Aeroflot Flight 036

Aeroflot Flight 36

An Ilyushin Il-18 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	17 December 1960 (1960-12-17)
Summary	Engine fire
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Ilyushin Il-18
Operator	Aeroflot
Registration	CCCP-75705
Flight origin	Cairo International Airport
Destination	Bykovo Airport
Passengers	27
Crew	7
Fatalities	34

Aeroflot Flight 36 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight operated by Aeroflot from Cairo International Airport to Bykovo Airport. On 17 August 1960, the Ilyushin Il-18 operating this flight crashed after a loss of control at cruise altitude, 42 minutes after take off from Rostov-on-Don Airport. All 27 passengers and seven crew members were killed.

The Air Accident Investigation Commission was unable to discover the root cause of the accident.

Accident

Flight 36 was at cruising altitude just passed the check point at the Codra region of Kiev. At 15:52 the crew reported tp controllers that they had feathered the prop of engine #4 and requested an emergency landing attempt at Boryspil International Airport. Donetsk at 8,400 meters. A short time later air traffic control (ATC) requested a rapid climb to 9,000 meters to avoid traffic and at 15:16 the flight reported reaching 9,000 meters. At 15:31 the crew contacted ATC announcing in a calm tone their ground speed was 852 km/hr and that they expected to pass over Kremenchug at 15:41. Then at 15:37 controllers received a short message from flight 3630 consisting of "Forty Five - Zero - Twelve" with the word twelve spoken with a frantic inflection. This was the last contact with the flight. The aircraft entered a steep pitch down as it rolled left, striking the ground at approximately a 70 degree angle at 950km/hr.

crashed 41 km north Kyiv International Airport (Zhuliany)

Aircraft

Construction of the Il-18B involved, serial number 189001702 017-02, was completed at Moscow Banner of Labor production factory in 1960 and it was transferred to the civil air fleet. It was powered by four Ivchenko AI-20 turboprop engines and at the time of the accident, the aircraft had sustained a total of 407 flight hours and 117 takeoff/landing cycles.

Investigation

The aircraft created a deep cone-shaped crater at impact, destroying much of the airframe. The flight data recorder was damaged beyond recovery of any data but the Air Accident Investigation Commission were able to determine that the engines were set to idle power, the flaps, spoilers and landing gear were all in the retracted position and that rudder trim was full right with the left aileron trim full up.

Weather along the flight route was calm and ruled out as a possible cause.

Investigators looked into the possibility that the aircraft collided in flight with an unmanned military vehicle or a weather balloon but no evidence surfaced. The commission found no evidence of an in flight aircraft failure or structural break up. The right engine and other sections of the aircraft displayed damage due to fire and investigators considered that a fire in flight may have caused the accident. An examination of the victims found no smoke had been inhaled and further analysis of the crash site determined all fire damage occurred during the post crash fire so this possibility was ruled out.

The investigators were able to conclude that full deflection of the rudder and left aileron trim would have significant effects on control of the aircraft at cruising speed but the chain of events leading to the accident was never determined.

See also

• Aeroflot accidents and incidents
• Aeroflot accidents and incidents in the 1970s