Moscow – Krasnoyarsk – Irkutsk – Khabarovsk

On July 21, 1949 at 11:35 AM, Moscow – Krasnoyarsk – Irkutsk – Khabarovsk experienced a crash involving Ilyushin II-12, operated by Aeroflot - Russian International Airlines, with the event recorded near Marga Irkutsk oblast.

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

14 people were known to be on board, 13 fatalities were recorded, 1 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 92.9%.

Crew on board: 6, crew fatalities: 5, passengers on board: 8, passenger fatalities: 8, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The crew was performing a flight from Moscow to Khabarovsk with intermediate stops in Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk with a load consisting of 2,204 kilos of various goods and 115 kilos of mail. En route to Irkutsk, at an altitude of 3,000 meters, the left engine caught fire. The crew was able to extinguish the fire but the captain decided to divert to Nizhneudinsk Airport for a safe landing. As the crew was unable to maintain a safe altitude, the passengers jettisoned the mail bags. While at a height of some 40-60 meters with only the right engine running, the aircraft hit the tops of several larches, stalled and crashed in flames in a grain field located 5 km southeast of the Sheberta rail station, northeast of Marga. One crew member was injured while 13 other occupants were killed. The aircraft was destroyed.

Aircraft reference details include registration CCCP-L1714, MSN 8 301 28 11, year of manufacture 28.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 54.5994°, 99.8440°.