1972 Svetlogorsk An-24 crash

Aviation incident in the Soviet Union

1972 Svetlogorsk An-24 crash

An-24T, similar to the one that crashed

Accident
Date| 16 May 1972 (1972-05-16)
Summary| Crash during inspection flight
Site| Svetlogorsk (Kaliningrad Oblast, RSFSR, USSR)
54°56′37.9″N 20°09′45.0″E﻿ / ﻿54.943861°N 20.162500°E﻿ / 54.943861; 20.162500
Total fatalities| 35
Total injuries| 2
Aircraft
Aircraft type| Antonov An-24T
Operator| Soviet Navy Baltic Fleet Air Force (263rd Separate Transport Aviation Regiment)
Registration| 05
Flight origin| Khrabrovo Airport, Kaliningrad
1st stopover| Kosa
Last stopover| Chkalovsk
Destination| Khrabrovo Airport, Kaliningrad
Passengers| 2
Crew| 6
Fatalities| 8
Survivors| 0
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities| 27
Ground injuries| 2

The Svetlogorsk An-24 crash was an aviation accident that occurred on May 16, 1972. An An-24T aircraft from the 263rd Separate Transport Aviation Regiment of the Baltic Fleet Air Force was conducting an inspection flight to test radio equipment. However, 15 minutes after takeoff, in difficult weather conditions, it clipped trees and crashed into a kindergarten building in Svetlogorsk. The crash resulted in 35 fatalities: all 2 passengers and 6 crew members on board, as well as 27 people on the ground (24 children and 3 kindergarten staff).[1][2]

## Aircraft

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The An-24T (factory number 9911302, serial number 13-02) was manufactured by the Irkutsk Aviation Plant in 1969. In the same year, it was transferred to the 263rd Separate Transport Aviation Regiment of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, where it was assigned tail number 05. The aircraft was equipped with two Ivchenko AI-24 turboprop engines produced by ZMK "Progress" named after A.G. Ivchenko.

## Crew

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The crew of aircraft 05 included:

* Captain Vilor Ilyich Gutnik, Commander.
* Senior Lieutenant Viktor Baranov, Co-pilot.
* Captain Alexander Kostin, Navigator.
* Warrant Officer Nikolai Ivanovich Gavrilyuk, Flight Engineer.
* Senior Lieutenant Andrey Lyutov, Radio Technician.
* Warrant Officer Leonid Sergienko, Airborne Radio Operator-Gunner.

Additionally, two passengers were on board:

* Lieutenant Colonel Lev Denisov, Senior Flight Inspector of the Flight Safety Department of the Baltic Fleet Air Force.
* Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Svetlov, Senior Radio Equipment Engineer.

## Sequence of Events

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### Preceding Circumstances

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On May 13, 1972, Colonel General of Aviation Sergey Gulyayev,[2] the commander of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, approved the flight plan. According to this plan, the flight was to follow the route below:[citation needed]

1. Takeoff from Khrabrovo Airport
2. Fly over the city of Zelenogradsk
3. Pass Taran Cape
4. Land at the airfield in Kosa settlement
5. Take off from the Kosa settlement airfield
6. Land at the Chkalovsk settlement airfield
7. Take off from the Chkalovsk settlement airfield
8. Land at Khrabrovo Airport

On May 16, 1972, at 12:15, An-24T aircraft 05 took off from Khrabrovo Airport toward the Baltic Sea.[citation needed] According to the plan, the flight was to be conducted visually at an altitude of 500 meters.[citation needed] However, based on the crew commander’s report, the flight was actually conducted at an altitude of only 50 meters.[citation needed] All stages of the route were intended to be carried out over the sea.[citation needed]

After making a turn over the sea, the aircraft crossed the coastline near Zelenogradsk and set course for Taran Cape.[citation needed] Shortly afterward, aircraft 05 disappeared from radar screens.[citation needed]

### The Crash

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At approximately 12:30, aircraft 05 entered thick fog over Svetlogorsk at an unacceptably low altitude.[citation needed] On the steep shore of Svetlogorsk, it clipped the tops of pine trees, causing it to lose part of its wing.[citation needed] The aircraft then flew about 200 meters further, flipped over, and crashed into the building of the Svetlogorsk kindergarten. Upon impact, the second floor of the building was completely destroyed.[citation needed]

As a result of the crash, there was a massive fuel leak, and a severe fire broke out. At the time of the crash, 29 people were inside the kindergarten—most of the children had returned from a walk and were sitting down for lunch. The crash killed all 8 people on board the An-24 (6 crew members and 2 passengers), 24 children aged 2 to 7, and 3 kindergarten staff members: the cook Tamara Yankovskaya, and teachers Valentina Shabashova-Metelitsa (who survived the crash but later died in a military hospital) and Antonina Romanenko (who also survived but died in a military hospital six months later).[1][verification needed] Of those in the kindergarten, only two survived.

