Aviogenex Flight 130

Aviogenex

Industry	Aviation
Founded	1968
Headquarters	Belgrade , Yugoslavia

Aviogenex Flight 130 was a chartered international passenger service operating between Gatwick Airport, London and Rijeka Airport, located in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (present-day Croatia). On 23 May 1971, the aircraft, a Tupolev Tu-134A, experienced structural failure upon landing. The airplane overturned and ignited, resulting in the deaths of 78 out of the 83 occupants onboard. Five individuals survived the incident. This crash marked the first fatal accident involving the Tupolev Tu-134 model since it entered commercial operation.

The investigation was conducted by the Yugoslavian Directorate General of Civil Aeronautics with assistance from British authorities. Findings suggested that adverse weather conditions, including heavy rainfall and dusk lighting, may have induced an optical illusion for the flight crew. This misperception likely led them to believe the runway was nearer and lower than its actual position. Reacting to this illusion, the pilots initiated an excessively steep and rapid descent during the final approach phase, culminating in a hard landing that caused the right wing to break off.

Aircraft

The Tupolev Tu-134 is a Soviet-built, twin-engine, narrow-body jet airliner produced between 1966 and 1989. In 1968, Tupolev developed an enhanced variant featuring a fuselage extension of approximately 2.1 m (6.9 ft) to increase seating capacity to 72 passengers and incorporated an auxiliary power unit mounted in the tail section. These modifications reduced the maximum operational range from 3,100 km (1,900 mi) to 2,770 km (1,720 mi). The updated D-30 engines were equipped with thrust reversers, replacing the previous parachute braking system. The inaugural flight of the Tu-134A took place on 22 April 1969, with its first commercial service occurring on 9 November 1970. The specific aircraft involved in Flight 130 bore serial number 1351205 and was registered as YU-AHZ. At the time of the accident, it had logged only 111 hours of flight time. This plane was imported into Yugoslavia on 23 April 1971, receiving its airworthiness certification four days later on 27 April.

Passengers and crew

Flight 130 carried a total of 76 passengers alongside seven crew members. The majority of the passengers—72 in number—were British tourists heading to Rijeka, the third-largest city in SR Croatia, for vacation. The remaining 11 individuals, comprising seven crew members and four passengers, were Yugoslav nationals. Among the travelers was Josip Pupačić, a well-known Croatian poet at the time, who was returning from London with his wife and daughter following his daughter's surgical procedure.

The flight was commanded by 41-year-old Captain Miloš Markićević, who served as the pilot flying. He possessed an IFR certification and had logged 9,230 flight hours in total, including 138 hours on the Tupolev Tu-134A. The co-pilot, 34-year-old Stevan Mandić, acted as pilot monitoring and had accumulated 2,300 flight hours, with 899 hours specifically on the Tu-134A. A trainee pilot named Viktor Tomić had completed 99 flight hours and was supervised by Ivan Čavajda, a 39-year-old flight engineer with 7,500 total flight hours, including 1,373 on the Tu-134.

Crash

Fig. 3 RWY Optical Illusion - Cockpit View

Flight JJ 130 departed Gatwick at 16:33 GMT. Although weather conditions across Europe were poor, the journey remained uneventful until the final stages of approach to Rijeka Airport. Upon establishing contact with Rijeka Air Traffic Control (ATC), the controller provided meteorological updates and alerted the crew to the presence of cumulonimbus clouds over the Učka mountain range. Utilizing onboard radar, the crew successfully navigated around these cumulonimbus formations but found themselves too high to intercept the instrument landing system (ILS) glide slope. Consequently, they flew past the airport, circled back to the Breza non-directional beacon (BZ NDB), and then properly acquired both ILS localizer and glide path signals. During this phase, they maintained a slightly elevated speed while following the ILS glide path.

At approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) from the RWY14 threshold (THR 14), flying at an altitude of 300 m (980 ft) above sea level, the aircraft entered heavy rain beneath cumulonimbus clouds. These clouds had their base around 600 m (2,000 ft) and extended northwest of the airport toward Rijeka for several kilometers from THR 14.

About 3.2 km (2.0 mi) from THR 14—roughly 50 seconds before impact—the aircraft encountered slight turbulence caused by cumulonimbus activity which lifted it upward and caused a right roll. Although the crew realigned with the runway centerline, they were unable to regain the ILS glide slope. Despite their efforts involving down elevator inputs and power reduction to descend, the plane remained above the glide path. An optical illusion likely induced by dusk lighting conditions combined with rain and water reflections on the runway led the crew to mistakenly perceive themselves as being closer and higher than reality.

At a point above the middle marker—1.2 km (0.75 mi) from THR 14 and just 18 seconds prior to impact—the pilot increased engine thrust and applied up elevator, initiating a go-around maneuver. However, only three seconds later, at an altitude of 60 m (200 ft) above runway threshold elevation and about 300 m (980 ft) from THR 14, power was reduced to idle and down elevator applied as the pilot reversed his decision to abort landing. This sequence led to a progressively steep descent due to aerodynamic characteristics coupled with diminished speed.

