Moscow – Omsk – Irkutsk – Khabarovsk

On October 21, 1960 at 09:14 PM, Moscow – Omsk – Irkutsk – Khabarovsk experienced a crash involving Tupolev TU-104, operated by Aeroflot - Russian International Airlines, with the event recorded near Ust-Orda Irkutsk oblast.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

68 people were known to be on board, 3 fatalities were recorded, 65 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 4.4%.

Crew on board: 7, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 61, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. On the leg from Omsk to Irkutsk, at a distance of 160 km from the destination, the crew was informed about the deterioration of the weather conditions at Irkutsk Airport and was then diverted to Ust-Orda Airport. At this time, weather at Ust-Orda was as follow: cloud base at 250 meters, snow falls and a visibility of 3 km. On approach by night, the nose gear light was unserviceable so the captain decided to make a go around. For unknown reason, this procedure was delayed and he completed a low pass over the runway for about two km before making a turn to the left at a height of 10-15 meters when the airplane struck power cables. The aircraft stalled and crashed in flames on a hilly terrain near the airport. 46 passengers were uninjured while 19 occupants were injured. Three crew members were killed, the navigator, the radio operator and the mechanic. The aircraft was totally destroyed by a post crash fire.

Aircraft reference details include registration CCCP-42452, MSN 9 66 017 01, year of manufacture 10.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 52.7990°, 104.7421°.