The Tu-124V, registered as CCCP-45083 (factory number 5351706, serial number 17-06), had been produced by the Kharkiv Aircraft Plant on 31 May 1965, with a seating capacity for 56 passengers. On 2 June that same year, the aircraft was transferred to the Main Directorate of Civil Aviation Fleet of the USSR, and was assigned to the Leningrad Aviation Division of the Northern (later Leningrad) Directorate of Civil Aviation. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had accumulated 7,425 flight hours and 5,854 landings.[1]
Accident
On the day of the accident, the flight crew from the 205th flight squadron included Captain Daniil Antonov, First Officer Vladislav Lazovsky, Navigator Leonid Arlavitin, and Flight Engineer Valery Kravchenko. Flight attendants Tamara Naroditskaya and Lyudmila Stefanskaya served in the cabin. At 17:57, the aircraft departed from Leningrad'sPulkovo Airport and climbed to an altitude of 8,400 meters.[2]
Approaching Murmansk's Kilp-Yavr Airport (Murmansk-3), at 19:13, the crew was instructed by the air traffic controller to descend to an altitude of 2,400 meters, with a landing approach along a magnetic course of 35°. The captain began the descent. Weather conditions at the time were favorable for flight: cloud cover with a lower limit of 470 meters and visibility of 6 kilometers. At 19:21, the controller instructed the flight to descend to 1,500 meters and then to 700 meters. At 19:22, the captain confirmed receipt of the instructions. At 19:25, the crew reported completing their fourth turn, exiting at a distance of 40 kilometers from the runway and 10 kilometers to the right of its centerline. The aircraft continued descending, though the Kilp-Yavr air traffic controller had not yet detected flight 45083 on the radar. Additionally, radio communication was unstable due to neighboring airports in the region communicating with other aircraft.[2]
At 19:27, the Tu-124, configured for landing (flaps and landing gear extended), struck a wooded hill near Lake Kodyavr at a 3° nose-down angle in the dark. The impact occurred at an altitude of 320 meters above sea level, 240 meters above the airfield's level, 29.5 kilometers from the runway threshold, and 8 kilometers to the right of the runway centerline. The aircraft continued to slide down the snow-covered slope, which had an incline of 4–4.5°. The wings and engines were torn off by impact with trees, and the fuselage broke apart behind the cockpit. The fuselage was dragged for 624 meters. No fire occurred at the crash site.[1][2]
Five people died instantly from the impact with trees. Due to extreme cold, another six people succumbed to hypothermia before rescuers arrived. In total, 11 people died in the crash: three crew members (the captain, navigator, and flight engineer) and eight passengers.[1][2]
Cause
The primary cause of the accident was determined to be the captain's error, who descended below the safe altitude without having a visual reference to ground landmarks. The air traffic controller also made a mistake by permitting the aircraft to descend and approach the landing without seeing it on the radar. A contributing factor was the presence of a small hill near the airport that created a blind spot on the radar. Additional contributing factors included the relatively low flying experience of three crew members (the first officer, navigator, and flight engineer) on Tu-124 aircraft, which increased the workload on the captain.[2] Furthermore, the navigator was reportedly in a depressed mental state, having recently lost his father.
