Tushino - Tushino

On May 18, 1935 at 12:45 PM, Tushino - Tushino experienced a crash involving Tupolev ANT-20, operated by Tupolev Industries - GKAP Tupolev OKB, with the event recorded near Tushino Moscow oblast.

The flight was categorized as demonstration and the reported phase was flight at a city crash site.

35 people were known to be on board, 45 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 128.6%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 33, passenger fatalities: 33, other fatalities: 10.

The listed crash cause is human factor. This first prototype made his first flight on My 19, 1934. One year later, in Tushino, engineers, pilots and technicians working for Tupolev were engaged in a demonstration flight by the Tushino Air Show. Christened 'Maxim Gorki', the eight engines machine was completing a demonstration flight over Moscow with three other machines: two Polikarpov I-5 and one Tupolev ANT-14. In flight, while cruising at a height of some 600 meters, the pilot of the Polikarpov I-5 cruising parallel to the Tupolev on its left side made a turn to complete a tour over the Tupolev. This manoeuvre was prohibited and unscheduled. Most probably the pilot of the Polikarpov misjudged the distance between both aircraft, and the Polikarpov hit the Tupolev. Following the collision, both aircraft dove into the ground and crashed in a residential area located in Sokol, near the Tushino Airfield. All 35 occupants of the Maxim Gorki were killed as well as nine people on the ground and the pilot of the Polikarpov. Up to date, this crash was considered as the worst in the world. Crew: I. V. Mikheyev and I. S. Zhurov, pilots of the Maxim Gorki. Nikolaï Blagin, pilot of the Polikarpov I-5.

Aircraft reference details include registration CCCP-I20, MSN ANT-20-01, year of manufacture 19.