Laboratory tests showed the presence of alcohol in the pilots' blood.[citation needed]

## Reaction

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By 21:00 on May 16, less than 9 hours after the crash, the debris had been cleared, and the aircraft wreckage along with the remains of the victims had been removed. By the morning of May 17, a small park had been established on the site of the kindergarten. To minimize public attention, suburban trains were canceled, and road traffic connecting the regional center to Svetlogorsk was restricted on the day of the victims' funerals. Around 10,000 people gathered at the cemetery.[3][verification needed]

## Investigation

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Memorial chapel at the crash site

The investigation into the causes of the Svetlogorsk crash was conducted by a Moscow commission headed by Colonel General Nikolai Alekseev, the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR for Armaments.[citation needed]

As of July 2019, there has been no official publication of the investigation materials.[citation needed] The publicly stated cause of the crash, which, despite the authorities’ efforts at the time to conceal it, could not be entirely hidden, was described as "unsatisfactory preparation and flight management."[citation needed] No criminal case was initiated in connection with the crash. The internal investigation by the Ministry of Defense of the USSR resulted in a secret order from the Minister of Defense, Andrei Grechko, leading to the dismissal of about 40 military personnel.[2]

There are theories suggesting that the crew lacked sufficient experience.[citation needed] Some sources publish a version, based on documents provided by the former commander of the Baltic Fleet Air Force, Lieutenant General Vasily Proskurnin, that points to a technical malfunction. According to this version, at the time of the collision with the pines, aircraft 05's altimeter indicated an altitude of 150 meters above sea level, while the actual altitude (at the location of the aircraft's collision with the trees) was 42 meters. The error in the altimeter readings is explained by the fact that, the day before the flight, a decision was made within the Baltic Fleet Air Force to replace the altimeters from the Il-14 with those in the An-24. The operability of the altimeters after this replacement was not properly checked. Experiments conducted during the investigation established that the crew of aircraft 05 received data with an error margin of up to 60–70 meters.[2][verification needed]

Honored test pilot of Russia, Vladimir Biryukov, believes that the pilots either incorrectly set the pressure at takeoff or did not set it at all.[citation needed]

## Memorial

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In 1994, a chapel was erected at the crash site with a plaque that reads: "The temple-monument in honor of the icon of the Mother of God 'Joy of All Who Sorrow' was built on the site of the tragic death of the kindergarten on May 16, 1972."[2]

## References

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1. ^ a b Merkachova, Eva (2014-05-16). "Неизвестные факты о самой трагической авиакатастрофе в истории страны: падении самолёта на детский сад" [Unknown facts about the most tragic air disaster in the country's history: the plane crash into a kindergarten] (in Russian). MK.ru. Archived from the original on 2015-08-01. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
2. ^ a b c d e Artyukov, Oleg (2006-05-15). "Трагедия, о которой молчали 30 лет" [A tragedy that was kept silent for 30 years]. Pravda (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-08-22.
3. ^ Rzhevsky, Vlad (2007-05-14). "Роковые двадцать метров" [The Fatal Twenty Meters]. Kaliningrad Pravda (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-08-22.

## External links

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* Crash description on Aviation Safety Network
* Crash of the An-24T of the Baltic Fleet Air Force in Svetlogorsk (tail 05), May 16, 1972.
* 40 years since the crash. Video

* v
* t
* e

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 (1972)

