Vorkuta - Syktyvkar - Moscow

On July 2, 1986 at 10:27 AM, Vorkuta - Syktyvkar - Moscow experienced a crash involving Tupolev TU-134, operated by Aeroflot - Russian International Airlines, with the event recorded near Vizinga Republic of Komi.

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

92 people were known to be on board, 54 fatalities were recorded, 38 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 58.7%.

Crew on board: 6, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 86, passenger fatalities: 52, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The aircraft departed Syktyvkar Airport at 0955LT bound for Moscow and continued to climb in normal weather conditions. Twelve minutes later, while cruising at an altitude of 5,600 meters, the fire alarm connected to the rear cargo compartment activated in the cockpit. The flight engineer was dispatched to the rear of the cabin to check the situation and came back less than two minutes later, confirming that smoke was spreading. Instead of declaring an emergency and informing ATC about the situation according to published procedures, the captain decided to inspect the rear of the cabin with the flight engineer. They elected to extinguish the fire but this was unfortunately not possible. They returned to the cockpit and in the meantime, the airplane continued to climb to 6,700 meters. The captain contacted ATC, declared an emergency more than 4 minutes after the fire alarm activated and was cleared to return to Syktyvkar. At this time, the aircraft position was about 140 km from Syktyvkar Airport. The captain started an emergency descent and at an altitude of 1,200 meters, flaps and gear were lowered. The crew realized it would not be able to reach Syktyvkar Airport so he attempted an emergency landing on land. In a reduced visibility due to rain falls, the aircraft struck trees, lost its both wings and crashed 340 meters further in a dense wooded area, bursting into flames. Four crew members and 34 passengers were rescued while 54 other occupants were killed. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and fire.

Aircraft reference details include registration CCCP-65120, MSN 60482, year of manufacture 1978.