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Aeroflot Flight 1080

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1978 aviation accident
Aeroflot Flight 1080
An Aeroflot Yakovlev Yak-40, similar to the one involved in the crash
Accident
Date7 October 1978 (1978-10-07)
SummaryOverloading, engine failure after takeoff
Site7.5 km southwest of Sverdlovsk-Koltsovo Airport
Aircraft
Aircraft typeYakovlev Yak-40
OperatorAeroflot
RegistrationCCCP-87437
Flight originSverdlovsk-Koltsovo Airport, Sverdlovsk
StopoverKostanay-Narimanovka Airport, Kostanay
DestinationTaraz Airport, Dzhambul
Passengers34
Crew4
Fatalities38
Survivors0

Aeroflot Flight 1080 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight from Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), Russia, to Dzhambul (now Taraz), Kazakhstan, that crashed at night shortly after takeoff on 7 October 1978. All 38 passengers and crew were killed in the crash which occurred when one of the engines failed due to icing during initial climb out. At the time, the crash was the second worst in the history of the Yakovlev Yak-40, which had entered operational service with Aeroflot just ten years prior.

Aircraft and flight

The Yak-40 involved in the accident, registration CCCP-87437, had entered service on 31 July 1974 and had just shy of 6,300 operating hours on the airframe at the time of the accident. Flight 1080 was being operated by the Kazakh Civil Aviation Administration under Aeroflot. It had 34 passengers, which included four children, and four crew on board during the flight of 7 October 1978. The crew consisted of two pilots, a flight mechanic, and a stewardess. It was flying a domestic route from Sverdlovsk-Koltsovo Airport in Yekaterinburg, Russia, to Kostanay Airport in northern Kazakhstan. On the night of the accident, the sky was cloudy and there were light rainy conditions in addition to an air temperature of 5 °C.

Accident

At 19:48 YEKT on 7 October 1978, Aeroflot Flight 1080 commenced its takeoff roll on runway 26 at Sverdlovsk-Koltsovo Airport. Due to the presence of a crosswind and the fact that the aircraft was overloaded, it took off at a speed of 205 km/h (111 kn). At 19:50, the crew reported to air traffic control that its left engine had failed.

Just one hundred meters off the ground, the aircraft began turning to the left. At 19:51, controllers observed a flash and a fire on a forested hillside close to the airport. The aircraft had struck trees while it was still 23 meters (75 ft) in the air and hit the ground shortly after, destroying the airframe and detaching the flight's tail and rear stabilizers. All 38 people aboard Flight 1080 were killed in the catastrophe.

Investigation

The Soviet State Research Institute of Civil Aviation accident commission determined the crash to be the fault of the crew. The aircraft was loaded beyond its specified limits, consequently requiring additional thrust on takeoff. The crew failed to take into account icing conditions which were present at the time of the accident. All three engines had been affected by a buildup of ice. The left engine failed shortly after takeoff and the right and middle produced insufficient levels of power. The commission also cited air traffic control's failure to point out nearby terrain after giving the aircraft clearance to turn left after takeoff at an altitude of just one hundred meters as a contributing factor to the accident.

References

Portals:
  1. Pike, John (2018-01-25). "Yak-40 Codling (YAKOVLEV)". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  2. Ranter, Harro (1978-10-07). "ASN Aircraft accident Yakovlev Yak-40 CCCP-87437 Sverdlovsk-Koltsovo Airport (SVX)". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  3. "Yak-40 c/n 9431335". Scramble Soviet Transport Database.
  4. ^ "Crash of a Yakovlev Yak-40 in Sverdlovsk: 38 killed". Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. 1978-10-07. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
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Aviation accidents and incidents in 1978 (1978)
Jan 1 Air India Flight 855Feb 11 Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314Feb 17 British Army Gazelle downingMar 1 Continental Airlines Flight 603Mar 3 LAV HS 748 accidentMar 9 China Airlines Flight 831Mar 13 United Airlines Flight 696Mar 16 Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 107Apr 20 Korean Air Lines Flight 902May 8 National Airlines Flight 193May 19 Aeroflot Flight 6709May 23 Yegoryevsk Tu-144 crashJun 21 Iranian Chinook shootdownJun 26 Air Canada Flight 189Jun 26 Helikopter Service Flight 165Aug 9 Olympic Airways Flight 411Aug 30 LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 hijackingSep 3 Air Rhodesia Flight 825Sep 7 Air Ceylon Avro HS 748 bombingSep 25 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182Sep 26 Air Caribbean Flight 309Sep 30 Finnair Flight 405Oct 3 Finnish Air Force DC-3 crashOct 7 Aeroflot Flight 1080Oct 21 Valentich disappearanceOct 23 Aeroflot Flight 6515Nov 15 Loftleiðir Flight 001Dec 4 Rocky Mountain Airways Flight 217Dec 17 Indian Airlines Flight 403Dec 20 Indian Airlines Flight 410Dec 21 TWA Flight 541Dec 22 Cessna 188 Pacific rescueDec 23 Alitalia Flight 4128Dec 28 United Airlines Flight 173
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Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union in the 1970s
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1960–1969 ◄ 1970–1979 ► 1980–1991
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