The aircraft made a hard touchdown on RWY 14 near 19:45 local time—approximately 180 m (590 ft) short of the designated touchdown zone—landing first on its right main gear at about 140 knots (260 km/h (160 mph)). The excessive vertical (4g) and horizontal (1.5g) loads caused failure of the right landing gear strut and shock absorber; subsequently, the right wing detached forward. This structural damage caused the aircraft to overturn and slide inverted along the runway for roughly 700 m (2,300 ft). Sparks generated by flaps scraping against the runway ignited spilled fuel from the broken wing, causing a fire. The pilot’s last recorded words before impact were reportedly: "What is pushing me now, what is that?!"

All occupants survived initial contact with terrain. Within moments after coming to rest, fires erupted beneath the left wing, in the tail section, behind the right engine, and underneath remnants of the right wing. Thick smoke rapidly filled the cabin interior. Passengers panicked while attempting evacuation; however, dense smoke combined with darkness—due to immediate electrical shutdown after impact—severely impeded escape efforts. The four flight crew members exited safely through a right-side cockpit window.

Passengers divided into two groups: one moving toward the rear cabin area and another heading forward searching for exits. The Tupolev-134 design includes only two doors located at the front fuselage—the left side doors serve passengers while those on right are service doors. Both sets were obstructed by fuselage deformation resulting from impact forces. It is possible that one flight attendant inadvertently locked passenger doors from inside by operating door levers incorrectly when aircraft was inverted. Additionally, all four emergency exit windows were inaccessible: two on left side blocked by fire near left wing; two on right side blocked by twisted debris of right wing.

Emergency responders arrived approximately two minutes after wreckage came to rest and promptly extinguished fires under left wing followed by those in tail section and remaining parts of right wing. Despite efforts using chainsaws and axes to open doors or break cabin windows, rescuers failed due to structural deformation. Although external fires appeared controlled initially, internal cabin fire intensified as smoke billowed from tail section openings created during rescue attempts. This influx of air exacerbated combustion inside cabin. Flight engineer Ivan Čavajda (some reports suggest trainee Viktor Tomić) re-entered cockpit attempting to assist evacuation but was unable to open cockpit door. Cabin crew eventually managed to pry open service doors; however, heavy smoke had already caused most passengers and three flight attendants to succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Approximately eight minutes after stopping, fires reignited beneath both wings. Firefighting efforts were hampered by heavy rain combined with strong southern winds dispersing fire suppressant foam. Within two minutes following reignition, intense flames engulfed entire cabin prompting firefighters and rescuers to retreat fearing explosions. Shortly thereafter fire reached oxygen systems located near front wreckage causing an explosion that destroyed forward fuselage section. Remaining fuselage portions were completely consumed by fire within minutes.

Only one passenger survived: 22-year-old Ranko Sarajčić escaped through an opening in rear fuselage section. He reported urging others to follow him but none did amid panic.

Investigators noted that approximately thirty percent of passengers were discovered still strapped into their seats while inverted.

Investigation and conclusions

Fig. 4 RWY optical illusion, side view

The Yugoslavian Directorate General of Civil Aeronautics conducted the investigation into the accident, with assistance from the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch. The official investigation report, published on 1 December 1973, determined that while Flight 130 was descending through rain during dusk, light refraction on the cockpit windshield created an optical illusion. This illusion made the runway appear both nearer and lower by approximately 60 m (200 ft) than its true position (refer to Fig. 3 and 4). As a result, the flight crew executed a sudden corrective maneuver, pushing the nose downward and reducing engine power to idle during the final landing phase. This abrupt nose-down action caused the aircraft to accelerate to 310 km/h (190 mph) and touch down at a speed of 260 km/h (160 mph), generating excessive stress on the right landing gear—vertical loads of 4g and horizontal loads of 1.5g—which led to the right wing breaking.

The investigative commission issued six safety recommendations, notably urging pilots to familiarize themselves with potential visual illusions encountered when landing in heavy rain. The commission’s official conclusion described the event as "an exceptional and complex case of many unfavourable circumstances which resulted in this catastrophy [sic]." Notably, there was no attribution of fault to pilot error. Captain Miloš Markićević, the pilot-in-command, was cleared of responsibility for the accident and later resumed flying duties, albeit in business aviation.

The investigators were unable to ascertain why the crew did not initiate a go-around procedure despite clearly conducting an unstabilized approach.

Further reading

• "KAKO SE DOGODILA DRUGA NAJGORA AVIONSKA NESREĆA U HRVATSKOJ Zrakoplov Aviogenexa na letu iz Londona kod Rijeke je uletio u oluju. Poginulo je 78 ljudi". Jutarnji list (in hrvatski). 11 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
• https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-tupolev-tu-134a-rijeka-78-killed Retrieved 21.05.2021.