Jan 7

Iberia Flight 602

Jan 21

Turkish Airlines DC-9 crash

Jan 26

JAT Yugoslav Flight 367

Feb 22

Lufthansa Flight 649

Mar 3

Mohawk Airlines Flight 405

Mar 14

Sterling Airways Flight 296

Mar 19

EgyptAir Flight 763

Apr 18

East African Airways Flight 720

May 4

Aeroflot Flight B-608

May 5

Alitalia Flight 112

May 8

Sabena Flight 571

May 16

Svetlogorsk An-24 crash

May 18

Aeroflot Flight 1491

May 30

Delta Air Lines Flight 9570

Jun 12

American Airlines Flight 96

Jun 14

Japan Air Lines Flight 471

Jun 15

Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z

Jun 18

British European Airways Flight 548

Jun 24

Prinair Flight 191

Jun 29

Lake Winnebago mid-air collision

Jul 2

Pan Am Flight 841

Jul 5

Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710

Jul 31

Delta Air Lines Flight 841

Aug 14

Königs Wusterhausen disaster

Aug 16

Burma Airways Thandwe crash

Aug 31

Aeroflot Flight 558

Sep 15

Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130

Sep 24

Japan Air Lines Flight 472

Sep 24

Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident

Oct 1

Aeroflot Flight 1036

Oct 13

Aeroflot Flight 217

Oct 13

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571

Oct 27

Air Inter Flight 696Y

Oct 29

Lufthansa Flight 615

Oct 30

Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 327

Nov 10

Southern Airways Flight 49

Nov 15

Ansett Australia Flight 232

Nov 28

Japan Air Lines Flight 446

Dec 3

Tenerife Spantax Convair CV-990 crash

Dec 8

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708

Dec 8

United Air Lines Flight 553

Dec 8

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 631

Dec 20

Chicago–O'Hare runway collision

Dec 23

Braathens Flight 239

Dec 29

Eastern Air Lines Flight 401

Dec 31

Puerto Rico DC-7 crash

1971  ◄ ► 1973

* v
* t
* e

Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union in the 1970s

1970|

* Batagay Aeroflot An-24 crash (28 January 1970)
* Aeroflot Flight 145 (29 January 1970)
* Aeroflot Flight U-45 (February 1970)
* Aeroflot Flight 1661 (April 1970)
* Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair (June 1970)
* Aeroflot Flight 3630 (September 1970)
* Aeroflot Flight 244 (October 1970)

1971|

* Surgut Aeroflot An-12 crash (22 January 1971)
* Surgut Aeroflot An-12 crash (31 January 1971)
* Aeroflot Flight 1969 (March 1971)
* Aeroflot Flight 1912 (July 1971)
* Malév Flight 110 (September 1971)
* Aeroflot Flight 773 (October 1971)
* Aeroflot Flight N-63 (November 1971)
* Aeroflot Flight 2174 (December 1971)

1972|

* Aeroflot Flight B-608 (4 May 1972)
* Svetlogorsk An-24 crash (16 May 1972)
* Aeroflot Flight 1491 (18 May 1972)
* Aeroflot Flight 558 (August 1972)
* Aeroflot Flight 1036 (1 October 1972)
* Aeroflot Flight 217 (13 October 1972)
* Japan Air Lines Flight 446 (November 1972)

1973|

* Aeroflot Flight 6263 (January 1973)
* Aeroflot Flight 630 (24 February 1973)
* Aeroflot Flight X-167 (28 February 1973)
* Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307 (March 1973)
* Aeroflot Flight 2420 (April 1973)
* Aeroflot Flight 6551 (11 May 1973)
* Aeroflot Flight 109 (18 May 1973)
* Aeroflot Flight A-13 (August 1973)
* Aeroflot Flight 3932 (September 1973)
* Aeroflot Flight 964 (October 1973)
* Aeroflot Flight 19 (November 1973)
* Aeroflot Flight 2022 (December 1973)

1974|

* Aeroflot Flight H-75 (January 1974)
* Leningrad Aeroflot Il-18 crash (April 1974)

1975|

* Aeroflot Flight E-15 (July 1975)
* Aeroflot Flight 6274 (November 1975)

1976|

* Aeroflot Flight 2003 (January 1976)
* Aeroflot Flight 3739 (February 1976)
* Aeroflot Flight 909 (March 1976)
* Aeroflot Flight 1802 (May 1976)
* Anapa mid-air collision (September 1976)
* Aeroflot Flight 2415 (November 1976)
* Aeroflot Flight N-36 (December 1976)

1977|

* Aeroflot Flight 3843 (January 1977)
* Aeroflot Flight 5003 (February 1977)
* Tavda mid-air collision (May 1977)
* Aeroflot Tu-134 hijacking (10 July 1977)
* Aeroflot Flight B-2 (20 July 1977)

1978|

* Korean Air Lines Flight 902 (April 1978)
* Aeroflot Flight 6709 (19 May 1978)
* Yegoryevsk Tu-144 crash (23 May 1978)
* Iranian Chinook shootdown (June 1978)
* Aeroflot Flight 1080 (7 October 1978)
* Aeroflot Flight 6515 (23 October 1978)

1979|

* Aeroflot Flight 1691 (March 1979)
* Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collision (11 August 1979)
* Aeroflot Flight 5484 (29 August 1979)

1960–1969 ◄ 1970–1979 ► 1980–1991
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