Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines

Industry	Airline
Headquarters	Sofia , Bulgaria

Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307 was an international passenger service operating from Sofia to Moscow that crashed during its final approach to Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on March 3, 1973. The tragedy resulted in the deaths of all 25 individuals on board, including passengers and crew.

Aircraft

The plane involved was an Ilyushin Il-18V with the registration LZ-BEM, which had its maiden flight in 1962.

Accident overview

While conducting a scheduled international flight from Sofia to Moscow, the aircraft attempted a second landing after an initial missed approach. During this second approach, it began to descend rapidly and entered a nosedive shortly afterward. The plane impacted the terrain, broke apart, and ignited. None of the 17 passengers and 8 crew members survived. This incident represented the Template:Ordinal loss of an Ilyushin Il-18 aircraft and was ranked as the Template:Ordinal most severe accident involving this model at that period. As of July 2014, it stands as the Template:Ordinal deadliest accident linked to an Il-18.

Subsequent investigations identified atmospheric icing as a likely factor contributing to the crash.