Baku – Makhatchkala – Saratov

On April 23, 1966 at 08:03 AM, Baku – Makhatchkala – Saratov experienced a crash involving Ilyushin II-14, operated by Aeroflot - Russian International Airlines, with the event recorded near Baku Absheron.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

33 people were known to be on board, 33 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 5, passengers on board: 28, passenger fatalities: 28, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. Twelve minutes after takeoff, while climbing in stormy weather, both engines started to run intermittently, maybe due to a technical problem with the sparking plugs while in contact with water. In such conditions, the captain decided to return to Baku-Bina Airport but due to poor visibility, he was unable to locate the airfield. Five minutes later, both engines temperature dropped and four minutes later, out of control, the airplane crashed into the sea off Baku. SAR operations were quickly conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 33 occupants was found. On May 13, 1966, the wreckage was found at a depth of 23 meters some 19 km south of the Nargen Island.

Aircraft reference details include registration CCCP-61772, MSN 1460 003 10, year of manufacture 1956.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 40.3744°, 49.8565°.