenger service traveling from Voroshilovgrad to Lviv, with intermediate stops at Dnipropetrovsk and Vinnytsia. The aircraft departed Dnipropetrovsk at 15:47. At 15:58, the crew reported maintaining an altitude of 3,600 meters and received clearance from air traffic control (ATC) to ascend to 4,200 m (13,800 ft). This transmission was the last contact from Flight N-826. While ascending through approximately 4,000 meters, a blade from the No. 2 propeller on the left engine detached and penetrated the fuselage, severing control cables for the stabilizer, ailerons, and rudder. This damage rendered the aircraft uncontrollable. The resulting imbalance caused the left propeller to separate entirely. Subsequently, the plane banked sharply to the left and entered a rapid descent with increasing airspeed. After executing a steep spiral descent, the aircraft impacted the ground at an angle between 45 and 50 degrees and at a velocity of 500 to 550 km/h. At 16:06, ATC attempted to establish communication with Flight N-826 but received no response; all subsequent contact attempts failed.

Aircraft

The airplane involved was an Antonov An-24B bearing serial number 77303206 and registration CCCP-46248. It had been assigned to the Lvovski aviation detachment under the Ukrainian Civil Air Fleet authority. Manufactured on March 23, 1967, this aircraft had accumulated a total of 4,557 flight hours and undergone 4,789 pressurization cycles by the time of the accident.

Investigation

The examination revealed that the propeller blade suffered a fatigue crack resulting from corrosion.

See also

• Aeroflot accidents and incidents
• Aeroflot accidents and incidents in the 1960s