Sofia - Warsaw

On March 16, 1978 at 01:00 PM, Sofia - Warsaw experienced a crash involving Tupolev TU-134, operated by Balkan Bulgarian Airlines, with the event recorded near Gabare Vratsa.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley crash site.

73 people were known to be on board, 73 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 7, crew fatalities: 7, passengers on board: 66, passenger fatalities: 66, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. After takeoff from Sofia-Vrazhdebna Airport, the crew informed ATC about an unexpected situation and was cleared to return for an emergency landing. Control was lost from an altitude of 4,900 meters and the aircraft entered a spin and crashed in an open field located near the village of Gabare. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 73 occupants were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration LZ-TUB, MSN 8 35 05 01, year of manufacture 1968.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 43.3088°, 23.9139°.