Aeroflot Flight 1802 ( ''Reys 1802 Aeroflota'') was a commercial flight from Vinnytsia to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

that crashed after the rudder deflected sharply and the propellers feathered on 15 May 1976. All 52 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft perished in the crash.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was an Antonov An-24RV, registered CCCP-46534 to Aeroflot. The aircraft rolled off the final assembly line February 27, 1975. In the aircraft's service life it accumulated 2,996 flight hours and 2,228 pressurization cycles.

Crew

Six crew members were aboard the flight. The cockpit crew consisted of: *

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Fyodor Chumak * Copilot Viktor Pashchenko *

Navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prima ...

Pyotr Maksimenko * Navigator in training Viktor Kozlov *

Flight Engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is the member of an aircraft's flight crew who monitors and operates its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referred to as the "air m ...

Ivan Ukhan

Synopsis

Thunderclouds were present above the Chernihiv region sky for the duration of the flight. Moderate wind blowing southwest on a bearing of 250° at 6 m/s was present, along with moderate rain showers. Visibility on the ground at the airport was 10 kilometers with a cumulonimbus cloudcover. Flight 1802 was flying at an altitude of 5700 meters with a speed of 350 km/h when at approximately 10:47 the

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

suddenly deviated 25° to the right, changing the roll angle and yaw. The pilots responded quickly to this deflection by adjusting the

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

s in their attempts to reduce the roll. A few seconds later the rudder deflected 9°, and the

elevators An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They are ...

deviated resulting in 30° to pitch (nose held up). The airliner reached sharp

angles of attack In fluid dynamics, angle of attack (AOA, α, or \alpha) is the angle between a reference line on a body (often the chord line of an airfoil) and the vector representing the relative motion between the body and the fluid through which it is ...

, and thus went into a tailspin. At the time of entry into the spin, the

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

s were feathered. The airliner crashed 14.5 kilometers southeast of Chernigovskiy airport on a bearing of 245° at 10:48 with a rate of descent at nearly 100 m/s in uncontrolled flight. All 52 people on board the aircraft perished in the crash.

Causes

The aircraft crashed due to loss of control caused by the rudder deflecting when the autopilot was disconnected, but the root cause of the rudder deflection was never determined. It is possible one of the pilots accidentally pushed the rudder trim control switch. Electrical failure could also have caused the mechanical issues.

References

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Ukraine Aviation accidents and incidents in 1976 Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union Aviation accidents and incidents in Ukraine 1802 (1976) 1976 in the Soviet Union 1976 in Ukraine Accidents and incidents involving the Antonov An-24 May 1976 events in Europe

Aircraft

Crew

Synopsis

Causes

See also

References