Aeroflot Flight N-826

Aeroflot Flight N-826

An Antonov An-24B similar to accident aircraft
Accident
Date	3 August 1969 (1969-08-03)
Summary	Mechanical malfunction due to metal fatigue
Site	Preobrazhenka, Krynychky Raion, Ukrainian SSR
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Antonov An-24
Operator	Aeroflot
Registration	CCCP-46248
Flight origin	Luhansk International Airport
Destination	Lviv Danylo Halytskyi International Airport
Occupants	55
Passengers	51
Crew	4
Fatalities	55
Survivors	0

On Sunday 3 August 1969 an Antonov An-24 operating Aeroflot Flight N-826 (Russian: Рейс N-826 Аэрофлота Reys N-826 Aeroflota) crashed resulting in the death of all 55 people on board. An investigation revealed the cause of the accident was an in flight failure of the propeller attached to "No. 1" (left) engine.

Accident

Flight N-826 was a scheduled passenger flight from Voroshilovgrad to Lviv with stops at Dnipropetrovsk and Vinnytsia. At 15:47 the aircraft departed Dnipropetrovsk. At 15:58 the crew reported an altitude of 3,600 meters and received permission from ATC to climb to 4,200 m (13,800 ft). This was the last radio transmission from Flight N-826. While climbing through 4,000 meters, the No. 2 propeller blade of the left engine separated from its hub and punctured the fuselage severing control cables for the stabilizer, ailerons and rudder rendering the aircraft uncontrollable. Because of the imbalance, the left propeller was detached. The aircraft then banked left and entered a descent with its airspeed increasing. After a steep spiral, the airliner struck the ground at an angle of 45-50 degrees and at a speed of 500-550 km/h. At 16:06 ATC tried to communicate with Flight N-826 but received no answer. All further attempts at communication with the An-24 were unsuccessful.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was an Antonov An-24B, serial number 77303206 and registered as CCCP-46248 and was handed over to the Lvovski aviation detachment of the Ukrainian Department of the Civil Air Fleet. The airliners production date was 23 March 1967 and at the time of the crash, it had a total of 4,557 flight hours with 4,789 pressurization cycles.

Investigation

Investigators discovered the propeller blade failed due to a fatigue fracture caused by corrosion.

See also

• Aeroflot accidents and incidents
• Aeroflot accidents and incidents in the 1960s